Little Women

' I felt so rich, so happy thinking of my blessings ' 

Title: Little Women

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Publisher: Bantam Classics (1. Mai 1983) 
Digital version: Little Women

On occasion of there being a new film about Little Women, I want to give you an insight on what I think about the two books.

The first volume of Little Women is absolutely superb! 


Plot

Louisa May Alcotts novel is about four March sisters (Meg, Jo, Amy, Beth) in the times of the American Civil War with them being poor and their father serving as pastor far away in the army.
The girls are shown growing up while trying to be good in order to make their father proud, once he returns. Though many hardships are thrown in their way and the girls are struggeling themselves, they take to a boy, who lives next door. Staying there only with his gradfather and servants, he is lonely and the four sisters and their mother brighten up his life and in their simple ways teach him, what true values are.


Review

Although the novel was written under influence of an extremly different society than nowadays, the topics brought up are still contemporary. Especially through social media and apps like Tinder, vanity and shallowness are supported and it is difficult for young girls growing up to resist the temptation of being and doing as everybody else does, just like Amy is.

Also the story is so skillfully and lovingly written, that it is impossible not to love the March family and the boy Laurie. And as the sisters are so different from each other, every person can find their own features in one ore several of the girls, so that the story becomes even more personal. 
Furthermore, with the girls overcoming their flaws, the wish of succeeding in being good as well developes and turns the moral of the story into an everyday task.
With this in mind, I like how this task is visualised in the book by the pilgrim journey. It turns the hardship of patiencen and constantly trying to be good, sometimes failing and sometimes succeeding in a progress and looks at it from a more joyful side: as a game. And as a game, which can be played together, which is a nice metaphor. To develope, to be good and to get better you need supportive people, who remind you of your flaws, but also help you with problems and most importantly love you despite of any fault you may have.

Another reason I like the novel is that love radiates from every written word. The connections all of the family members have with each other is so close and passionate to warm your heart. Even in a dispute the appreciation for each other is clearly felt and all of this creates such a cosy atmosphere for everybody to feel at home in this story.


The second volume sadly isn't nearly as good as the first.


Plot

The sisters are older now and the most prominent thoughts at their age are about marriage and settling down. The little birds leave the nest to discover places, people and ways beyond their neighbourhood. As life goes on, the girls try to make out, who they actually want to be and what they want to do with their lives.

Review

*Spoiler-Alert!*

The problem I have with the second part of the story, is that it feels like the peace and quite of the March family has to be stirred up again although the previous ending seemed fine to me and left nothing missing. It seemed wrong to see 'my girls' struggle again, when I had left them so happy.
For example the death of Beth doesn't make any sense to me. I am aware that Louisa May Alcott probably tried to process her own feelings concerning the death of a younger sister, who died of scarlet fever aswell, but in considering the plot it just did nothing for the story, but bring sadness. Perhaps that's just how life sometimes is: sad and senseless, but it threw a gloom on the whole story and I really wasn't ready to part with Beth.
And not only Beth's death saddens the story, overall I miss the warmth of the family closeness. As every girl goes her own way, they seem not only physically more detatched from each other and the family not as whole or happy as before though their love for each other is still evident.
On the whole, I just had the feeling that the plot did not flow as naturally as in the first part and even seemed tedious to me at some points.Parts of Amy's or Jo's letters just couldn't grab me as much.
Also I find the 'happy ending' is not as satisfying as is wished for. There are some unexpected turns to the story, but as I find not for the better. So even though at the end everybody is as happy as expected, I didn't enjoy the last words as much as expected.


So to conclude my opinion on the books, I would read the first part of the book and leave the rest to your own imagination!



Also I'm really not sure, if should go to see the new movie or not. 
On the one hand, some roles are performed by great actors like Emma Watson (oh yes, I love her so much!) and is supposed to be really good, but on the other hand I'm scared of being disappointed of how the book was made into a movie. I fear that some dialogs, scenes or moments, important to me, could have been neglected and cut out.

What do you think?