I'm a day late with this discussion post, I know, and I apologise. I should have been able to make my post yesterday only that I had a guest over and was busy the whole day.
As I mentioned before, I'm really enjoying my ride through Alcott's Little Women. Sometime last week, I came across a blogger who found she could not finish this book since she found it too good and sweet. I suppose one could make a complaint of that. But for some reason, this does not seem to bother me. I feel like I'm getting a glimpse into a way of life of ordinary folk during Alcott's time. And sometimes one needs to read something that isn't depressing. I do find myself wondering, though, about Alcott's state of mind or views about women at this point. I still find it so hard to believe, while reading Little Women, that she also wrote Behind a Mask (an amazing little novel by the way…powerful!). However, I will leave this thought for another day, and move on to a quick summation of my feelings on the next eight chapters I've read for this read-along.
I love how this novel is episodic in nature and so detailed. There is so much we learn about each character and we grow to love them for themselves….even Amy! While each episode seems to have a moral attached to it, I find that I don't mind it at all! Some times a person needs to be reminded about the simple things of life and, in a world where everything is fast becoming amoral, I guess we need to be reminded about morality. I think, perhaps, my favourite chapter among these we've read is The P.C. and P.O.. I enjoyed those little tid-bits that the sisters, posing as the Pickwick crowd, wrote for their paper. I also couldn't help but wonder at how creative people had to get to keep themselves occupied without things like the tv, radio, computers, video games, and I found myself wishing that we had such an opportunity to really use our brains and creativity! With machines being so much a part of our lives we are almost becoming brain dead!! I was reminded of the times when my sister, cousin and I would spend weeks getting ready for our summer holidays as children. How? We would write songs that would fit the rhythm of a trains that we might sing them during the long hours of the journey! And the stuff we used to come up with in order to fill our summer days with fun. I pity children who don't know how to do those things any more, and even we didnt have as much to go as our parents did (I love listening to their childhood stories…they sound like something out of Enid Blyton!).
I'm also really excited about the whole Brooke-Meg business. When Meg began noted that only one of her gloves had been returned I thought to myself 'Ah ha! Mr Brooke!'. 
Jo's reaction to learning of the latter's interest in her sister really surprised me. But then she is still a child, not wanting to grow up yet, and that's understandable. The whole Rigmarole game in Camp Laurence was simply hilarious. I loved how each addition was so different from the others, so spontaneously showing the age, gender and temperament of each participant!
I would like to go on a bit more, and like last time list the books mentioned in these chapters. However, I'm in a bit of a hurry with this post. My mum just called to say she would be here in ten minutes, and I'm really excited! Also, I need to get things ready to welcome her. I'll likely fill in the extra details in next week's post.
Hope you all had a lovely time reading these eight chapters. What did you think of them? Do you find yourself getting more involved with the characters? Do you find things are too sweet and moralistic? Or is it just fitting? Do you feel nostalgic while you read this novel? Tell me all! 
Posted with Blogsy
