I don't remember if and when I read this book for the first time. Even though I got it for my eighth birthday, I doubt if I could or would have wanted to tackle it then. In any case it's a charming book and there are some scenes that don't make it to the movies, from my recollection given the time constraints. ( )

Recently I saw the musical production of LW and that inspired me to reread the classic, which I hadn't read since I was quite young. My favorite part was encountering outdated language from the 19th century. The book is immensely better than the musical, which preserves the treacle but not the depths of character. ( )

Having seen two of the three versions of the movie, it was definitely an experiment for me to read the book now. I try not to do that but in this case in worked and I put the movie characters out of my mind (I'll discuss how well the movie did in a minute). While long, this book is excellent and a must read, for at least every girl out there. Alcott makes each one of the girls relatable and each girl has one thing or another that I wouldn't mind having myself. Alcott also makes the men in this story easy to fall in love with and makes great cases for why each man is which each girl.

My favorite version of the book is the 1994 version with Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder. Now, having read the book, I can see it is an excellent adaptation, which I rarely say about a movie based on a book. They always get something wrong. They did not in this movie, with the exception of changing the order of some of the events and the way that Beth dies. ( )

I was probably about 10 years old when I tried to read this and I never finished it. I got tired of one of them crying all the time. It left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I've never felt the urge to pick it up again. I enjoyed Little Men much more. ( )

Disclaimer: I have read this book exactly once before. And now for the very unpopular opinion…I didn’t really like it. The first half of the book just bored me to tears, and while Jo’s story definitely picked up in the second half, I still had a hard time getting through the chapters. Alcott puts a lot of emphasis on the morality exhibited by the girls, which by today’s standards seem also comical, and the some of the characters are only one-dimensional and their only purpose is to exhibit goodness. I am curious to pick up Alcott’s other work, though, after giving this a reread. ( )