Little Women (Midway)

Little Women- Louis May Alcott

So far, I'm actually really enjoying this book!  Considering it was a classic and I don't typically  reading these types of books to begin with, I was a little skeptical about me liking it at first, but not anymore.

The book begins with the March sisters complaining about their poverty, because of their inability to get Christmas presents. They end up pooling their money and getting presents for Marmee, and serving their breakfast to a family who is worse off than they are. This starts a string of lessons that they are taught through the course of a year. (Midway point leaves off a year later, on Christmas) The sisters, despite being plagued with their seemingly important problems, learn about how love should be valued over money, as well as how to deal with the problems they face throughout the year.

One of my favorite parts of the books is the dialogue and how the characters speak.Yes, I know it was written in the 1800's and they had a completely different (and more formal) way of speaking then we do now, but it's still fun to see the differences. For example, these commonly used phrases which would never be heard today:

"Dear me, how romantic" (61).

"Mercy on us, what has happened?" (114).

"I was sorry about Meg, and begged pardon like a man"  (207)

Okay, so they might be heard, but definitely not in a teenager's everyday vocabulary.

Besides the dialogue, my other favorite part of the books is the personality traits of the March sisters and how they all vary. When the reader enters the world the March sisters live in, these differing personalities make it easy for the reader to connect with at least one of the sisters.

But one of my favorite quotes, thus far was when Marmee said, "Rich or poor, we will keep together and be happy in one another" (44). It held true in the 1800's when this book was written and it still holds true now. So far, a lot of Marmee's little life lessons that she teaches the girls (and the readers through the girls) is how wealth does not correlate with happiness. The sisters all think that they will be content with wealth, when in reality that is not true. The books shows that happiness comes from love and family instead of something materialistic like dresses and money.

Right now, I'm anxious to see if Beth gets better, because she never fully recovered from her Scarlet fever. And Mr. March, we can't forget about him. I want to see the romance between Meg and John. Also, I really hope Laurie and Jo end up together because lets face it, that's how every story like this ends.  But the dumb people who think the March family is only using the Laurences for money need to be quiet. They don't know the situation between Laurie and the sisters and can't judge. I can't eait to keep reading and see what happens next!