Little Men by Louisa May Alcott - Review

Book Synopsis: With two sons of her own, and twelve rescued orphan boys filling the informal school at Plumfield, Jo March -- now Jo Bhaer -- couldn't be happier. But despite the warm and affectionate help of the whole March family, boys have a habit of getting into scrapes, and there are plenty of troubles and adventures in store.

My Review:

"For love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive."

4/5 stars. Little Women is one of my favorite novels of all time, so I was excited to read the sequel and see my favorite characters again. While the beloved March sisters from the original weren't in here as much (except Jo), I fell in love with a whole new cast of characters. This book had the same charming humor I love from Louisa May Alcott, great themes, and a unique group of boys. However, in general, it felt a lot more dated than Little Women. It also had a lot more chapters that felt unnecessary to the plot. While it doesn't live up to the quality of the original, Little Men is a great addition, and I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Right from the start, the humor jumped off the page and reminded me how much I missed Alcott's sense of humor and writing style. I laughed out loud many times at the matter-of-fact descriptions of the boys' antics. Alcott just has such a way with words that add to the charm of her novels.

A small detail I wasn't expecting but loved was the inclusion of characters with physical and cognitive disabilities. While those terms obviously aren't used, and some outdated language is used, the descriptions of characters like Billy Ward and Dick and Dolly clearly points to disability. The fact that they are included at all, let alone treated with respect by both the author and characters, is a sign of how ahead of her time Alcott was. It's not the best representation, but it's inclusion during a time when that was not the norm at all.

The Christian themes in this book are much more prominent than they were in Little Women, which I loved. I especially adored the scene early on with Demi telling Nat about Jesus. Besides explicitly Christian messages, there were great themes about morality and education with the way Jo and Mr. Bhaer ran Plumfield. I loved how they encouraged the boys' talents and let them make some money. I also loved how they taught them moral lessons as well as academics. Some might say the book is too preachy, but I found it refreshing.

While they don't quite live up to the March sisters, the characters in this novel were so fun and lovable. They all had their flaws, but they learned from their mistakes and from each other and grew over the course of the story. Nat and Dan were clearly the main ones, but the other boys (and girls) at Plumfield were memorable, too. I got attached to them all and loved seeing how they cared about each other in their own ways, despite their squabbles.

As for the characters from Little Women, I wish we saw a bit more of them. Jo and Mr. Bhaer were obviously very present, but I wish Laurie, Amy, and Meg made more appearances. It was fun to see them again when they were featured, but I was missing the dynamic between the sisters and Laurie. Amy, especially, was very missed.

One praise I had for Little Women was that it was so easy to read and made me often forget I was reading a classic. That wasn't the case with Little Men. There were a lot more run-on and clunky sentences, which made it slower to get through. The edition I was reading also had a lot of typos, some of which made certain sentences very confusing. Little Men is a lot more clearly a product of its time, especially with some of the historical accounts and outdated terminology.

Content:

Language: D*mn, but shown as a bad word that shouldn't be said; some outdated, negative language about Native Americans

Sexual Content: None

Violence/Gore: A character dies, but it's not graphic at all; the boys get into physical fights and get hurt

Drugs/Alcohol: Smoking and drinking, but shown as negative