Thursday, February 02, 2006

She is too fond of books...


She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. (1873)
~ Louisa May Alcott ~

My parents recognized my love of reading early on as evidenced by our stop at Louisa May Alcott's home and the Alcott School of Philopsophy in Concord, MA in November 1972. I was four years old and Mom was already reading Louisa's masterpiece Little Women to me. It wouldn't be long until I would read it myself. As the years when by, I would get in trouble for reading by the nightlight when it was way past bed time. I did a senior thesis in my cultural history class on the impact of Louisa May Alcott's literature on American girls in the 20th century. Not a winter goes by that I don't reunite with Jo, Amy, Beth and Meg. Their sisterly love and friendship warms me, gives me hope and the courage to conquer.

Always for me, there is comfort in repetition. I'm constantly revisting my old friends in beloved books. Currently on the stack are:

“We read to know we are not alone.”
~C. S. Lewis ~

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