Little Women.

Little Women
by: Louisa May Alcott


In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age while their father is off to war.

This is the first classic I ever read and by far my favorite thus far. It is a beautiful story of growing up and being proper ad lady-like. And it is not just one story, it is many stores told that come to one ending.

Smart and Brave Heroines: CHECK

check times five. I have read this book plenty of times ever since I was a little girl and I have always admired the four daughters and Marmie.

Meg: Ever the proper young lady and always the loving daughter. Even with her jealousy and her desire for pretty things that they could not afford, I still admired her. I love the scene where she is at the party and realizing that the way she is acting is not becoming. Then how honest and humble she is in admitting her fault to Marmie and Jo. I love reading about her and John's future and their little family.

Jo: I've always felt a special love for Jo and how independent she is. I love her passionate love for books and writing and everything literary. She's fiery and easily-angered, but she really does love all of those around her. I love her talk with Marmie about overcoming her temper and improving her faults.

Beth: Dear Beth. I don't think you can read this book without loving her. She isn't perfect, but she sure seems like it sometimes. She is terribly shy, but she still finds small ways to care for the people she knows. To live a life like Beth's is very sad, but very inspiring. She never did anything too remarkable, but she loved people and made them feel important. That was the quiet beauty of her short life.

Amy: I love seeing the transition from the spoiled and brattish child that Amy was into the charming young woman that she became. She learned to not think less of herself, but to think of herself less, which is an important lesson in humility.

Marmie: The role model to beat all other role models. Marmie seems to know every single way to be a loving, kind, and respectable gentlewoman (which I believe we need more of in our current generation). This does not at all mean being weak, it means being a woman.

Intelligent and Charming Heroes: CHECK

Laurie: He's always been my favorite. He's hilarious and lovable and charming. He grows up from being a lovely young lad to a brilliant young man. He was probably my first fictional character crush and I still love him lots. He is impulsive and ridiculous and often selfish, but he finds ways to overcome these things (with help from the four girls, Marmie, John, and his grandpa).

John: I like him. He was good and proper and just lovely while he was courting Meg. and I just like him a lot.

Original Plot and Unique Setting: CHECK

I listened to this book around six times every summer from fifth grade to seventh grade and absolutely loved it. I had never read any classics before, but this one quickly became my favorite.

Extraordinary Supporting Characters: CHECK

covered above. The great thing about Louisa May Alcott is that none of the characters quite feel like supporting characters. They all had stories and deeper personalities and you grow to love each and every one of them.

Excellent Plot: CHECK

Even with all of the side stories that we are told and the tangents we go down on there is still a overall end to come to. There is so much character development to keep the story evolving and improving.

Quotes:

“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”

“Love is a great beautifier.”

“Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault.”

“...for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.”

“I like good strong words that mean something.”

"I want to do something splendid...something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it and mean to astonish you all someday.”

"I don't pretend to be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal more than you'd imagine. I'm interested in other people's experiences and inconsistencies, and, though I can't explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit.”

"She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.”

“Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…”

“…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.”

"such hours are beautiful to live, but very hard to describe…”

“Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort that is.”

“…Jo loved a few persons very dearly and dreaded to have their affection lost or lessened in any way.”

“He was poor, yet always appeared to be giving something away; a stranger, yet everyone was his friend; no longer young, but as happy-hearted as a boy; plain and peculiar, yet his face looked beautiful to many.”

“…she was one of those happily created beings who please without effort, make friends everywhere, and take life so gracefully and easily that less fortunate souls are tempted to believe that such are born under a lucky star.”

“…on some occasions, women, like dreams, go by contraries.”

"but, dear me, let us be elegant or die.”