Birthdays Today

There are a couple of notable birthdays today...and yes, you need to know about them. They are...

Louisa May Alcott

November 29, 1832 - March 6, 1888 -- today she is 180

You know her because she wrote Little Women and Eight Cousins among many others. 

C. S. Lewis (or Clive Staples Lewis)

November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963 -- today he is 115.

You know him because he wrote the splendid Chronicles of Narnia (seven books) and others, like Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce. 

Madeleine L'Engle 

November 29, 1918 - September 6, 2007 -- today she is 95. 

You know her because she wrote A Wrinkle in Time and Meet the Austins and others.

Movie: Little Women

 

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Genre: Classic, family

Series or set: Of course, the book has several sequels and the story continues, but there aren’t sequels to this particular movie version. 

Primary actors: June Allyson, Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor

Length: About two hours

Based on: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Time period: 1800’s, Civil War

Year it came out: 1949

My overall opinion: This version of Little Women is a fun one. The dresses are delightfully swingy and poufy, and the actors are good. Jo is perfect. Having Elizabeth Taylor as Amy is interesting…she’s not quite right, but she does a pretty job over all. One annoying thing, well, actually, two…the girls don’t grow at all through the whole movie. Not really. And Beth looks and sometimes seems younger than Amy – Amy does a lot of speaking for her, and Beth seems like a youngest child. Which she wasn’t. So that was a mite annoying too. However, we love this version for one scene that always sends us all into gales of laughter – Laurie getting pushed off a rock after trying to romance Jo. It’s hilarious, and the biggest thing we always remember. I really like the version and recommend it! 

Left to Right: Beth, Meg, Jo, Amy. 

Day 24 – Books

Six Favorite Classic Authors

Classic books are some of the best ones out there. And naturally, that makes their authors some of the best ones out there too. J Note that Jane Austen isn’t mentioned here…I definitely consider her one of the best, but she’s been talked about so much on here, that I’m not including her here.

#1. Baroness Emmuska Orczy. She wrote most notably The Scarlet Pimpernel, a long time favorite of mine. She also wrote sequels for it, including The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel among others.

#2. L. M. Montgomery. Best known for Anne of Green Gables. She wrote a lot of other books as well, all delightful. Find more about her from when I had L. M. Montgomery Day! Herself, her books, the movies of her books.

#3. J. R. R. Tolkien. He wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, along with some other smaller books. Learn about him from J. R. R. Tolkien Day! Himself, his books, the movies of his books.

#4. Louisa May Alcott. Known for Little Women. She also wrote Little Men, Jo’s Boys, and more. Eight Cousins is a favorite of mine.  

#5. C. S. Lewis. Especially notable are The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven book series. He wrote a variety of other books as well. Learn more about him from C. S. Lewis Day! Himself, his books, the movies from his books.

#6. Alexander Dumas. Known for writing The Three Musketeers. Also wrote other books, including The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Movie: Little Women

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Main characters: Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy

Genre: Family, life

Primary actors: Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne

Length: 2 hours

Based on: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Time period: 1800's

Exciting events: Life in general for them. :)

Quote(s): Go here to read some. :)

Year it came out: 1994

My overall opinion: I like this version a lot. It sticks to the book fairly closely. I don't really like Laurie or Mr. Bhaer, but the girls are all about right...with the possible exception of the older Amy. It's a pretty timeless story, and definitely a good movie version.

Under the Lilacs

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Children's book, childhood, growing up, kids

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 302

Time period: 1800's

Main characters: Betty, Bab, Ben, Miss Celia, Thorny, others

Exciting events: Things getting lost... :)

Passage from book: The elm-tree avenue was all overgrown, the great gate was never unlocked, and the old house had been shut up for several years. Yet voices were heard about the place, the lilacs nodded over the high wall as if they said, "We could tell fine secrets if we chose," and the mullein outside the gate made haste to reach the keyhole, that it might peep in and see what was going on.

My overall opinion: Isn't that quote (the opening lines) just classic Alcott? :) This was one of hers that I hadn't read before, but it's style is very similar to her other books in some ways. Anyway, this is a sweet children's book, that pre-teens will probably enjoy the most. I liked it. :)

The Inheritance

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Romance

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 177

Time period: 1800's

Main characters: Edith Avelon, Lord Percy

Exciting events: A wicked cousin!

My overall opinion: It was a good book and I enjoyed it. Not a hard read, but interesting.

The Lost Stories of Louisa May Alcott

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Short stories, romance

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 162

Time period: 1800's

Main characters: Depends on the story

Exciting events: Also depends on the story

My overall opinion: I read somewhere on the book that these are the type of stories that "Jo March is described as writing." It's quite true. Some are tragedies, usual tragic love stories. You get the idea. They were... weird. But good. Some I enjoyed, some not. Overall, recommended, but not a must-read.

An Old-Fashioned Girl

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Family, childhood

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction.

Time period: 1800's

Main characters: Polly, Tom, Fanny

My overall opinion: I enjoyed this a lot more than I had thought I would! I recommend reading it.