Little Women (Classic, Children's, Audio) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Little Women (Classic, Children's, Audio) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Product Details

Audio Cassette
Publisher: Penguin Audio; Abridged edition (January 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014086203X
ISBN-13: 978-0140862034
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces

By : Louisa May Alcott
Price : $3.99

Customer Reviews

Like the previous reviewer, I was surprised to find that he book I had been occasionally rereading for over 50 years was NOT the original novel. My own copy, much loved and well thumbed, has been with me since I was a ten year old. I bought the Kindle version just to have it in my portable library, since I thought I knew it almost by heart. To my surprise, when I started looking it over, I found that the book was not the same at all. My original copy must have been "modernized" at some point. All of the familiar passages were there, but there was a great deal that I didn't remember reading before. Some of that was a specifically Victorian kind of moralizing, but there was also some expansion of the story.. I'm not sure that I would have appreciated it all when I was younger, but I found it a delight to read now, as an example of a book of its times. Now I'm going to download the rest of the Alcott catalogue and see how it compares to the books I thought were the originals when I read them many years ago. This was still an exemplary book. It will always be one of the classics.

I was so, so looking forward to reading "Little Women" to my daughter, so she could be caught up in it as I was at an early age. I particularly chose the "Whole Story" edition because of its broad margins, easy-to-scan pages, and charming illustrations and margin notes that add historical texture to the story.
Imagine my shock to discover that at the end of THIS edition, Jo has not written a book, Amy has not gone off to Europe, Professor Baer has not made an appearance of any kind and....you'll never believe this....Beth is still carrying on a conversation (I'm trying not to spoil the plot of the real thing here).
That's because, apparently, "Little Women" was initially published in two parts ("Little Women" and "Good Wives"), which are generally published as the same book. Whole Story has chosen to stop at the half-way point, so much of the story you remember, loved, cried, and laughed over is just not here.
Imagine getting only the first half of Tom Sawyer...leave him stranded on the island forever!
I feel completely conned. It's a five-star story - make that maybe even a seven-star story - but it's a one-star edition.