Hopefully by now everyone has had a chance to read Little Women and also see the new adaptation by Greta Gerwig. If you haven’t or if you really don’t care about this work of art then go away and find some cute dog pictures somewhere.

Here are some of my thoughts on the book (feel free to disagree, it’s still a free country at this moment):

• The character development is straightforward and evident. Come at me if you don’t agree. Amy goes from being a little monster who’s responsible for burning Jo’s first strike at a novel to being a confident and self-aware woman willing to marry for money (to support her family – it was a different time so go easy on her) to an even more self-aware woman who decides to marry a slightly less amount of money because she loves the man. Don’t get me started on Jo and Meg. RIP Beth; she was always perfect.
• I listened to a fairly cheap audio version of the book this last time I read it (via Chirp) and even that was enjoyable to listen to. Alcott’s way with language makes even the most mundane sentences and plots sound interesting and uniquely beautiful. If you’ve only read the book and have never listened to it read aloud, do yourself a favor and spend $5 to listen to it while you do your own mundane tasks.
• The men in the novel seem to be atypical of the time. I’m not a huge historical fiction girl myself but I’m comfortable enough with the brief period of time from 25,000 BC to 2010 where the patriarchy was ripe and women’s rights were the thing of comedic cartoons. Every single man in this work is respectful of our little women’s dreams. Even when Jo is haggling with the newspaper guy he can clearly see through her ruse and knows she’s selling her own stories but he’s still respectful and doesn’t call her out on it. The chivalry! The gusto! I love it.

Obviously I have a lot more to say about the book but these are just some general thoughts on it. If you want to read something a bit more analytical then I highly suggest you check out a new website called “Google” and see what you find.

Thoughts on the 2019 adaptation:

• 2 hours and 15 minutes isn’t enough
• While I really enjoyed the movie (REALLY ENJOYED it), it simply couldn’t stand up to the book. I didn’t expect it to but I want to make sure any reader who goes in hoping for those same warm fuzzies obtained from reading the novel isn’t let down. This is a movie. The novel is a collection of individual stories with some underlying threads and relationships to follow. Most of those stories can’t make it into the movie so don’t be disappointed when Amy’s dinner/tea party isn’t on the big screen.
• Those outfits are amazing. I have some patterns that I’ve been waiting to try (hardware issues) and now I just can’t wait. Ruffles for life!
• There were 2 separate instances where I teared up. If you don’t know me intimately then just let me tell you that doesn’t happen often (rarely in public, almost always because of a dog if it does happen). The group of women next to us cried a regular monsoon.
• Go see it. Take a friend if you have one. Sneak in your dog if you don’t.

That’s all I’ve got. Go see the movie. Reread the book or listen to the book. Check out Chirp if you haven’t yet. You’re welcome.