Do you think there is a difference between reading little women for the first time when you’re young versus… say someone reading it when their older? I think this goes for all books, but I think reading Little women when your older and have more life experiences helps you understand the story better. And help understand the March sisters better.
I absolutely believe there is a difference between reading when you're young verses being older.
When I first read this, I was around 12 years old, and I most certainly saw the story differently. To me, it was a distant story about adulthood, fascinating, but I could vaguely connect to certain things (feelings of being the youngest in the family, Jo and Laurie's friendship reminded me of me and my brother, Amy and Meg's relationship reminding me of me and my sister's) but it was more of a story full of characters I looked up to, wanted to be like. (Most girls at that age wanted to be Jo).
But when I read it though the years, I found myself identifying with different phases that any of the characters were going through; I learned to identify with each of the sisters, and things that as a kid I thought of one way, age made me realize differently.
I didn't think Meg and John's relation was that interesting, but as an adult, I think they are very underrated.
I used to think Jo was absolutely above reproach, but as an adult, I see her flaws and think there were many times she was wrong and deserved to be called out for it.
There are many things that age will help make you see more than you did as a kid. This I think is very true to many stories you read as a kid then as an adult.
I think of this exchange from “Lessons In Chemistry”:
“How many times can one person read ‘Great Expectations’?”
“You have made the same lasagna dish 79 times.”
“That is not a fair comparison. It’s slightly different each time.”
“Same thing with a great book.”
“Cause the book stays the same, but you don’t.”
I think that's also why Little Women manages to remain so relevant and familiar all these years; it's a story about life, growing up, the good and the bad. And it's a story that should be read at different ages of life, in some ways, it helped me get through many difficult stages that made me feel less alone.
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