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zena_ryder 's review for:
March
by Geraldine Brooks
Don't be shocked, but I haven't read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. (I tried it once, as a adult, and didn't get into it.) However, I have seen one of the movies, and enjoyed it. So that's my background approaching this book. A reader's familiarity with, and fondness for, Little Women probably makes a big difference to how they read this book.
Mr. March is the father of the fictional Little Women. He's a chaplain and goes off to serve the army during the American Civil War. He doesn't do a great job of it, so is then sent off to a Union-leased plantation, where he's chaplain to the ex-slaves.
I liked the first two thirds of this book, which is from Mr. March's point of view. (Although I didn't feel the story had the brilliant characterization of Caleb's Crossing, which I loved.) March did irritate me a bit, but that's just me. Of course, I like complex characters that feel real, but indecisive, unsure, and tentative characters tend to get on my nerves. It's a personal failing of mine. March was a bit too navel-gazy and uncertain of himself to be my cup of tea. (I also found a crucial coincidence in the story too unbelievable.)
The last third of the book is from the point of view of Marmee, the mother of the Little Women. I didn't like this part of the book as much. But, first, what I did like: seeing how misunderstandings could arise between Marmee and her husband, because we see the same event through the eyes of both of them (at different times). That was well done.
But I wasn't a fan of getting inside the details of their marriage. I just didn't really care enough, to be honest. I like the idea of filling out fictional characters and making them more three-dimensional and subtle than the original, making them have flaws or qualities we perhaps didn't see the first time around. (Longbourne did a great job of this. And I'm a HUGE fan of Pride and Prejudice, so approached that book with a large degree of skepticism.)
SPOILER COMING UP...
Not only wasn't I invested in the details of their marriage, but I also have a 'thing' about unfaithfulness. I just find it an uninteresting way to add 'interest' to a fictional relationship. I don't enjoy reading about it. Again, this is just my personal preference.
So, overall, I liked this — but didn't love it, unlike Brooks' Caleb's Crossing, which was beautiful, moving, and had brilliant characterization.
Mr. March is the father of the fictional Little Women. He's a chaplain and goes off to serve the army during the American Civil War. He doesn't do a great job of it, so is then sent off to a Union-leased plantation, where he's chaplain to the ex-slaves.
I liked the first two thirds of this book, which is from Mr. March's point of view. (Although I didn't feel the story had the brilliant characterization of Caleb's Crossing, which I loved.) March did irritate me a bit, but that's just me. Of course, I like complex characters that feel real, but indecisive, unsure, and tentative characters tend to get on my nerves. It's a personal failing of mine. March was a bit too navel-gazy and uncertain of himself to be my cup of tea. (I also found a crucial coincidence in the story too unbelievable.)
The last third of the book is from the point of view of Marmee, the mother of the Little Women. I didn't like this part of the book as much. But, first, what I did like: seeing how misunderstandings could arise between Marmee and her husband, because we see the same event through the eyes of both of them (at different times). That was well done.
But I wasn't a fan of getting inside the details of their marriage. I just didn't really care enough, to be honest. I like the idea of filling out fictional characters and making them more three-dimensional and subtle than the original, making them have flaws or qualities we perhaps didn't see the first time around. (Longbourne did a great job of this. And I'm a HUGE fan of Pride and Prejudice, so approached that book with a large degree of skepticism.)
SPOILER COMING UP...
Not only wasn't I invested in the details of their marriage, but I also have a 'thing' about unfaithfulness. I just find it an uninteresting way to add 'interest' to a fictional relationship. I don't enjoy reading about it. Again, this is just my personal preference.
So, overall, I liked this — but didn't love it, unlike Brooks' Caleb's Crossing, which was beautiful, moving, and had brilliant characterization.