A review by bluestjuice
Những chàng trai nhỏ by Louisa May Alcott

3.0

I've read this dozens of times at this point, but was in the mood for an adult rereading, and am not sorry I did. It's more interesting as a follow-up to Little Women (to see the adult dynamic at work between the main characters from that book) than it is as a story in its own right, because it's extremely episodic and there are rather too many characters to pay attention to and not enough structure to the story. How rambunctious, rebellious Jo March becomes the clever, wise, and sedate Mrs. Bhaer presented here is one of the mysteries of this particular piece of literature. There are hints at more behind the scenes, though - why does Laurie come visiting so often but Amy almost never? Why did Jo name her two boys Rob (after her father) and Teddy (After Laurie), but not one after her husband Friedrich? This story is from the perspective of the children, and glosses over such points, but it made me wonder what else the author was trying to convey.