What would Marmee say about the internet?
On re-reading novels for life lessons, links, and Little Women Fan Fic
There is a podcast I listened to once called, “Harry Potter as a Sacred Text,” – which sounds horribly sacrilegious (perhaps it is) - but I think what they were trying to do is to read Harry Potter with intention, and an openness to being taught and changed. It’s how we read our Bibles - we read the story, yes, but we also are asking questions- What is this saying about the world? What is this saying about me? What is it teaching me? Our sacred texts are true, so they can stand up to this sort of reading.
So much of literary criticism is criticism. We encounter stories with our analytical lenses on, looking for arguments, contradictions, setting the text in its historical moment, analyzing the social dynamics. But when we read books that we enjoy– good books, mind you, solid books– we read them with our hearts. We’re open to them. We’re swept up in a story, and instead of analyzing the characters, we think of them as friends. If they are very good stories, they do teach us things. They tell us things about ourselves, about the world, and about how to live well in it.
I guess I have read Little Women 20 times. The phrases are forever lodged in my brain, “distracting bonbons” “spandy new handkerchiefs” and “capital times,” archaically come out in my writing. I was reading it again this year – it’s a great book to start off your year, since it begins at Christmas and the first four chapters take place around Christmas and New Years – and it struck me again that this is a story that has withstood many a re-read over many years because it is saying something true about the world. I was noticing how fresh the conversations about work, idleness, and contentment seem to be, and how the middle-class Marches (who feel so poor compared to Laurie, but are in fact much richer than the Hummels) get through it. I have not read a modern book like this. Most contemporary books I read for enjoyment* people are “book middle class” which in real-life means Very Rich, or they are “book rich” which means in real-life Very Very Rich. This is a whole book about four sisters trying to make-do and be content, while still fulfilling their personal ambitions. (*I’m not talking about all these authors trying to win Pulizters and being all serious. I mean like, books you read on vacation).
So, for fun, because it's the holidays, and who has time for a serious essay?? Please enjoy some Little Women Fan Fiction. If Marmee had her girls today, what would their trials and tribulations be, and how would she help them cope?
Chapter 4, Burdens
“I wish it was always holidays!” moaned Meg, as she glanced up from her phone where she had just watched yet another reel of Sallie Moffat’s holiday home decor. “I can’t believe I have to go back to school and teach those wretched children tomorrow.”
Amy slouched in her chair, her feet against the wall as she looked up from her phone. “Yes, I was rather dreading Christmas with lame presents this year because of this lame snow-pocalypse blocking all the roads. Not to mention inflation. Uuugh, it’s so dreadful to be poor. Julie from school’s Dad works pretty high up in Amazon and for Christmas they all got to fly to Jamaica! Look!” she cried, waving her phone where turquoise waters flashed temptingly. The wind and snow howling outside seemed all the more icy in comparison.
“But it turned out alright in the end,” said Beth, from the fireplace, where she was toasting her back while sorting out her sewing box. “It was a lovely idea to make presents for each other, and I do think the whole homey celebration was delightful in the end!”
“Yes, but now it’s back to work,” said Jo, pulling her earbuds out and squinting up from the 110th episode of the series she was watching, groaning to think of the nursing home where she worked as a nurses assistant that was waiting for her tomorrow.
“Girls,” said Marmee, coming in from outside with an armful of firewood, “I do believe we’ve had far too much idleness and mindless entertainment. Jo, you’re getting a headache from staring at that screen. Your stories you write and film for us are much better than this series you’re obsessed with. Meg, stop staring at that Sallie Moffat influencer girl. It doesn’t make you feel any better about your clothes. Amy, instead of longing for Jamaica, why don’t you put your creative energy towards making this home as cheerful and breezy as a tropical paradise?”
“We could dig out the flavoured syrup at the bottom of the pantry and make mocktails?” suggested Beth.
“I have been thinking about designing a hammock swing,” confessed Meg. “Since we can’t go out on the porch for another few months, we could hang it in the corner of the living room. It would add to the general relaxed atmosphere of the room. But I don’t have the same fabric I saw online and I don’t want to make something rubbish. We’d have to remember to hide it away if anyone came over.”
“Nonsense,” said Jo. “Rather make something we can all enjoy then wait for the perfect thing. You’ll be waiting forever. We can’t go out on the roads to get more fabric anyway with all this snow. Just do it.”
“Well,” sighed Amy. “I suppose if we swapped out the cushions for the pink ones upstairs, and then I painted us something to go in the corner, and we moved that sofa under the light, it would perk the room up. It does seem rather forlorn since we took down the tree.”
“We could invite Laurie from next door and have an indoor beach party!” cried Jo, sitting up, her hair a wild rats nest from laying on the sofa.
Amy covered her face in her hands, “I can’t believe we are talking about this, this is so lame. No one has indoor beach parties unless they are seven, or they are drunk college students.”
“What would you know about that, Amy,” demanded Jo crossly. “I can write us a murder mystery to solve – that’s it, Murder on the Beach. Or Poisoned Mocktails. Or…”
Marmee smiled from the corner. “There’s my girls. A bit of relaxation is lovely. But too much idleness leads to envy and gossip–”
“And leaves one with a headache,” confessed Jo as she stood up and stretched.
“We may not be able to have a glamorous holiday, or a sponsored fashion account, or an infinitely long tv series,” said Marmee. “But we can still have fun. Our world promises endless options, doesn’t it? The internet has endless choices, there’s always a way to get out of what needs to be done right in front of you. And always someone else who has it better. But, this day, this is the life we have, my girls. Let’s use it. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. Meg, I believe your home-made hammock swing is going to bring far more delight than any picture-perfect project.”
“How like Marmee to get us off our rumps and turn our little moans into a sermon for us,” cried Jo. “Come on you poor afflicted souls, let’s get to work!”
Hey- if you have the substack app, you can hop over there and share your thoughts! We will be chatting about favorite books that stand up to re-reading, and your undying praise of my fan fiction :)
Windhover Diaries
We had a delightful Christmas with family, and the addition of a Christmas tree really DID perk up our living room, so it is still up. We sort of celebrated the 12 days of Christmas this year, and had a 12th Night party with a theatrical reading of A Christmas Carol. We used this children’s version which takes the text directly from Dicken’s work, and it was loads of fun. Hopefully it will become a tradition.
It’s not winter here, but we’ve had lots and lots of rain (record-breaking, floods kind of rain) so all the rainy days indoors have meant we’ve done a lot of our “Northern” traditions this year, like Swedish cookie baking, apple cider, and cozy-time.
Just Beautiful Links
If you missed it, this series on Mary by Elizabeth Berget was very thought-provoking!
This great series on Cozy on Aesthetics of Joy was just spot on. It is a good reminder to think about how I use my space. I can get hung up on all the ways the space is unfinished. But what’s more important is how we are using it, and small changes we can make to use it in cozy ways. Perfect for winter.
Really convicting thinking about mercy and hospitality from Plough. Growing up in the Christian Community Development space, where things are about development, I am pondering what it looks like to show mercy and hospitality when you know things won’t develop or get any better.
I just finished Christie Purifoy’s Roots & Sky. I have read and recommended Placemaker on here… loads. And this book, about their first year in their new Pennsylvania farmhouse feels like it was written for me. Since it goes through the seasons (and starts in Advent) a great read for the start of the year.
My husband and I do a book gift exchange on Christmas Eve. It is always so fun (and stressful!) finding a book for the other person, that they will want to stay up late reading. But this year David got me Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Sout and I recommended it. I love how each chapter was it’s own world and characters but they all inter-linked.
This podcast series on Generosity by The Bible Project. Throughout the Bible we see God portrayed as a generous host, the world as our home. What does it mean to be, like Jesus, at home in the world? To share without anxiety? Challenging thoughts for the new year.