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thronewarden08 's review for:
Little Men
by Louisa May Alcott
Little Men - Louisa MAy Alcott
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPOILERS
Little Men is part of the Little Women series. This story follows Jo and Professor Bhaer’s life after they open their school at Plumfield, which predominantly houses boys, some of whom have homes and others of which who are orphans. There are many shenanigans that occur at Plumfield, but many life lessons too.
Jo and her husband have such curious ways of disciplining the children, not at all the typical way I’ve seen it done, especially today. And many times their way of discipline works better than other methods. A punishment I believe will stick with me is when Nat had to lash Professor Bhaer’s hands with a strap because of the boy’s lie. Professor Bhaer was so kind, loving, and gracious to Nat and all the children at Plumfield that to lash him was such a hard and terrible thing to do, especially when on top of all Father Bhaer’s kind attributes you see such a grieved look upon his face, not for himself, but for Nat. (I can’t help but see the Professor as a Christ figure at that moment.)
Getting to know Friedrich Bhaer throughout this book has been lovely, I quite like him. He and Jo are such wonderful parental figures. They are both tender-hearted, kind, gracious, compassionate, and good teachers. Jo understands the urges and temptations many of the children face and the duo truly desire a wonderful future for their boys. Jo strives to teach the boys to have “honesty, courage, industry, faith in God, their fellow creatures, and themselves…” I will admit that seeing Jo grown up is a bit sad because I loved seeing her childish ways in Little Women. Nonetheless, it is good to see her well and happy in life with her husband, her Teddy and Rob, and the rest of the boys at Plumfield.
While the majority of this book was lighthearted one chapter in particular bore some sorrowful news. I could hardly believe the words on the page and didn’t expect such a sudden turn of events. John Brooke, who I barely knew, had passed away. I wasn’t going to cry but then Alcott proceeded to describe John’s life and how he was such a loving father and husband. He was such a virtuous, hardworking, simply good man. Mr. Brooke left no financial burdens upon his dear wife Meg, instead leaving her in a fine financial position. At the descriptions you could see the love of the family pour out and I could not resist shedding some tears.
The conclusion was satisfactory. I loved seeing how many of the boys worked hard to be little men for their beloved Jo and Father Bhaer.
Commonplace Quotes:
“‘Could I see anybody's soul with this microscope if I looked hard?' asked Demi, who was much impressed with the power of the bit of glass.
‘No, dear; it's not powerful enough for that, and never can be made so. You must wait a long while before your eyes are clear enough to see the most invisible of God's wonders. But looking at the lovely things you can see will help you to understand the lovelier things you can not see,' answered Uncle Fritz, with his hand on the boy's head.”
“For love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.”
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPOILERS
Little Men is part of the Little Women series. This story follows Jo and Professor Bhaer’s life after they open their school at Plumfield, which predominantly houses boys, some of whom have homes and others of which who are orphans. There are many shenanigans that occur at Plumfield, but many life lessons too.
Jo and her husband have such curious ways of disciplining the children, not at all the typical way I’ve seen it done, especially today. And many times their way of discipline works better than other methods. A punishment I believe will stick with me is when Nat had to lash Professor Bhaer’s hands with a strap because of the boy’s lie. Professor Bhaer was so kind, loving, and gracious to Nat and all the children at Plumfield that to lash him was such a hard and terrible thing to do, especially when on top of all Father Bhaer’s kind attributes you see such a grieved look upon his face, not for himself, but for Nat. (I can’t help but see the Professor as a Christ figure at that moment.)
Getting to know Friedrich Bhaer throughout this book has been lovely, I quite like him. He and Jo are such wonderful parental figures. They are both tender-hearted, kind, gracious, compassionate, and good teachers. Jo understands the urges and temptations many of the children face and the duo truly desire a wonderful future for their boys. Jo strives to teach the boys to have “honesty, courage, industry, faith in God, their fellow creatures, and themselves…” I will admit that seeing Jo grown up is a bit sad because I loved seeing her childish ways in Little Women. Nonetheless, it is good to see her well and happy in life with her husband, her Teddy and Rob, and the rest of the boys at Plumfield.
While the majority of this book was lighthearted one chapter in particular bore some sorrowful news. I could hardly believe the words on the page and didn’t expect such a sudden turn of events. John Brooke, who I barely knew, had passed away. I wasn’t going to cry but then Alcott proceeded to describe John’s life and how he was such a loving father and husband. He was such a virtuous, hardworking, simply good man. Mr. Brooke left no financial burdens upon his dear wife Meg, instead leaving her in a fine financial position. At the descriptions you could see the love of the family pour out and I could not resist shedding some tears.
The conclusion was satisfactory. I loved seeing how many of the boys worked hard to be little men for their beloved Jo and Father Bhaer.
Commonplace Quotes:
“‘Could I see anybody's soul with this microscope if I looked hard?' asked Demi, who was much impressed with the power of the bit of glass.
‘No, dear; it's not powerful enough for that, and never can be made so. You must wait a long while before your eyes are clear enough to see the most invisible of God's wonders. But looking at the lovely things you can see will help you to understand the lovelier things you can not see,' answered Uncle Fritz, with his hand on the boy's head.”
“For love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.”