March

I was not terribly impressed with March by Geraldine Brooks. As a novel that provided the story of Mr. March at war it was mildly interesting. I thought the civil war camp scenes were well done. But all in all the book is certainly not worth of being associated with Little Women.

I thought the characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were a little contrived and more seamy than those which could have molded the characters of their daughters as written by Alcott.

Maybe it was just too big a glimpse at the Godless world of Emerson, Thoreau, and others epitomizing the Enlightenment for me. I prefer not to believe Papa was away at war committing adultery, or that Marmee was a vicious-mouthed zealot who slandered Calvinists at every opportunity. She is depicted as having all Jo's faults and none of her virtues.

I'm really glad I read this one first, and saved Rhett Butler's People for last. I'm only about one third into it, and I'm enjoying it. After this I suppose I'll need to read Gone With the Wind. I had seen it on TV as a youngster before I ever knew great movies came from great books.