As a child, how many times did I read this book? Literally dozens of times. Growing up in a family with many sisters, it was easy to imagine myself Jo, with sisters Meg, Beth, and Amy. Like Jo, I loved books, and would hide away in a corner (or often high up in the apple tree), and read for hours. I read mostly library books, and owned a few special ones -- one was Little Women. So when I ran out of library books, I would just read it again. And again. And again. Tonight I was lucky enough to catch on television the 1933 movie with Katherine Hepburn. I still never tire of this simple, lovely story.
2 comments:
Somehow I read Little Men and Jo's Boys as a youngster, but never Little Women. Then the Winona version came out, and with it an adapted version of the text. I read/ heard a number of interviews with the adapter, who said something along the lines of "making the language easier for modern readers" and "clarifying vague points."
At this the recovering English major in me got interested and so I rad the original and both. Much as it breaks my heart, I do understand that some of Alcott's vocabulary might be beyond today's kids.I wish we used dictionaries (well, I do) but...
On the other hand, the "clarifications" were travesties. If you can't figure out that the bird flying out the window has something to do with death, the fact that you never hear anything about that character again should be a dead giveaway.
I hadn't heard of the updated version. One of the things I loved about the book, as a child, was the odd (to me) language and the use of words such as "fortnight". I think my love of language began way back then.
Did you have a favorite book from your childhood?
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