March | Geraldine Brooks | A captivating novel with a different point of view...

March | Geraldine Brooks | well deserved award winner

books:

March

	March Geraldine Brooks Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 142 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A captivating novel with a different point of view...

I absolutely love reading texts and then 'counter-texts' (like "Jane Eyre" and "Wide Sargasso Sea") where the author sheds light on a not-so-major character's point of view. This is exactly what I was looking for in the novel March.

I was a big fan of Louisa May Alcott when I was little (and still am!) In fact, my parents held a birthday party for me at the Alcott House in Concord, MA when I was 6 or 7. I loved the story of Little Women and had fond feelings for Mr. March but I never got a sense of who he really was beyond being the admired patriarch of the family.

Ms. Brooks' novel, March, presents an extremely interesting story from his point of view as he builds a family and then leaves them to involve himself in the Civil War as a chaplain. The character development is tremendous. Mr. March is presented as an often flawed but sensitive man who experiences a great deal of tragedy, conflict and love. As a reader, you feel an immediate connection with him.

I was very pleased that I ordered this book and I highly recommend it for all readers..even those who have no prior knowledge of Little Women.

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well deserved award winner

Interestingly, I read Year of Wonders ages ago and never picked this up even though I LOVED her earlier books. I thought if I wasn't so hip on recalling Little Women and remembering their story, that I'd be lost. I was WRONG. This is a delightful and incredibly written book and there is no need to be a Little Women addict. This book touches the heart on right versus wrong, war, relationships of friendship and love, slavery and so much more. Great read!

A Poignant Awakening

Truly a brilliant book. Well-deserving of the Pulitzer Prize, and a welcome addition to this category of conflict history.

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self-important protagonist

I just couldn't like this protagonist. He seemed very self-involved & self-pitying &, in being so, sacrificed those around him. He never quite comes to the realization that others suffer without moaning & groaning about it or torturing the ones around them. Historically, it barely scratched the surface, which was disappointing.

Books on CD are great; March is not!

I do like to listen to books on CD. If one is driving alone, it makes the time go faster.

When I started listening to this story, the first thing that confused me was why a story about the Civil War and the March family (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy of Little Women fame) was being read by someone British. If British equals erudite by the producers of the book on CD and perhaps the author, they are misguided. The quality of the CD and the packaging was very nice but then there was the story. It's about the little women's father. The author attempts Alcott's style and falls distressingly short. The story itself has a lot of holes and is pretty contrived. I wish I had brought another book on CD from Amazon instead of wasting my money on this one.

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