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ltgallant's review against another edition
4.0
I have a lot of knowledge about Louisa Alcott, Thoreau, and Emerson both through courses and local knowledge (I’m from the area). It’s really fascinating to me that all their lives were so entwined. After reading Moods, which was the book Louisa considered her seminal work, I’m convinced some of the characters are foils for her local friends. I especially feel Moor represents Emerson and Warwick represents Thoreau. Even the physical description of Warwick sounds like and Moor as Emerson. Also both characters are in love with Sylvia and both Thoreau and Emerson were in love with Lydia. Lydia was Emerson’s wife and without a complete spoiler there are obvious similarities to Moor’s situation. Anyhow this information actually made me enjoy the book more.
yggie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This one was definitely not her best work - slow, a bit preachy, not very believable. I didn't think Sylvia was that much to blame, Adam should have told her what was going on. I still love L.M.A, and am definitely moving on to the next book in this giant collection, but I won't reread this one and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
estick's review against another edition
2.0
The character of Sylvia was pretty flat. She gained depth, but all in all, I found her hard to relate to.
Finishing the first chapter and moving on into the second is really confusing. You go from a scene between Adam and Ottila to Sylvia, Geoffrey, and Mark. Until Adam finally comes into the scene, you'll have no idea what's going on.
Finishing the first chapter and moving on into the second is really confusing. You go from a scene between Adam and Ottila to Sylvia, Geoffrey, and Mark. Until Adam finally comes into the scene, you'll have no idea what's going on.
teresatumminello's review against another edition
4.0
Edited March 8, 2018 (see below)**
Before Alcott's publisher would print this, her first serious novel for adults, written before her more famous works for children, he had her cut it in half. Alcott regretted this and years later when she received back her copyright, before republishing it herself, she rewrote it, reinserting some of the left-out chapters, cutting the beginning and changing the ending. The first published version is what I've read.
While the melodrama of some of the scenes, especially the beginning and the end, may be off-putting and the characters mere mouthpieces for Alcott's themes, I found it well-written. And those themes are what I found the most intriguing, especially the idea of unmatched pairs and the long train of evils arising from marriages made from impulse, and not principle. There is also a theoretical discussion among the characters about divorce, a daring topic for the time.
As with Bronte's Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe, Alcott's 17-year-old Sylvia Yule (her pastoral name fits another theme) desires a friend much more than she desires love, but what she ends up in is a love triangle and she's in way over her head. If only Sylvia could've had the past thirty Faith (also aptly named), who is single by choice, as a friend sooner. Alcott seemed to be working on the idea that marriage is not the be-all and end-all of life (another daring idea for the time), not to mention the be-all and end-all of a novel.
In the preface to the republished version, Alcott states the original publisher's version made it seem as if marriage was the theme of this novel and that's not what she intended. Instead, the original purpose of the story was ... an attempt to show the mistakes of a moody nature, guided by impulse, not principle. She was right that this did not come across in its first published form.
**
I'd hoped to read Alcott’s second version of this novel straight through, in the form she’d rewritten it, eighteen years after she first wrote it. But there doesn’t seem to be a copy like that in existence any longer, only in this form of her revisions and additions noted and attached in footnotes and appendices to the originally published text. So instead of rereading the whole book, I read only the new-to-me passages. I've switched my original review (see above) to the edition containing these.
Reading the new sections was enough to see that the changes Alcott made—especially the complete excision of a subplot that had started off and complicated her story too much—were for the better. Of course she had eighteen years of wisdom and writing experience behind her, needed for the complicated subject she was tackling. I had rated the original 3 stars and have now upped it by one.
This edition also contains a review written by [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] of the original Moods. Because a review by James of a different Alcott work is mentioned in notes to the introduction, I was prepared to be outraged at his snarky condescension and, yes, there is that, even downright meanness; but the review is very funny in that inimitable Jamesian way and he does grant Alcott some grace in his last paragraph. He absolutely slammed the aforementioned subplot that she ended up removing eighteen years later, so she likely remembered his review—how could she not.
I don't want to end on James, so I will note that now that I've read [b:Margaret Fuller: A New American Life|13202058|Margaret Fuller A New American Life|Megan Marshall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398193540s/13202058.jpg|18385004], I see the debt (the editor of this book calls it a "tribute") of Alcott's dramatic penultimate scene to Fuller's tragic end.
Before Alcott's publisher would print this, her first serious novel for adults, written before her more famous works for children, he had her cut it in half. Alcott regretted this and years later when she received back her copyright, before republishing it herself, she rewrote it, reinserting some of the left-out chapters, cutting the beginning and changing the ending. The first published version is what I've read.
While the melodrama of some of the scenes, especially the beginning and the end, may be off-putting and the characters mere mouthpieces for Alcott's themes, I found it well-written. And those themes are what I found the most intriguing, especially the idea of unmatched pairs and the long train of evils arising from marriages made from impulse, and not principle. There is also a theoretical discussion among the characters about divorce, a daring topic for the time.
As with Bronte's Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe, Alcott's 17-year-old Sylvia Yule (her pastoral name fits another theme) desires a friend much more than she desires love, but what she ends up in is a love triangle and she's in way over her head. If only Sylvia could've had the past thirty Faith (also aptly named), who is single by choice, as a friend sooner. Alcott seemed to be working on the idea that marriage is not the be-all and end-all of life (another daring idea for the time), not to mention the be-all and end-all of a novel.
In the preface to the republished version, Alcott states the original publisher's version made it seem as if marriage was the theme of this novel and that's not what she intended. Instead, the original purpose of the story was ... an attempt to show the mistakes of a moody nature, guided by impulse, not principle. She was right that this did not come across in its first published form.
**
I'd hoped to read Alcott’s second version of this novel straight through, in the form she’d rewritten it, eighteen years after she first wrote it. But there doesn’t seem to be a copy like that in existence any longer, only in this form of her revisions and additions noted and attached in footnotes and appendices to the originally published text. So instead of rereading the whole book, I read only the new-to-me passages. I've switched my original review (see above) to the edition containing these.
Reading the new sections was enough to see that the changes Alcott made—especially the complete excision of a subplot that had started off and complicated her story too much—were for the better. Of course she had eighteen years of wisdom and writing experience behind her, needed for the complicated subject she was tackling. I had rated the original 3 stars and have now upped it by one.
This edition also contains a review written by [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] of the original Moods. Because a review by James of a different Alcott work is mentioned in notes to the introduction, I was prepared to be outraged at his snarky condescension and, yes, there is that, even downright meanness; but the review is very funny in that inimitable Jamesian way and he does grant Alcott some grace in his last paragraph. He absolutely slammed the aforementioned subplot that she ended up removing eighteen years later, so she likely remembered his review—how could she not.
I don't want to end on James, so I will note that now that I've read [b:Margaret Fuller: A New American Life|13202058|Margaret Fuller A New American Life|Megan Marshall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398193540s/13202058.jpg|18385004], I see the debt (the editor of this book calls it a "tribute") of Alcott's dramatic penultimate scene to Fuller's tragic end.
inherentlysleepy's review against another edition
4.0
I read the 1882 version, and found many reviewers saying that this one's better than the 1864 publication because then LMA's original story was strained by her publisher. I didn't know that the copy I have of the republished novel doesn't have pages 353-354 though. That sucks. But I'm planning to read the 1864 version for comparison.
I must say this is in a whole different stir of story compared to Little Women, and targeted a much older group of age readers. Moods isn't just about marriage. The story leaned more on a character study of a moody, young woman, easily swayed by emotions, making decisions out of impulse, and creating a mess (a huge one at that) everyone involved had to suffer from. Sylvia Yule, the heroine, is far from an ideal daughter, wife, and woman, however hard she tried to attain perfection.
Though somehow reasonable, other characters continue to commit one mistake after the other, make one wrong decisions after another they've become laughable at one point. But eventually, everyone redeemed and become the sensible people I expect to be. And I liked how their characters were carefully weaved to good development in the end. Initially, they weren't the type of people I would care about in real life. However, I was pulled in—in a way I can't explain I find all of them enigmatic.
One thing is for sure, though: Louisa May Alcott has written one of most entrancing, deliciously captivating narratives I know.
I must say this is in a whole different stir of story compared to Little Women, and targeted a much older group of age readers. Moods isn't just about marriage. The story leaned more on a character study of a moody, young woman, easily swayed by emotions, making decisions out of impulse, and creating a mess (a huge one at that) everyone involved had to suffer from. Sylvia Yule, the heroine, is far from an ideal daughter, wife, and woman, however hard she tried to attain perfection.
Though somehow reasonable, other characters continue to commit one mistake after the other, make one wrong decisions after another they've become laughable at one point. But eventually, everyone redeemed and become the sensible people I expect to be. And I liked how their characters were carefully weaved to good development in the end. Initially, they weren't the type of people I would care about in real life. However, I was pulled in—in a way I can't explain I find all of them enigmatic.
One thing is for sure, though: Louisa May Alcott has written one of most entrancing, deliciously captivating narratives I know.
browncharlotte18's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rayevanreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bethanymplanton's review against another edition
4.0
This novel contains it all - love, anguish, betrayal. It is very thought provoking. This LMA novel is written for more mature audiences.
loreleifae's review against another edition
3.0
This book was certainly interesting, and I did enjoy it. However, it is also very much a product of it's time in a way that I'm not sure has aged perfectly. Many of the issues and ideas in the book seem to be very much centered around the fact that a woman is obligated to marry and that divorce is barely an option. Additionally the prose is certainly dated in a way that can sometimes make it a bit of a struggle for modern readers, especially those who are not voracious readers of 19th century literature.
socorrobaptista's review against another edition
4.0
Bem diferente dos outros livros de Alcott que li na minha juventude, este livro traz uma narrativa adulta, girando em torno de um triângulo amoroso atípico e bastante complexo. Fiquei meio frustrada com o final, embora faça sentido no contexto narrado.