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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
me gusto mucho más que cualquier adaptación que han hecho, se siente como si estuviera leyendo lecciones qué tal vez nunca te dieron o te darán.
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
Me gustó aunque la segunda parte es más lenta, lo cual, hizo que me demorase más en terminarlo.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Me grita el bildungsroman en la cara y ¡me encanta! Lo leí para un trabajo y jamás me arrepentiré de seleccionarlo como corpus.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Little Women is incredibly homely. I can absolutely understand this being a comfort reread as it’s a book that essentially breathes warmth and familial care.
Like Laurie experiences, much of this book feels like you’re peeking in through the window of the March household and feeling the radiance from within. It’s an intimate look at a close family and it’s perspective on companionship and youth and class is still pertinent today and reminds me of the permanence of some aspects of the human experience.
Jo March is absolutely, in my opinion, the standout character. She’s headstrong, confident, extremely caring, and independent in ways that are not typically characteristic of feminine archetypes in classical literature. But Jo is just a piece of the puzzle that is the March family, and with each sister I believe you get a greater look at the whole of Alcotts view on femininity. Each sister carries some facet of womanhood in greater depth than her siblings, and through each Alcott is able to paint a vibrant portrait of her own life experience and what femininity means to her. Obviously this is reductive and each sister is not just a symbol for “independence” or “homeliness,” but I still feel as though the whole picture is only understood through all of the sisters. I’m just a random guy, so there’s very little I feel I am able to comment on as to what exactly I now “understand” about life as a woman, but regardless I feel like this book provided glimpses into what I know to be a rich world of experience.
There are certainly moments where the culture has not been kind to Alcott. Meg feels too archetypal to me and I particularly disliked the conversation she had with her mother about how she needs to cater to her husband more despite being essentially the sole caretaker for two infant children. Obviously Meg, he’s leaving you alone all day because you’re just so busy with those darn kids!
Jo’s relationship with Professor Bhaer is also a weird point of contention in my mind. The age gap is weird to me, and I don’t know how much of it I enjoy narratively as I feel like he comes on pretty fast in the story and their relationship is only realized in the last 50 or so pages, but I am glad that it seems as if Jo really did love him. Again, my opinion here means mostly nothing, but I personally would’ve enjoyed seeing Jo find happiness with herself or with some other life companion as opposed to the traditional situation she ended up in. If this book was written today, I definitely think that would have been the case.
I also found myself enjoying the second half much less than the first. The first was much more wondrous and dreamlike, and the second had each sister settling into her life and newfound family. Both are valuable to the narrative, but I think I enjoyed the atmosphere of the siblings dreaming about their future more than the actualizations of said futures. I am cognizant though that the book is absolutely trying to make the point that dreams and life are not always compatible and that deviations are to be expected and embraced… sure, sure, morals and philosophy and whatnot but I still enjoyed the first half more.
But the good absolutely outweighed the minor criticisms I just laid out. Little women is like sitting in a chair that you’ve sat in a thousand times before. It’s immediately comfortable and welcoming and it’s hard to find a better place to take a rest in. There are some parts that are worn out, but the experience as a whole is wholly familiar enough as to largely wash away any significant feeling of discontent.
Like Laurie experiences, much of this book feels like you’re peeking in through the window of the March household and feeling the radiance from within. It’s an intimate look at a close family and it’s perspective on companionship and youth and class is still pertinent today and reminds me of the permanence of some aspects of the human experience.
Jo March is absolutely, in my opinion, the standout character. She’s headstrong, confident, extremely caring, and independent in ways that are not typically characteristic of feminine archetypes in classical literature. But Jo is just a piece of the puzzle that is the March family, and with each sister I believe you get a greater look at the whole of Alcotts view on femininity. Each sister carries some facet of womanhood in greater depth than her siblings, and through each Alcott is able to paint a vibrant portrait of her own life experience and what femininity means to her. Obviously this is reductive and each sister is not just a symbol for “independence” or “homeliness,” but I still feel as though the whole picture is only understood through all of the sisters. I’m just a random guy, so there’s very little I feel I am able to comment on as to what exactly I now “understand” about life as a woman, but regardless I feel like this book provided glimpses into what I know to be a rich world of experience.
There are certainly moments where the culture has not been kind to Alcott. Meg feels too archetypal to me and I particularly disliked the conversation she had with her mother about how she needs to cater to her husband more despite being essentially the sole caretaker for two infant children. Obviously Meg, he’s leaving you alone all day because you’re just so busy with those darn kids!
Jo’s relationship with Professor Bhaer is also a weird point of contention in my mind. The age gap is weird to me, and I don’t know how much of it I enjoy narratively as I feel like he comes on pretty fast in the story and their relationship is only realized in the last 50 or so pages, but I am glad that it seems as if Jo really did love him. Again, my opinion here means mostly nothing, but I personally would’ve enjoyed seeing Jo find happiness with herself or with some other life companion as opposed to the traditional situation she ended up in. If this book was written today, I definitely think that would have been the case.
I also found myself enjoying the second half much less than the first. The first was much more wondrous and dreamlike, and the second had each sister settling into her life and newfound family. Both are valuable to the narrative, but I think I enjoyed the atmosphere of the siblings dreaming about their future more than the actualizations of said futures. I am cognizant though that the book is absolutely trying to make the point that dreams and life are not always compatible and that deviations are to be expected and embraced… sure, sure, morals and philosophy and whatnot but I still enjoyed the first half more.
But the good absolutely outweighed the minor criticisms I just laid out. Little women is like sitting in a chair that you’ve sat in a thousand times before. It’s immediately comfortable and welcoming and it’s hard to find a better place to take a rest in. There are some parts that are worn out, but the experience as a whole is wholly familiar enough as to largely wash away any significant feeling of discontent.