joandfriedrich

[joandfriedrich]

Do you have any suggestions for some of the best books about Louisa May Alcott’s life and family? There seem to be lots of biographies about her, and I wondered which ones you liked best :)

To be honest, I often disagree with many Alcott biographies or sometimes I find things that contradict things said in other biographies, which is expected, like you said, there are many. 

I currently only have one LMA biography, which is Harriet Reisen’s “Louisa May Alcott’s Woman Behind Little Women” It is a good read. Some of the things I like about is that it is so far the only biography that actually took a critical take on Louisa’s relationship with Ladislas Wisniewski (you’d be surprised how many biographies romanticize him like people do with Laurie) and his life and his motifs what it came to Louisa. The book also had a pretty detailed description of Louisa’s last years and struggles with fame and mental health. I don’t always agree with Reisen, she sometimes minimizes Louisa’s real-life connections with Little Women. 

What it comes to Louisa’s family one book that I can recommend is Caroline Ticknor’s biography of May Alcott. It is one of the rare books that take a more neutral tone when it comes to Louisa’s and May’s relationship and doesn’t demonize it like many other biographies. It definitely made me appreciate Amy’s character a lot more. There are also quotes from Louisa’s diaries. 

Then there is American Bloomsbury, which is about the Alcotts and the transcendentalist movement. I enjoyed reading the book, it also goes more in-depth into Louisa’s relationship with Henry David Thoreau (which is always my cup of tea). 

Here are some of my all-time favourite Alcott studies: 

Christine Doyle’s “German literature and culture in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women” is a must-read for every Jo and Friedrich fan on the planet, and one of those essays that very thoroughly explained that Friedrich was definitely not an afterthought. It goes very much in depth to LMA’s germanophilia and her obsession with German literature. Doyle manages to trace both Laurie’s and Friedrich’s character arcs from these stories. It is also a wonderful read for those who wish to understand Laurie’s character better and his origins. 

The Alcott’s through thirty years, Letter to Alf Whitman by Elizabeth Bancroft, This essay includes letters between Louisa and one of the real-life Laurie’s Alf Whitman. It also gives a nice glimpse into the lives of the Alcott sisters, and how they pretty much adopted this young boy into their lives  (Alf was quite a lot younger than Louisa, but his and May’s age difference was only two years). Great read esp. for pro-Laurie and Amy fans. 

“Louisa May Alcott’s New American religion” by Gregory Eiselein. This is a very interesting read about Louisa’s religious views and how her worldview was affected by Christianity through transcendentalism and her fascination for Buddhism and other religions in the east.

The cosmopolitan project by Louisa May Alcott by Laura Dassow Walls. This is another awesome read for Jo and Fritz fans. It goes in-depth into the transnational project of the transcendentalists and their views about “the brotherhood between all nations” and Walls describes how Alcott creates this cosmopolitan atmosphere in her novels, within the mixed-race and mix-cultural marriages, which appear very often in her books. 

Wedding Marches By Daniel Shealy. This was one of the first Alcott studies that I ever read and later found out that Shealy is one of the world’s top Alcott scholars. He also made several studies on how Louisa and her publisher Thomas Niles created the “Louisa May Alcott the spinster writer” brand, and how this brand became a burden for Louisa. He has a very realistic take on the marriages of Little Women, it includes very interesting parts from Louisa's writings that handle her (surprisingly pretty conservative) views related to marriage and love. This was also one of the things that led me to believe @joandfriedrich theory on Louisa (and Jo) being demisexual.

Jo Marries Goethe By Meghan Armknecht. If you have listened to my Goethe episodes this is the main source for that. Armknecht shows how Friedrich and Goethe are very much alike and how Louisa May Alcott, indeed married Jo to her favourite writer..and I love it. 

Those were some of my favorites, if you want any of them I am more than happy to e-mail them to you just drop me a note at niinaniskanen@gmail.com (and anyone who is reading this, I am more than happy to share these with you I have collected them for years, especially essays on Fritz and Laurie). 

[joandfriedrich]

louisa may alcott, little women.

[joandfriedrich]

louisa may alcott, little women.

[joandfriedrich]

louisa may alcott, little women.

[joandfriedrich]

The Women Who Have Portrayed Jo March Through the Years

[joandfriedrich]

LITTLE WOMEN (1994) dir. Gillian Armstrong

[joandfriedrich]

Little Women (1994) Dir. Gillian Armstrong

[joandfriedrich]

March Sisters And The Idea Of An Ideal Woman

Interesting look into 19th century ideas of womanhood (and girlhood) and the reality of the March sisters.

[joandfriedrich]

June Allyson as Jo March Little Women (1949) dir. Mervyn LeRoy

[joandfriedrich]

"Dear Madam, I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any that suited me so well as yours. I like to pay my debts. So I know you will allow the old gentleman to give you something that belonged to the little granddaughter that he lost. With hearty thanks and best wishes, I remain your grateful friend, and humble servant, James Lawrence." - Little Women (1949).

[joandfriedrich]

June Allyson as Jo March Little Women (1949) dir. Mervyn LeRoy

[joandfriedrich]

In my previous post, I mentioned "Lessons in Chemistry", and I just have to say, I highly recommend people watch it. It was great, wonderful characters, great arcs, and love the details they put into this.

Also, for those who have watch it, I am curious if anyone feels the same as me, is that Elizabeth and Calvin have some Jo and Friedrich vibes. Not completely, but the same idea that they are two odd balls that are passionate in their work, who support each other, and are not interested in obeying the rules that society sets for them. It's a relationship that begins as friendship (albeit tensely because of a misunderstanding), how they slowly fall for each other, and the fact that neither felt anything like this before and pretty much say they found their soulmate.

Elizabeth has a similar arc the same way Jo has in the novel, and I love that it was done so well and believable.

Seriously though, watch it, it's the best miniseries I've seen in a long while.

[joandfriedrich]

Has any of your opinions on little women changed since you first read the novel?

Yes and no.

What hasn't changed is how much I love the novel, and would even say it is my favorite novel of all time; the fact that is still resonates with me and how much I identify with the characters and their situations.

What has changed is two things. One, the fact that I can understand the references that I didn't get as a kid. And two, how I have viewed certain situations and characters. When I was younger, I obviously couldn't understand fully the feelings the girls had when they grew up, but now I understand their feelings. I only ever identified myself closer to Jo and Beth, but I find that as time passed, I related to all of the girls on different ways.

I related to Meg in her feelings of wishing for nicer things, for feeling frustrated about how people dismiss the work I do, and feeling that I have to set high expectations for myself and meet them in order to make others happy.

I relate to Jo for having big dreams and the struggles that come with them, for feeling like an odd duck, and wishing to find someone who will accept me for all my quirks.

I relate to Beth for her quiet nature, for wanting to help as much as she can but feeling like it's never enough, for feeling as if she must hold everything in because she doesn't want to burden people.

I relate to Amy for being the youngest sibling and being both annoying as well as bullied by my older siblings, for wanting to improve myself, for the way people constantly underestimate me simply because of how I was when I was younger.

I think of this exchange from "Lessons In Chemistry":

"How many times can one person read 'Great Expectations'?"

"You have made the same lasagna dish 79 times."

"That is not a fair comparison. It's slightly different each time."

"Same thing with a great book."

"How is that possible?"

"Cause the book stays the same, but you don't."

That's why I enjoy rereading books, rewatching movies/shows, or relistening music, because it's always something different for me every time, and it's always interesting what new things I can learn about myself when I do.

I hope that answers your question, and thank you for asking!

[joandfriedrich]

“I tell you what. I promise to kiss you before you die.”

[joandfriedrich]

“I don't wanna die. I've never even been kissed. I've waited my whole life to be kissed. And what if I miss it?”

[joandfriedrich]

“I'll come and see you every day. I swear it. You won't be alone.”

[joandfriedrich]

What makes Laurie’s grandfather so rich? Like what kind of company does he run? Is it ever stated?

Sorry it took a while, I had to pretty much re-read the novel, because just googling it gave nothing, or uses info from one of the movies, which is not always the same thing.

In part one, there is never anything explicitly states what his job is, but we learn that:

Obviously gives him a great deal of money. Has a fine house filled with fine things, and when Mr. March is unwell, he writes to Marmee saying that she may "draw on me for funds if expenses exceed your estimate".

It's a respectable business as many people in the upper class have immediate respect for him and the family name.

His business is at different places. When Mr. March gets ill, Mr. Brooke goes with Marmee since Mr. Laurence has "commissions for me in Washington".

In part two, we learn that Mr. Laurence offers John "more generous offers" but John refuses, accepting the book-keeping job because he felt "better satisfied to begin with an honestly-earned salary, than by running any risks with borrowed money."

Laurie is off to college, for what we are not sure, but we find out that the plan was for him to go to college, have a chance to travel around Europe before settling himself in joining Mr. Laurence in his business.

After Laurie and Jo's argument, Mr. Laurence offers to go with Laurie to Europe stating that "there is business in London that needs looking after; I meant you should attend to it; but I can do it better myself, and things here will get on very well with Brooke to manage them. My partners do almost everything; I'm merely holding on till you take my place and can be off at any time."

So far, this is the most telling bit of info of his business. It is so big that it goes overseas, which he at first would have had Laurie take care of. He has partners who are part of this business, which we haven't heard of until this point.

Later, when Laurie takes Amy's advice, he goes to help Mr. Laurence with business and this passage states that on his desk was "bills, passports, and business documents of various kinds".

I have seen it suggested that it's possible that he is in some sort of trading business/is a merchant. It would make sense considering that it's a business that requires more than one location, having partners to keep it going, and could require passports for either cargo or sailors.

What I think is interesting to ponder is this, would people during the 19th century had known exactly what business Mr. Laurence was in based on the clues and therefor did not require it told straight out, or did Alcott purposefully make it vague for some reason?

What do you guys think? Could I be on the right path, or is there another profession you think it could possibly be? Feel free to comment your thoughts!