This is a book that I read endlessly while I was young. It was one of those books that comforted me. It was a book where I felt I knew the characters, and they were people that mattered to me. It was a book where I was so happy that it was long and that it had illustrations. I think one reason why I loved the book so much is that, despite their idiosyncracies, these were characters who loved each other and who sincerely tried to help each other through challenging times. I also liked it in the book that people's destinies often seemed to fit their nature. There wasn't a cookie-cutter checklist to their lives. The decisions they made often reflected their spirit.
Jo was my favorite. She was the writer. She was the one who loved to read. She longed to be true to herself, and she was devoted to her family. Katherine Hepburn played Jo in one of the film adaptations, and she seemed to me to capture the spirit of this character. I'm trying to erase from my memory banks that June Allyson was also cast as this character in a later version of this book.
I don't know how many times I have read this book. Much of it feels burned in the brain. Some of it is silly: Amy and the limes, the burned dress and the single glove, the clothespin on the nose. Much is precious: a beloved piano, a sacrifical hair cut, the wonder of a man named Professor Baer. I think it is a book that I will soon have to read again.
