Book 26: Finished.

I have to be honest. While I love the March sisters and the story of Little Women, I am glad to be moving on. It was a nice visit, and I loved being with them, but you can only handle everything working out for so long.

(Besides the death of the beloved, which I won't talk about).

I mean, sugary books like this are meant to be treasured. Their problems seem small because they do end up resolving themselves in a pleasing way. Jo does find love in an unlikely place. Meg finds happiness when she didn't think she would. Beth eventually gets over her fear of Mr. Lawrence and enjoys free rein of his piano. Amy becomes the polished young lady she always aspired to be. Their problems get resolved and while they struggle so that the reader sympathizes, it all ends out okay, as it should.

I think that had Alcott changed it so that things didn't end up so perfectly, Little Women would not be Little Women. It is meant to be the kind of book that girls read so they would learn; "If you do these good things and remain loving and loyal, everything you could need will eventually come your way. But only if you are a graceful little woman and stay true to your heart and home."

And there is nothing really wrong with that message. I look at girls I had in my classes last year-with their tiny little skirts and their chests hanging out. I would wonder at how they threw themselves at boys and how they wondered why boys only wanted one thing from them. A little more propriety wouldn't hurt anyone, and neither would respect for oneself. I think of the things these kids do-both boys and girls-and wonder how my great-grandparents would react. The shame of it!

So no, I don't think there is anything wrong with hoping for good moral sense and the need for an individual to try to be selfless as the March girls try to be. It is a grand thing, and some thing I hope to teach my own girls one day (a long time down the road).

I also love how this novel explores social standards and the differences between men and women. One of my favorite scenes in the book and the movie is when Jo is talking to Laurie about him leaving for college. She distinctly says, "I wish I could go." For that statement alone, I am glad that women get to go now and learn as much, if not more, than boys. Women getting into college was certainly a HUGE step forward and I love that Jo expresses that desire. I think back then people really appreciated their education as something grand and wonderful, where many kids today take it for granted. Personally, I LOVED college and taking classes I was interested in. While my brothers think my degrees (English and History) are a joke, I know I earned them.

And it was always nice to be one of the few girls in my history classes.

Anyway, I suppose what I am trying to say about this novel is that I still loved it. When I was younger, I never really saw any of that hidden depth, or questioned why Jo couldn't go to college but Laurie could, but I did believe that if I was good and did as I should, I would eventually get what I needed. And I can be honest and say that has come true. I have a husband who loves me, books to read, and kittens to love. Those things make me entirely happy and confirm that I, too have become a proud "little woman."

Book 26: Favorite Passages.

I kept seeing little Amy as Kirsten Dunst, so I was very glad to get to old Amy in the latter half of the novel. I am not a Kirsten Dunst fan, so of course I am seeing her face in mind whenever I am reading about Amy.

Anyway, besides that I am still loving Little Women. While it is certainly preachy, and almost a guide for learning to be a respectable little woman, I love it. It is truly a feel good kind of book that warms your heart.

I wanted to share a few favorite lines from the March sisters before I go and finish the last 100 pages. Enjoy!

"'I'll try and be what he loves to call me, 'a little woman,' and not be rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else," (18).

"Boys are trying enough to human patience, goodness knows, but girls are infinitely more so," (71).

I am sure that my mother would agree. And I am sure most mothers would agree with that statement.

"'Little girls shouldn't ask questions,'" (76).

I feel I should point out that I laughed hard at this one.

"'Housekeeping ain't no joke,'" (114).

I agree. Especially when you live with MY husband.

"'People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays, men have to work and women to marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world,'" (158).

Unjust that we actually work and EARN our money?? Hmmm. 21st century Allie finds fault with this statement.

"It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women," (250).

Amen to that. This is why you have horrible singers who are more successful than those with truly amazing voices and why there is just as much garbage published as truly great literature.

Book 26: Memories.

I am flying through Little Women. To be honest, I forgot how wonderfully simple and beautiful it is. It is not a book that requires you to think long and hard, or that challenges your perceptions and feelings about issues. It simply is, and I really like that. I don't have to work to enjoy it and I think my brain is enjoying the break.

Like I said, Little Women was a staple of my childhood. I read my little abridged version more times than I can count. But I probably only read the full version once, so a lot has been forgotten. For example, all of the conversation about The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon was completely forgotten. When I reached the first reference, I was almost confused.

I'm not sure what I think about all of the preachiness that comes into play as the March sisters pretend to be pilgrims. Like I always do, I'm trying to read the novel "in context." By that I mean that I am attempting to place myself into the mind and body of a girl who would have been reading this when it first came out. I think it is probably safe to say that there was more concern about raising proper young women back then in the right way. Today we don't have as many books like this-books that really focus on the values and roles that young women should have, as well as their duties to family, husband, and home. On one hand, reading those values and lessons is refreshing, but on the other, almost unrealistic in terms of the way women live today.

Anyway, it is interesting to read and think about how my life as a woman in today's world would scare the characters of Alcott's novel. I love tradition and morality, but in general, it is lacking in this day and age.

I also love the simplicity of Alcott's language. I said earlier that I don't have to work to understand the novel and appreciate it. Sometimes I love and need t be challenged by my reading, but this works just as it is. The morals and story are clear to the reader and you don't have to dig deep to find symbolism and meaning. It is right there on the surface. I could never solely read books like this-I would die of boredom eventually-but it is a refreshing change from some of the things I have been reading.

I only have a small portion left to go, so it is off to finish.

Book 26: Little Women.

I have quite a few childhood memories tied up in Little Women. When I was maybe 6 or 7, my mom got my brothers and me a set of Illustrated Classics for kids. There were maybe 30 or so titles and each one was a fat little stubby book that was an abridged version of the classics.

I didn't have an interest in some of them. Kidnapped and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn just didn't sound appealing. I remember clearly looking at that pile of books and being upset, since they all seemed to be "boy" books and I wanted nothing to do with them.

I did manage to find two titles that I wanted to read: Black Beauty and Little Women. I must have read those two titles dozens of times. I loved them more than anything and was convinced that I 1. Needed a horse of my own, and 2. Jo was my long-lost big sister.

It was a couples years after I read through Little Women that the movie version came out (I am talking about the 1994 version with Christian Bale and Winona Ryder). My mom took me and my little sister to go see it. I was in love. I bought the VHS as soon as it came out and watched it over and over again.

And I should probably admit here that I also bought the DVD version a couple of years ago because I love it so much.

Little Women was a huge part of my childhood. I felt very close to Jo and I felt like she was my own sister.

So to say that I am excited to read this is an understatement. I am looking forward to reliving a huge part of my childhood memories. I just hope I can appreciate this as much as I did back then.

Book 26: Book Stats.

Title: Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)
First Published: 1868/1869

My Edition: Barnes and Noble Classic Edition
Pages: 489

Other works include: Little Men (1871), Jo's Boys (1886)

This novel was initially published under two separate titles. The first was called Little Women: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy which chronicled the lives of the sisters up until a proposal. The second volume, entitled Good Wives, led the girls through adolescence and their marriages. Now these two volumes are combined into the one title.

I am only reading Little Women for my challenge, although I have read the other 2 titles before as a teenager.

I am also counting this book towards the completion of the Chunkster Challenge.