Last evening Jeanette and I went to see "Little Women" performed by local actors. The two hour presentation was excellent. When I was ten years old I was given the book "Little Women" (my italics are not working, need help) and read it over and over. Books were few and far between at our house although everyone in the house from my aged grandmother on devoured the daily "Peoria Journal Star."
I read the book so often that had an actor forgotten lines, I could have prompted easily. The book has many inspirational thoughts and the lives of the characters show much that is admirable. But years later I was disappointed when I learned that Mr. Alcott, Louisa's father, was a Transcendentalist and hobnobbed with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They no doubt were men of principle, but they rejected the authority of the Bible and hence God's way to get to heaven.
"Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson was another oft read book given to me by Aunt Angela Hemmer, when Mother, Chuck and I visited them in SanDiego in 1940. We saw Ramona's
marriage place, which made the book come alive. The book, based on fact, is the tragic story of Ramona, half Spanish/half Indian, in the days when the Spaniards treatedthe Indians mercilessly. Ramona fell in love and married an Indian, much to the disgust of her heartless distant relative/guardian. For the rest you will have to read the book.
5 comments:
I also enjoyed "Little Women" as a kid. Glad you got to see the play! Meg was always my favorite - so gracious and kind. I had a very bad temper as a child and she intrigued me because she was patient and always seemed "in control."
Interesting - I do see similarities in our four girls to their four girls!
Who is your favorite character in Little Women?
I loved to read as a young girl (and still do) but that is one bok I never read. I think I started it once, but couldn't "get into it". Maybe I'll get it at the library and try again. But I did read every Nancy Drew mystery!
I re-read Little Women about 5 years ago and just had to force myself to finish it. I read it a long, long time ago, but this time I kept wondering why Mom likes it so much. I made it through because it is a classic, but it was pretty brutal for me.
Sorry, Mom!
I read "Little Women" years ago too, and remember liking it, but couldn't tell you a lot about it now. One of the first teen-type books I read featured a girl who felt put-down when another rival girl would say "Hello, there." Now THAT silly detail has stuck with me, and whenever anyone says "Hello, there," to me, my mind analyzes the comment to see if I am being insulted. Of course not, it's just a greeting of habit.
You are right; parts of the book are endurance tests and can be gotten past rapidly. Also I found Jo's melodramtic plays to be laborious. I loved all of the characters because of their apparent wholesomeness and yet very normal actions. I wanted to whip Amy at times, loved Meg's love story, emphathized with Jo in New York and wept for Beth. I liked their happiness despite being poor (to Meg and Amy's dismay).
And so my comments on "Little Women" are ended!
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