Book #9: "Little Women"

When I was almost thirteen (as in maybe four or five days before my birthday) my mom found me reading a manual to a video game (the one that came in the box. Probably a Sega Genesis game, which tells you roughly how old I am which is not really part of this story.) She said to me, "What in the world are you doing?" I replied, "I've read everything I own a bunch of times." (Not true anymore, but this was a long time ago and I didn't own nearly as many. Which IS a part of this story-in general, anyway-but not so much this particular installment.)

ANYWAY. My birthday rolled around and my mother handed me three books: "Dr. Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak; "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens; and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. She then said, "I figured as long as you were reading everything you could get your hands on, you might as well be reading something worthwhile."

So I went to work. I couldn't get into "Dr. Zhivago" and eventually gave up-I don't even know what happened to that copy. I tried and tried to read "Great Expectations" (more on that story later) and couldn't get more than halfway through.

But "Little Women"-that became a lifelong love affair for me. I had actually read a Reader's Digest-esque version of the story in elementary school, so I was at least familiar with the story. Imagine my delight when I discovered those familiar passages, surrounded by much more! I identified mostly with Jo (the reader and writer) and Beth (the musician), and I read it so much that I wore out my copy and had to replace it (a few times. My current copy is hardbound and therefore sturdier.)

My sophomore year of high school, a girl in my Spanish class told me the drama department was holding open auditions for the stage production of "Little Women". I auditioned for Jo, would have played Beth, and was surprised to be cast as Meg, whose sweetness and docility had certainly never been MY defining characteristics! But it was nonetheless a thoroughly delightful and educational experience, and if ever I was to make a list of titles that really made me who I am today, this would be near the top of the list.

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Potentially objectionable content: If you don't like references to God and the Bible every tenth page, this is really not the book for you.