Title: Little Women
Author: Louise May Alcott
Narrator: Nicol Zanzarella
Published: January 2020 Kobo Originals / September 2005 Barnes & Nobles Classics (First Published September 1868)
Length: 19 hours / Hardcover, 477 pages
Source: Audio – via the Library / Print – Personal copy
Summary:
Little Women is the delightful story of the four March girls and their approach towards womanhood.
Meg,
the eldest and most beautiful, shrugs off her vanity and social
ambition, discovering fulfillment in romantic love. Boyish Jo on the
other hand, with her contempt of all “lovering”, turns impetuously
towards writing for solace. Gentle Beth rejects worldly interests,
preferring to devote her life to her family, to the joy of music and to
timidly aiding all who suffer in life. Amy, the youngest and most
imperfect of the March girls, continually tries to overcome her
selfishness and girlish pretensions, though he has a hard task before
her.
The progress of these four “little women” is narrated along
the lines of Bunyan’s pilgrim, and we are shown how – encountering
struggles and learning important lessons along the way – each one
attains her own Celestial City.
My thoughts: I’m not quite sure how I never ended up reading this book when I was younger, but I do remember seeing the movie countless times, so when I saw that a friend was hosting an online bookclub for it, I knew it was finally time. And December could not have been the more perfect time to read this book. Even though I actually own a copy of the book, I decided to listen to it and what a treat – this book translates so well into the audio and because I am familiar with some of the story, it was great to listen to while writing out my Christmas cards!
Of course, the book is much more detailed than the movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I laughed, I teared up, and I found myself watching the bond between the sisters grow and change as they all grew up and found themselves.
I am glad I finally read this book and can see myself reading it again, maybe not every year, but definitely a few more times. This is a book that I think you get more out of with each read.
Audio thoughts: I thought the audio version that I selected – just a random pick from what was available from the library – was good. Not the best, but not the worst. I think the next time I pick this book up, I will definitely go with another narrator – maybe one of the audios with a cast of narrators or at least someone with a little more enthusiasm. I will say, at times, it was hard differentiating who was speaking and I had to refer to the book and that’s a bummer when that happens.
