Little Men & Jo's Boys (Wordsworth Children's Classics)

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Now, my lad, give us a little tune. We want a violin in our band, and I think you will do it nicely.”

In the Introduction of Louisa May Alcott: A Biography, author Madeleine B. Stern states that “Louisa May Alcott was throughout her life a professional author skilled in creation and the re-creation implicit in revision.” [15] Alcott's works borrowed “as source material episodes from her life, her observations, her travels, her experiences, [and] her reading.” [16] Alcott’s legacy remains in her depiction of life and her devotion to family. [17] Her overall work is considered, “neither of Hell nor of Heaven, but of a multitude of stories in a variety of literary genres, ranging from fairy tales to realistic war sketches, from sensation thrillers to domestic sagas.” [18] Analysis [ edit ] Miss Jo March, the beloved character from Little Women—now Mrs. Jo Bhaer—fills her home at Plumfield with boys in need of guidance, an education, and, above all, affection. The children are full of mischievous and amusing lards in each chapter. Discover with the Plumfield household how, despite some disastrous events, “love is a flower that grows in any soil [and] works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow.” Mine’s Tommy Bangs; come up and have a go, will you?” and Tommy got upon his legs like one suddenly remembering the duties of hospitality. Look out for Little Women—now a major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep! My child, you have got a father and a mother now, and this is home. Don’t think of those sad times any more, but get well and happy; and be sure you shall never suffer again, if we can help it. This place is made for all sorts of boys to have a good time in, and to learn how to help themselves and be useful men, I hope. You shall have as much music as you want, only you must get strong first. Now come up to Nursey and have a bath, and then go to bed, and to-morrow we will lay some nice little plans together.”Beard was shipped to boarding school at the tender age of eight. Many years later, and in the midst of a pandemic, he returned, both in person and in memory. Some fond memories of his time at school remains, and admits that he "was good at the stuff that mattered - at lessons, emotional repression, and rugby." However, he remembers most of his time at school with disbelief and horror. Disappointing, really. I can get behind the premise and Beard is writing from personal experience, but he's got his nose squished right up against his subject (literally: he's wandering around the grounds of his own school during a pandemic mismanaged by his braying contemporaries who are undoubtedly proving his point on a national scale). It's of course biased, and also very repetitive; the research is hard to take seriously (frequent references to a few documentary films and the 1972 biopic Young Winston, thought there is a bibliography), the tone is aggrieved throughout, organisation is scant and the syntax is sloppy. It might have been better as primarily a memoir with a bit of theorising, or as a proper investigation with some psychological, educational or other expert evidence. It's not a particularly pleasant or even juicy read and I don't find that he offers anything new. His real name is John, but they call him Demi-John, because his father is John too. That’s a joke, don’t you see?” said Tommy, kindly explaining. Nat did not see, but politely smiled, and asked, with interest,— Then she won him to tell her all his troubles, and listened to the little story with tears in her own eyes, though it was not a new one to her. As she talked, Mrs. Bhaer had whipped off Rob’s clothes and popped him into a long bath-tub in the little room opening into the nursery.

So why was this harsh upbringing so revered? Beard explains that the "most convincing reason to go to a private school remains to have gone to a private school, with the prizes that are statistically likely to follow. Want to be a senior judge? Sixty-five per cent of them had the same education that helped form almost half the country's newspaper columnists and two out of the last three prime ministers." You are all so kind—and it’s so beautiful—I can’t help it,” sobbed Nat, coughing till he was breathless.One of the main models for Friedrich was Henry David Thoreau (in fact he appears in multiple disguises in all of Alcott´s novels). Louisa attended Concord Academy where Henry and his brother John were teachers. Some of the elements in Friedrich´s character that come from Henry in Little Men, include Friedrich using phrases such as "gods garden". Friedrich has given all children their own little garden spots, which is something that Henry did as well. In the same way as Jo and Friedrich, Henry and Louisa often went to long walks together. Henry was a naturalist and his interest in the natural world can be seen in Little Men in Dan Kean´s character. Nat held her hand fast in his, but had not a word to say, and let his grateful eyes speak for him, as Mrs. Bhaer led him up to a big room, where they found a stout German woman with a face so round and cheery, that it looked like a sort of sun, with the wide frill of her cap for rays. Guess we do; a jolly band, all boys; and they have concerts and things. You just see what happens to-morrow night.”