Best known for her book ‘Little Women’ Louisa May Alcott,
wrote 32 books and numerous magazine articles. The second of four daughters of transcendentalist
Amos Alcott, Louisa grew up listening to her father’s friends Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau share their ideas about
life and nature.
While many family friends were wealthy, the Alcott family struggled
with poverty. Louisa and two of her sisters had to work to help support the
family. The sisters were primarily
schooled by their father with only her youngest sister being able to attend
school.
Her most famous books, Little Women, Little Men and Jo’s
Boys, written over a twenty year period were based on her family with parallels
that allow the reader into Alcott’s life. Her main character Jo was based on
herself. She wrote about many of her
life experiences including the marriage of her older sister and the death of
her younger sister in her work.
Little women is a literary favorite that lends itself well
to the big screen. Each film version focuses on different elements of the book.
It’s a fun project to read the books then watch all the movies and compare
them: Little Women 1933 with Katharine Hepburn as Jo, Little Women 1949 in Technicolor
with June Allyson as Jo, and Little Women 1994 with Winona Ryder as Jo.
9 comments:
Nice post, I've not read the book, but have seen 2 of 3 versions. The oldest and newest...both very enjoyable. I like your idea though of reading the book, then watching the movies in turn. Wouldn't that be a good girls wkend thing to do. Though I guess people would have to read before hand.
A-Z
Yes, A lovely girl weekend!
Hi Kate. You picked my first favorite author (and book). Thanks for following my blog! Also joining yours.
This brings back so many memories. When I was in seventh grade Louisa M Alcott's book called "An Old Fashion Girl" was given to me as an award for getting the second highest aggregate percentage in my report card.
I haven't seen any film versions, but this book was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing this!
nanmock.blogspot.com
Ah, Jo. She was one of the few girl characters of my childhood who helped me believe that there was more than one kind of girl in the world. :-)
I've nominated you for the Liebster Award. You can pick it up and read all about it at my blog, Don't be a Hippie. Here's the direct link: A Sweetheart of an Award
That must have been an interesting group of adults to listen to as a young girl. I didn't really read Little Women but my sister loved the book.
one of my favorite authors...i quite enjoy the book and all the movies! :D
What a good post, Kate. I didn't know all the background information about Louisa Alcott. Wonderful post--and nice to "meet" you. :-)
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