March
by Geraldine Brooks
2005, 273 pp.
2006 Pulitzer Prize
Rating: 3.5
I really wanted to love this book, but I ended up only liking most of it and despising parts of it.
March tells the story of Mr. March. You know, the father in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. We didn’t know much about him from Little Women, and really, maybe we were better off that way than reading Brooks’ reimagined version. I did not like her “version” of Marmee, either.
Some of this book is extremely well done. The civil war scenes and the descriptions of the plight of the slaves were excellent. The characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were not. Although they both do have their admirable moments, their “reputation” is severely tarnished in this book and neither is very likable at all. Their “conflicts” felt like they were from a soap opera. I am not one who cares for soap operas and certainly do not wish to feel like I’m “reading” one in a Pulitzer Prize winning book.
I recommend it solely to those who like to read “prize winners” or to those who are Little Women enthusiasts. But be warned: you may wish you did not have these new visions of the Marches competing with the original.
- katrina – April 20, 2007
- I actually quite enjoyed this book when I read it last year, I think that it helped that although I remember Little Women fairly well I seem to have no recollection of the parents.
Hmmm. I am slowly re-reading Little Women (through http://www.dailylit.com) and honestly don’t love it. I had wanted to read March to perhaps strengthen my like of LW, but now I’m thinking I’ll move it down the list. Thankfully, I don’t own the book yet.
I’ve never read Little Women, but have seen several renditions of the movie. I loved March. I thought it portrayed a brave man, unprepared for the horrors of war. I think the writing is beautiful, the story bitter sweet, the main characters real.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, 3M. Have you read Brooks’ Year of Wonder? I have it on my shelf waiting to be read.
I really liked Geraldine Brook’s other book… title totally escaping me right now… A Year of Wonders… well, I think my mind went to sleep for the night.
I am here ostensibly to visit your Once Upon A Time post, but I want to comment that I couldn’t agree more with you on March. What a sore disappointment! I am a very compuslive reader, and I couldn’t even get half way through it. I was so discouraged at the lack of character that Brooks created in Mr. March, when all my life the Little Women have been held up as paradigms of behavior and belief. Usually I like the Pulitzer’s, but this was a terrible choice in my opinion.
Yes, it was nothing glorious or spectacular. I do think we felt exactly the same about it!!
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[...] was Geraldine Brooks’ first novel. She is the also the author of the Pulitzer winner March, a fictional account of Mr. March from Little Women. I read March earlier [...]