Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4762 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 526 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781402714580
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

No Illustrations!!!! Advertising misleading
Sure the story is great (as it would be with any version) and this version does have the nice print and book mark, however, the advertising suggested to me, at least, that there would be several illustrations. There were none except silly chests with each little woman's name engraved on them at the start of each chapter.

Do not select this book if you are looking for an *illustrated* version. The Illustrated Junior Library version is well illustrated and at least as high quality a printing.

By the way, read the sales copy above to see how misleading it is. Just for that reason, consumers should eschew this version, and Amazon should have them change it.

From "Little Women" to "Good Wives"
Louisa May Alcott wrote many books, but "Little Women" retains a special place in the heart of American literature. Her warmly realistic stories, sense of comedy and tragedy, and insights into human nature make the romance, humor and sweet stories of "Little Women" come alive.

The four March girls -- practical Meg, rambunctious Jo, sweet Beth and childish artist Amy -- live in genteel poverty with their mother Marmee; their father is away in the Civil War. Despite having little money, the girls keep their spirits up with writing, gardening, homemade plays, and the occasional romp with wealthier pals. Their pal, "poor little rich boy" Laurie, joins in and becomes their adoptive brother, as the girls deal with Meg's first romance, Beth's life-threatening illness, and fears for their father's safety.

The second half of the book opens with Meg's wedding (if not to the man of her dreams, then to the man she loves). Things rapidly go awry after the wedding, when Laurie admits his true feelings to Jo -- only to be rejected. Distraught, he leaves; Amy also leaves on a trip to Europe with a picky old relative. Despite the deterioration of Beth's health, Jo makes her way into a job as a governess, seeking to put her treasured writing into print -- and finds her destiny as well.

There's a clearly autobiographical tone to "Little Women." Not surprising -- the March girls really are like the girls next door. Alcott wrote them with flaws and strengths, and their misadventures -- like Amy's embarrassing problem with her huge lobster -- have the feeling of authenticity. How much of it is real? A passage late in the book portrays Alcott -- in the form of Jo -- "scribbling" down the book itself, and getting it published because it feels so real and true.

Sure, usually classics are hard to read. But "Little Women" is mainly daunting because of its length; the actual stories flow nicely and smoothly. Don't think it's just a book for teenage girls, either -- adults and boys can appreciate it as well. There's something for everyone: drama, romance, humor, sad and happy endings alike.

Alcott's writing itself is nicely detailed. While certain items are no longer in common use (what IS a charabanc anyway?), Alcott's stories themselves seem very fresh and could easily be seen in a modern home. And as nauseating as "heartwarming" stories sometimes are, these definitely qualify. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, Alcott is a bit too preachy and hamhanded. But her touch becomes defter as she writes on.

Jo is the quintessential tomboy, and the best character in the book: rough, gawky, fun-loving, impulsive, with a love of literature and a mouth that is slightly too big. Meg's love of luxury adds a flaw to the "perfect little homemaker" image, and Beth just avoids being shown as too saintly. Amy is an annoying little brat throughout much of the first half of the book, but by her teens she's almost as good as Jo.

"Little Women" is one of those rare classic novels that is still relevant, funny, fresh and heartbreaking today. Louisa May Alcott's best-known novel is a magnificent achievement.

A readable classic that still makes girls cry
This was one of my favorite books as a child -- and even now, the chapter "Dark Days" (and other parts, too!) make me cry. I NOW find the character of the mother ("Marmee") and her constant moralizing annoying; but it's still a great book. And little girls still read it and weep over it (I volunteer in schools and meet a lot of kids).

I think this is because the characters of the girls and Laurie are so real and the book has so much more heart than many things published now; but who knows? At different times in my life, I've liked each of the sisters (except Meg) the best and think this is quite common though most of us first like Jo. At any rate, I believe in the characters and find the book touching...even when I'm annoyed by Marmee! I just ignore her moralizing as I probably would have tried to do in real life if she had been my mother.

Two facts: If you visit Boston, you can go to Concord and see one of the houses where Louisa May Alcott lived -- it's now a museum and furnished as it would have been in her day. And the conversation in my novel BLOW OUT THE MOON about Litle Women, Jo, and Amy is one of the things that happened in real life just as it does in the book.