Anyone who has a Polyanna view of how the negroes were freed from slavery and just automatically became free to live their lives like the white people should read this book. It is a sobering look at both sides of the Civil War. Which makes me wonder how and why it is known as the "Civil" war. Nothing civil about it.
The pain and suffering endured by the colored people transitioning over to freedom as told in this book has given me a new respect for their struggles. It truly is a shame that what those people accomplished has been downgraded and dragged in the mud by the colored people of today who act like hoodlums rioting and destroying property and lives around them. They do a disservice to their heritage. Or has that pain been so deep and strong that even today it cannot be overcome by those living today.
The Civil War ended but the divisiveness of slavery has left an indelible mark. Those of us who have lived in the north all our lives can never truly understand those who lived in the south then and now. We should though respect their struggle.
Those who pick up this book thinking it will be a genteel continuation of Little Women will either be disappointed or rudely awakened. The characters are very human and very much alive. March has gone from the view of those involved with saving slaves escaping through the underground railroad to the upfront and personal view of those slaves who were still dealing with life in the south. He tries to follow his religious beliefs and is left with a feeling of guilt for what he could not accomplish and at times caused.
I may go back now and read Little Women, something I have never done. But this book will certainly color my perspective of the characters.
Well, first of all, this was nothing like Little Women, though written as a companion to it. It was much harsher and realistic. I found it difficult to read and had to give up reading it before bed because it kept giving me nightmares.
Yes to your comments about how the former slaves were slaved and the (not so) Civil War.
I think we may have had a similar conversation after an earlier book about rioting? At least it seems familiar to me. I do not think that the current rioting is a degradation of the history, but rather a continuance of it. When their stories are ignored and the issues are overlooked, how else to get attention? Sometimes it takes extreme behavior to be heard. This echoes one of the conflicts in the book over whether there needed to be violence to overthrow the slave system.
I like what Brooks did with this book in general, but I dislike the way she's changed our understanding of two of the characters of Little Women (Marmee and the father). I just can't like Mr. March in this book. It isn't his affair with Grace, which I can understand, it is his self-absorption. Even when he is fighting for others, it somehow becomes all about him. He only returns home because he can't be with Grace and "help" the Black populations recover at the end of the war. For all he is supposed to be selfless, everything he does is laced with selfishness.
And Marmee! Okay, so she is not so very distant from the Marmee of Little Women, but she is certainly much more of a hell-raiser in this book and less the patient and faithful Marmee. I guess I don't dislike her portrayal as much.
This reminds me of several other books I've read lately (Gin and Chowder Club, for example) where there are so many mistakes made through lies. Are there times when lying to a love one is best? I really don't think so because the truth somehow always comes out and then the break in trust is often worse than if the truth had been told right away. I think Marmee and Mr. March have a lot of heartache and trust issues to work through when he comes back that could have been avoided.
I did like that Brooks showed that not everyone was fighting the war over slavery. The Civil War had so many issues at stake, with slavery just one, and yet the others are often overlooked and it is simplified to a tale of the brave, just North fighting to the evil overseers of the South.
Overall, this was much more violent (of course), realistic, and depressing.
2 comments:
Anyone who has a Polyanna view of how the negroes were freed from slavery and just automatically became free to live their lives like the white people should read this book. It is a sobering look at both sides of the Civil War. Which makes me wonder how and why it is known as the "Civil" war. Nothing civil about it.
The pain and suffering endured by the colored people transitioning over to freedom as told in this book has given me a new respect for their struggles. It truly is a shame that what those people accomplished has been downgraded and dragged in the mud by the colored people of today who act like hoodlums rioting and destroying property and lives around them. They do a disservice to their heritage. Or has that pain been so deep and strong that even today it cannot be overcome by those living today.
The Civil War ended but the divisiveness of slavery has left an indelible mark. Those of us who have lived in the north all our lives can never truly understand those who lived in the south then and now. We should though respect their struggle.
Those who pick up this book thinking it will be a genteel continuation of Little Women will either be disappointed or rudely awakened. The characters are very human and very much alive. March has gone from the view of those involved with saving slaves escaping through the underground railroad to the upfront and personal view of those slaves who were still dealing with life in the south. He tries to follow his religious beliefs and is left with a feeling of guilt for what he could not accomplish and at times caused.
I may go back now and read Little Women, something I have never done. But this book will certainly color my perspective of the characters.
Well, first of all, this was nothing like Little Women, though written as a companion to it. It was much harsher and realistic. I found it difficult to read and had to give up reading it before bed because it kept giving me nightmares.
Yes to your comments about how the former slaves were slaved and the (not so) Civil War.
I think we may have had a similar conversation after an earlier book about rioting? At least it seems familiar to me. I do not think that the current rioting is a degradation of the history, but rather a continuance of it. When their stories are ignored and the issues are overlooked, how else to get attention? Sometimes it takes extreme behavior to be heard. This echoes one of the conflicts in the book over whether there needed to be violence to overthrow the slave system.
I like what Brooks did with this book in general, but I dislike the way she's changed our understanding of two of the characters of Little Women (Marmee and the father). I just can't like Mr. March in this book. It isn't his affair with Grace, which I can understand, it is his self-absorption. Even when he is fighting for others, it somehow becomes all about him. He only returns home because he can't be with Grace and "help" the Black populations recover at the end of the war. For all he is supposed to be selfless, everything he does is laced with selfishness.
And Marmee! Okay, so she is not so very distant from the Marmee of Little Women, but she is certainly much more of a hell-raiser in this book and less the patient and faithful Marmee. I guess I don't dislike her portrayal as much.
This reminds me of several other books I've read lately (Gin and Chowder Club, for example) where there are so many mistakes made through lies. Are there times when lying to a love one is best? I really don't think so because the truth somehow always comes out and then the break in trust is often worse than if the truth had been told right away. I think Marmee and Mr. March have a lot of heartache and trust issues to work through when he comes back that could have been avoided.
I did like that Brooks showed that not everyone was fighting the war over slavery. The Civil War had so many issues at stake, with slavery just one, and yet the others are often overlooked and it is simplified to a tale of the brave, just North fighting to the evil overseers of the South.
Overall, this was much more violent (of course), realistic, and depressing.
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