I enjoy how Louisa describes Geoffrey Moor and Adam Warwick, the two love interests of heroine Sylvia Yule through comparing and contrasting how they respond to similar situations. Here's one scenario: Sylvia lost her mother at an early age and she has grieved throughout her young life over that loss. She first meets Adam Warwick …
Need book recommendations about Transcendentalism
I would like to read some basic books on Transcendentalism and its famous writers (Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Fuller, etc.) that are not too scholarly (for now) just to get a better, objective idea of what the tenants of it are. I had started reading American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever and was enjoying it but after …
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The Conundrum that is “Moods”
I'm about a third of the way through both versions of Moods and have concluded that this book is a total mess! Now don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it, but considering the capital Louisa May Alcott had as a famous author, you have to wonder why she didn't just release the book the …
Ever pictured Louisa May Alcott as a Lego? This and other fun tidbits
I have a Google alert set up that sends me new links every week to anything relating to Louisa May Alcott. Just for fun, I thought I'd share some of the interesting links with you. The Vintage Book of American Women Writers It, of course, includes our own LMA . . . this looks like …
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Book Review: Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever
Susan Cheever has offered the latest in a flurry of books about Louisa May Alcott; hers is titled Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography. In a little over 250 pages, she sketches out the life of the popular author of Little Women. Cheever's book is an easy read, with a writing style that is very …
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Gaining a new understanding of Louisa May Alcott’s “Vortex”
Dictionary.com had several definitions for the word, "vortex" which I thought were interesting: 1. a whirling mass of water, especially one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool. 2. a whirling mass of air, especially one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado. 3. a whirling mass …
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The always adaptable Louisa May Alcott
Following up on my last post, one of Susan Cheever's footnotes referred the reader to Madeleine Stern's tour de force, Louisa May Alcott: A Biography, and the outstanding chapter on Little Women. I read Madeleine Stern's book several years ago and and it still remains one of the best books I've ever read. Now voraciously …
Little Women – the grand accident
I really loved what Susan Cheever had to say in her chapter on Little Women in Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography. I had found myself wondering why Little Women was the standout book from this prolific author, seeing that it was written under such duress, and I think Cheever really hit on it. Here's …
Louisa May Alcott’s spirituality, and her better self in Sylvia Yule
Finishing up chapter V in the 1864 version of Moods ("The Golden Wedding"), I walked away with two thoughts, regarding Louisa's spirituality and her romanticized self in Sylvia Yule. Louisa May Alcott's Spirituality I want more than ever to write a longer treatise on the spirituality of Louisa May Alcott. Although she did not belong …
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Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 