And suddenly I'm 8 again

[mamadeb]

I'm rereading Little Women, for the first time in years.

And I just read *that* chapter. You know the one. The one most of us read again and again when we were eight or twelve, the one that always made us cry, which was why we read it.

And I'm crying. And it's not the maudlin "beautiful death" or the loss of the character.

It's Jo. I can feel every bit of her pain.

I know LMA didn't like writing "girl's books", and she got heartily tired of the March family, but there are *things* in that make it timeless in ways that, say, Under the Lilacs , never could be. Like not going with the obvious, "right" romance.

And it can still make me cry and be eight again.

Comments

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. So right.

But you know, I took my son to the doctor one time when he was three and mighty sick, and the doctor said, "He's got scarlet fever," very calmly, and I said,

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"[wail]But that's what Beth died of! In Little Women!" I was petrified.

"It's just strep throat with a rash," he said, and wrote a prescription for baby penicillin. The little guy was fine the very next day. (Kept taking the med for a week, of course.) It's amazing how times change!

P.S.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

But I liked Little Men better, when I was a kid. I must have reread it, like, a million times.

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

My sister died when I was 11 and she was 13. Little Women was one of the biggest things that helped me get through that grief.

And every single time I read the scene on the stairs between Jo and Laurie, I still say, "Jo! Don't be a fool!" Even though I know she'll end up happily.

One of my favorite, favorite books ever.

[cheshyre]

Little Women is the reason I've never gone for the nickname "Beth"

[vass]

You know what really gets me? The needle that was "so heavy". Every time.

[gittygiggles.livejournal.com]

which chapter? i saw the movie. i guess i shoudl read the book now that i'm an adult.

[indigocat.livejournal.com]

My favorite was The Eight Cousins.

When I read Little Women now, it's Jan Brady I see when I imagine Beth. And of course, I won't mention who I see as the Professor.

[lizliz.livejournal.com]

When I was in third grade, I took Little Women out of the school library because it was the biggest book they had. I can't even begin to figure out how many times I've read it over the years. And *that* chapter always makes me cry!

It's funny to think of the stories we enjoyed as they'd be viewed in the fandom practices of today -- we'd have the Jo/Laurie 'shippers fighting with the Amy/Laurie 'shippers! And of course, imagine all the stories about Laurie and his "tutor" (ahem) John!

And along with the needle that was "so heavy," the line that always killed me was, "The birds came back in time to say goodbye to Beth."