Day 04 → Your favorite book
Nov. 11th, 2009 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16Well, I could say Harry Potter but I wouldn't want to pick one specific out of the seven and I don't feel it's right to name the whole series. Unlike Narnia or Lord of the Rings, it's never been combined into one huge book. Thus, my favorite book is...
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I've read it three times and each time, it means something different to me. It's not the text, it's me. I know that and yet it feels rewritten each time for what I'm going through at that moment. Of course, my favorite character is Jo: the writer who dreams of bigger and better things than her town and poorer family. It's also set in the Victorian period, one of my favorite eras except from an American perspective so it has the backdrop of the Civil War, but it plays such a minor role in the proceedings. It's more about gender roles and the kind of thinking that led to prohibition and women's suffrage as well as striving for what you believe in vs following the status quo.
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled
Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at
her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of
pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy,
with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth
contentedly from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened
at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly,
"We haven't got Father, and shall not have him for a long time."
She didn't say "perhaps never," but each silently added it, thinking
of Father far away, where the fighting was.
Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone,
"You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this
Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone;
and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when
our men are suffering so in the army. We can't do much, but we can
make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am
afraid I don't." And Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully
of all the pretty things she wanted.
Also, the 1994 version is my favorite film version. It's an AWESOME cast and where I first fell for Christian Bale as a twelve year old.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I've read it three times and each time, it means something different to me. It's not the text, it's me. I know that and yet it feels rewritten each time for what I'm going through at that moment. Of course, my favorite character is Jo: the writer who dreams of bigger and better things than her town and poorer family. It's also set in the Victorian period, one of my favorite eras except from an American perspective so it has the backdrop of the Civil War, but it plays such a minor role in the proceedings. It's more about gender roles and the kind of thinking that led to prohibition and women's suffrage as well as striving for what you believe in vs following the status quo.
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled
Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at
her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of
pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy,
with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth
contentedly from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened
at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly,
"We haven't got Father, and shall not have him for a long time."
She didn't say "perhaps never," but each silently added it, thinking
of Father far away, where the fighting was.
Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone,
"You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this
Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone;
and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when
our men are suffering so in the army. We can't do much, but we can
make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am
afraid I don't." And Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully
of all the pretty things she wanted.
Also, the 1994 version is my favorite film version. It's an AWESOME cast and where I first fell for Christian Bale as a twelve year old.
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Date: 2009-11-11 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 02:41 am (UTC)And I agree about the 1994 movie. I adore it! It's one of the movies I watch when I feel like crying because it's so bittersweet....Beth's death always makes me cry. Actually, in the book when Beth dies, I cry, too. It's the ONLY book that has ever made me truly cry. It's just that good. <3
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Date: 2009-11-12 02:53 am (UTC)Actually, my first BIG book was Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, lol.
Did you ever see the episode of Friends that involved Little Women?
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Date: 2009-11-12 02:58 am (UTC)No...if I did see that episode, I don't remember it...
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Date: 2009-11-12 04:28 am (UTC)But I love it, Rachel finds Joey's copy of The Shining in the freezer so then they challenge each other to read the other's favorite book which means Joey has to read Little Women...
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Date: 2009-11-13 02:41 am (UTC)