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A review by lanternheart
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5.0
As I think many readers can relate to when reading “Little Women” as an adult(ish, I’m nineteen) for the first time, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed, loved, and lost over this book. Alcott is a master of spinning character arcs and, most importantly and surprisingly to me in a children’s book, giving them time to develop. Each of the March sisters’ journeys from young girl, fantasizing of her “castle in the air,” to a young woman who took her life and abilities in stride is given due attention, time, and love from the author.
This isn’t to say that Alcott sentimentalizes And always roots for her characters, either — quite on the contrary! She’s quick to point out, depending on whose viewpoint she’s in, the faults that the sisters see in one another, or that Marmee and Mr. March see in their girls. An example that immediately comes to mind is Alcott’s criticism (via Amy) of Laurie, while he and Amy are together in Europe. Succumbing to laziness and melancholy after rejection by Jo, Amy (and Alcott’s voice through her) don’t beat around the bush in telling him to get his act together, and start moving on. It’s not out of a lack of love that Amy does this, or Alcott criticizes Laurie, but out of a desire to see him become better.
Ultimately, I think, this might be what Alcott really wants out of readers of “Little Women,” too — in growing up alongside the March sisters and “their boy,” the reader learns their lessons of kindness, industriousness, passion, dedication, and love alongside and anecdotally, without Alcott needing to overmoralize and smack us on the head. Occasionally, the story does veer into this moralizing, but it’s usually out of the mouths of other characters (Jo, Marmee, Amy, etc.), and doesn’t feel too heavy-handed as a result.
I came to love, lose, and live alongside the Marches for two very good months as I read this book — a longer time than I usually take with novels. However, the time I spent with the Marches, Alcott, and adventuring alongside each of the characters in “Little Women,” was well-spent and all the better for the time I gave it. I know I’ll be carrying its lessons into the future, and returning when I need counsel and a level head — much like the girls turned to “Pilgrim’s Progress” in their own times of need.
This isn’t to say that Alcott sentimentalizes And always roots for her characters, either — quite on the contrary! She’s quick to point out, depending on whose viewpoint she’s in, the faults that the sisters see in one another, or that Marmee and Mr. March see in their girls. An example that immediately comes to mind is Alcott’s criticism (via Amy) of Laurie, while he and Amy are together in Europe. Succumbing to laziness and melancholy after rejection by Jo, Amy (and Alcott’s voice through her) don’t beat around the bush in telling him to get his act together, and start moving on. It’s not out of a lack of love that Amy does this, or Alcott criticizes Laurie, but out of a desire to see him become better.
Ultimately, I think, this might be what Alcott really wants out of readers of “Little Women,” too — in growing up alongside the March sisters and “their boy,” the reader learns their lessons of kindness, industriousness, passion, dedication, and love alongside and anecdotally, without Alcott needing to overmoralize and smack us on the head. Occasionally, the story does veer into this moralizing, but it’s usually out of the mouths of other characters (Jo, Marmee, Amy, etc.), and doesn’t feel too heavy-handed as a result.
I came to love, lose, and live alongside the Marches for two very good months as I read this book — a longer time than I usually take with novels. However, the time I spent with the Marches, Alcott, and adventuring alongside each of the characters in “Little Women,” was well-spent and all the better for the time I gave it. I know I’ll be carrying its lessons into the future, and returning when I need counsel and a level head — much like the girls turned to “Pilgrim’s Progress” in their own times of need.