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A review by paperbacksandpines
Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
2.0
I've really changed my opinion about [b:Jo's Boys|372319|Jo's Boys|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347470247l/372319._SY75_.jpg|362258] in my reread of this book. I first read this book when I was 14 or 15 and I recall really liking it. Rereading it as an adult really changed my mind about this book, though. I don't know if it's because I've become completely jaded (I hope not) or just because changes taste as one ages, but things definitely changed the second time around. The excessive preachiness was maybe even more apparent in this story than in [b:Little Men|78950|Little Men|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575357839l/78950._SY75_.jpg|2180439]. I wonder how much of the preachiness was due Alcott's own inclinations and how much was due to the pressure from her publisher.
I think certain characters in the book kept me reading (Jo, Dan, Nat). I got about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the book before I hit a wall. I just wasn't interested in some of the characters, but the narrative was even more of a sticking point with me. There just wasn't much of a plot. The reader jumped from one vignette to another but the only thing that connected them was that they were all at Plumfield together at one point in time. Maybe this cut the muster in Alcott's time but for today's savvy middle grade readers, I don't think it's up to par. I felt like I was watching the movie An Affair to Remember and all of a sudden it cut to a 15 minute song interlude - BORING.
There is much more of a ongoing plot in this one, unlike Little Men, even though stories of each character make up that plot. I found it much more engaging, and a lot less boring that its predecessor.
In addition, there were some pieces that seem offensive to today's readers. The comment from one of the female characters of "Our brains may be smaller [than men's]" to calling out single women as spinsters and implying that not wanting to get married and raise a family makes a woman subhuman didn't sit well with me. And funnily enough, they seemed to go against Alcott's own goals, or at least outcome, of her own life.
I know most adult readers will disagree with me but I actually preferred [b:Little Men|78950|Little Men|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575357839l/78950._SY75_.jpg|2180439] to [b:Jo's Boys|372319|Jo's Boys|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347470247l/372319._SY75_.jpg|362258], at least as a young reader.
After reading this as an adult reader, I'd downgrade it from a 4 to a 2.
I think certain characters in the book kept me reading (Jo, Dan, Nat). I got about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the book before I hit a wall. I just wasn't interested in some of the characters, but the narrative was even more of a sticking point with me. There just wasn't much of a plot. The reader jumped from one vignette to another but the only thing that connected them was that they were all at Plumfield together at one point in time. Maybe this cut the muster in Alcott's time but for today's savvy middle grade readers, I don't think it's up to par. I felt like I was watching the movie An Affair to Remember and all of a sudden it cut to a 15 minute song interlude - BORING.
There is much more of a ongoing plot in this one, unlike Little Men, even though stories of each character make up that plot. I found it much more engaging, and a lot less boring that its predecessor.
In addition, there were some pieces that seem offensive to today's readers. The comment from one of the female characters of "Our brains may be smaller [than men's]" to calling out single women as spinsters and implying that not wanting to get married and raise a family makes a woman subhuman didn't sit well with me. And funnily enough, they seemed to go against Alcott's own goals, or at least outcome, of her own life.
I know most adult readers will disagree with me but I actually preferred [b:Little Men|78950|Little Men|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575357839l/78950._SY75_.jpg|2180439] to [b:Jo's Boys|372319|Jo's Boys|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347470247l/372319._SY75_.jpg|362258], at least as a young reader.
After reading this as an adult reader, I'd downgrade it from a 4 to a 2.