Little Women – Illustrated Review

Back during Christmas holidays and over January 2020, I experienced Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for my Book Club – I say experience because I read the book and watched both the 1994 and 2019 movies. I’m typically not a fan of the classics but Hayley, a friend in my Book Club, has consistently picked books that I …

1. didn’t know about,
2. completely loved, and
3. opened up my intellectual world a little more.

So while I was prepared for Little Women to feel old-fashioned, I gave it an open-minded approach. And I was blown away!

The Book Review

First, I found it very comforting – a family of interesting women who are both strong and soft and are also appreciated for their talents and personalities by their community. Halfway through the book, I had a revelation that it was very modern and reflected parts of my current reality.

Originally published in 1868, Alcott addresses some of the struggles and contradictions of life that women contemplate today. I found the discussion of married life, artistic endeavours balanced with family, and meditations of grief and death to be particularly relevant and Alcott shared much wisdom.

I feel that conversations of current events, like climate change, used to have a vibe of “humanity has never experienced anything like this” and this narrative makes us feel that we are alone and left to figure out the great unknown. But I, more than ever, am looking to history and seeing that this is not true and there is much to learn from the experiences of previous periods of history. We have to listen and learn better. And Little Women is a great example of learning from history in the form of literature.

Our Book Club discussion was fantastic. Louisa May Alcott’s personal history also came into the mix, which was fascinating.

The Movie Review

I enjoyed the movie directed by Greta Gerwig. It was great fun to compare the 1994 movie to the 2019 version and how the book was approached differently depending on the historical moment.

I sketched this comic in the movie theatre and then painted it the next day. It was my first solo movie date and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

After this experience, I’m suddenly into Jane Austen movie adaptations too. What is happening to me?!