March: A Novel | Geraldine Brooks

March: A Novel | Geraldine Brooks | New Insight

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March: A Novel

	March: A Novel Geraldine Brooks Viking Adult, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 147 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I loved this book!

I loved this book. I lead a book club and this was our reading selection for this month. It was interesting to read the online reviews and see the reaction of my own group. It seems that those who were able to take this book and read it as an entity within itself, appreciating the amazing skill of this author in weaving this tale, loved the book. Those who were emotionally attached to Little Woman and who could not (or would not) separate it from this book, found it a total departure from the characters developed by Louisa and simply could not appreciate the beauty of this story. What a shame. I do agree with the "haters" that I don't feel Louisa would ever have developed her characters in this direction. Her books were the dream of the ideal family and human spirit. This book dealt with the harsh realities of our human nature in a blatantly honest manner. I am so glad I traveled through time with this author. I plan to read her other book Year Of Wonders and can't wait till I'm in the midst of the black plague with this amazing craftsman of character and plot. Read this book with an open mind and you will enjoy the journey!

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New Insight

I really liked this book and give it five stars for creativity, guts for extending a classic and writing. Brooks is an excellent writer. The notion of using Mr. March from Little Women, who we know so little about, was very ambitious. And yet Brooks did not overdo, March was a believable character and so was his wife. I think it is very hard to extend the personality of a character from a dyed-in-wool classic and takes confidence, creativity and very carefully writing.
I like how she gave a different perspective, at least for me, on the Civil War regarding March's religious orientation. I had not thought about that.
I look forward to reading her other books.

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Historically accurate and well researched! Go into this with an open mind!

After just finishing the book, I'm torn between loving it and hating it. The part of me that hates this book is that childish part deep inside of me that wants Mr. March, Marmee, and the March girls to remain exactly as I always imagined them---a happy, angelic, old-fashioned Christmas village come to life! Frolicking in the snow, sharing Christmas dinner with the poor, learning Christian lessons of charity, patience and humility at their mother's knee... I think most of the bad reviews on here come from people who want to hold on to that image of the 1860's as a better time. While I didn't want to see the dark side to the March family, I have to admit that no family is perfect and open my mind to what Brooks brings to life in MARCH.

Brooks worked very hard on research for this book--not just by reading LITTLE WOMEN---but by reading autobiographies and first hand accounts from the time. I rolled my eyes in anger and annoyance at Mr. March as a strict vegan...until I read the afterword and saw that Alcott's own father really was a vegan and started a community for other vegans! Who knew that vegetarian ideas were around even then? Granted, Little Women makes no mention of vegetarianism, but I think adding it to March helps us to see how far and how seriously Mr. March takes his ideals. The characters are all well developed and I could sympathize with Mr. March and hate him for clinging to ridiculous ideals all at the same time. Marmee also has a voice (and a personality--gasp!) for a few chapters where we get to see her temper (only hinted at in Little Women) and understand the struggles she is going through. All of the characters in the book come across as HUMAN, something I really value in fiction.

I won't give this book the last star for a 5 star rating for several reasons: 1. Brooks made Marmee's real name Marmee....it just bothered me. Why would her daughters call her by her first name? 2. For a clergyman, Mr. March had no real belief in God. He had ideals, but they weren't Christian ideals, and Brooks never gives him comfort in his faith. In fact, he hardly ever considers God, Christ, heaven, etc.! A real clergyman would get his strength from his faith, but Brooks' Mr. March is just a bumbling atheist trying to fill a Christian role. To me, this was a glaring mistake that runs throughout the entire book. Little Women was Christian, and the sequel (told from a preacher's perspective) should be the same. 3. Mr. March's almost-affair with Grace. It stood out from the story like a sore thumb and it didn't make sense for either character to go there. I kept hoping it wouldn't turn into a cheesy bodice-ripper (and it didn't) but it did lead to a ridiculous scene of a jealous and angry Marmee confronting Grace and demanding to know what happened---then after hearing the truth, saying, "Oh, I guess I can understand why he did that." Huh?

Even with these problems, the rest of the book is well written and well worth reading! Keep an open mind, remember that everything you're reading has been researched and actually DID happen during the Civil War, and enjoy discovering another side of Little Women.

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Soul Searching Read

March is a soul searching must read. Share this humanities lesson with your older kids, family & friends. Even though this is the sequel to Little Women (which I never read), it didn't matter as it stands on it's own. Read this book & pray for history to NEVER repeat itself.

dark, interesting and well written

March is a great book, but it definitely leans toward the modern ideology that there are no true heroes, and search as hard as you can you will find no person in this book that is a hero. At some points you will think you have, but you haven't.

If reading that has made you somewhat depressed, this book will do that for around 300 pages. It is well written, but too dark, to gray and not very much light. It is a good read, but not great.

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