Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I've had this book on my shelves since about 2001, and I've tried to start reading it, only to be interrupted or something would come up. I left it alone for years. Now I know why--because I LET myself get interrupted.

Frankly--and I was very surprised to discover this--I was bored.

Little Women feels disjointed, a bit preachy, and like a "day in the life" story that doesn't want to end. I couldn't even get to part 2 (about pg 241) because the story didn't seem to want to go anywhere. It felt like yes, there were some things ladies of the time needed to know or understand to get an idea as to the things they'll have to deal with growing up. But it's like the story as a whole was stuck. Each chapter made sure to end with a witticism or "moral of the story" moment. I suppose this made it easier to digest for serial form. But it felt like torture trying to go through it in a few days.

I will say the characters were the only thing that made me want to keep going, and let me go for nearly 150 pages. But what happened was we were stuck and nobody seemed to be going anywhere.

I have to say, though, with the characters (and my understanding of where the story goes from here), it is definitely ripe for movies--no wonder so many versions were made. I've only seen snippets of the films, so I don't know everything that happens, but what I could see of the movies is they streamlined the pace.

That's what made this book hard for me to read. I was prepared to enjoy it, and was disappointed how bored i was instead. Maybe another day I'll get an abridged version (which I normally avoid like the plague), just to streamline it and if someone wanted me to read it to them...but that's it. Wish I could've enjoyed it.

I probably would have liked this book a lot more if I had read it in the third grade when all my friends were completely obsessed with it. Why did I not read it in the third grade? Was I just weird and stubborn? Probably. (I was such a Jo.) At least I understand many of the references that my third-grade friends kept referring to. Oh poor Beth, oh dreamy Laurie, Jo and her hair, etc etc, etc.

GOOD

+ Many very well-drawn characters in the women, especially Jo and Amy, who learn and grow in interesting ways over the course of the novel.

+ Very warm rich relationships between the sisters and their mother. All the girls have recognizable and relatable flaws, and they act like sisters — yes, they love each other dearly, but sometimes they just can’t take each other’s crap.

MEH

+ Most of the minor characters, especially the men, are vague and flat, or named but not really there at all.

+ It was clearly written in installments, so it feels episodic, with very little end-to-end plot.

+ Occasionally preachy and moralizing in tone. (there is a moment I LOLed when an editor tells Jo to take the morals our of her stories because “morals don’t sell.” This is very meta for a kid’s book!)

+ The final matchups of the younger girls feels forced and strange and out of character for both.

I’m glad I read it, finally, and I totally get why so many girls love it so much. But I think I lost my opportunity to really love it.