So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

I am always interested in fan fiction/rewrites of my favorite novels. Sometimes I can be disappointed in really terrible Jane Austen rewrites, but I am always willing to try it. But I'd never read a Little Women rewrite, and when I heard that this was one written about a formerly enslaved Black family living in the freedpeople colony in Roanoke, North Carolina, I immediately was hooked. And I absolutely loved this book. I loved that I learned some interesting history about what happened to enslaved people who became free, and I loved the characters and how Morrow created these versions of the Little Women who were adapted but still recognizable in certain ways. I was really interested in the storyline. There were a few things that I thought weren't super believable--like why would Lorie be content with just being Joanna's friend for forever? And how come the whole family was so well-educated despite just having been freed? I was also kind of hoping for a few of the favorite scenes from the book being adapted to this story, like Jo selling her hair or the big fight between her and Amy. But it was a fun book, I loved the different look at the story set in the Civil War with a black family, and it was definitely worth the read. 

Book #19: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I know this may sound weird to say about a 750-page biography, but I could NOT put this book down. I totally neglected everything around here for the last three days while I was trying to power through the rest of this book because I was just so interested in everything happening with Lincoln. And it's not like I didn't know what was going to happen--it's just pretty regular Civil War stuff, which I remember SOME of from high school--but I absolutely loved the insights that Goodwin provides to Lincoln's character and the men that he worked with in his cabinet. I felt like I really got to know him, similar to how I felt after watching Lincoln (which was in part based on the research from this book, and which I definitely want to watch again after reading this).

Goodwin takes the really interesting tack of studying other people in addition to Lincoln in order to give greater insights into Lincoln's personality and achievements, including the men who were his rivals for the Republican nomination for President and who later were members of his cabinet--Seward, Chase, and Bates. The first half of the book talks about each of these men and their histories and their ambitions to become President, all the way up to the election in 1860. I really enjoyed reading about the different men and their different personalities, and seeing how Goodwin compared them at different points. The second half of the book follows (very closely, in much detail) Lincoln's presidency and how he brought together all of these men, and many other people with differing skills and opinions in order to succeed through the Civil War.

Goodwin views Lincoln as a "political genius" (as the subtitle says) and after reading all of her commentary and the evidence she quotes to back it up, it definitely seems like it. Lincoln was incredibly skilled at reading public opinion and waiting until the exact opportune moment to present his opinions or make a move when it was most likely to succeed (like with how he decided to present the Emancipation Proclamation when and how he did). He knew how to use the members of his cabinet to the best of their ability and to ignore their petty faults to focus on the good they were doing in their positions, and he could universally ignore the personal attacks made on him by anyone in order to utilize their skills to save the Union and support him. That was the most amazing thing about Lincoln that came through this book--what an amazing, charitable, "magnanimous" (Goodwin used this word to describe him or his actions about twenty times; she used the word "indefatigable" to describe Seward about thirty-five times) human being Lincoln was. He was incredibly forgiving towards everyone--people that he knew personally who hurt or offended him, soldiers who deserted the Union who he pardoned, and the South as a whole during the plans for Reconstruction. He was welcoming and kind to everyone who came to him as President and he was patient to a ridiculous point with everyone around him. Everyone (at least, everyone who wasn't crazy) who got to know him and worked with him on a close basis became his lasting and loyal friend because of his generosity.

I loved the emphasis Goodwin placed on his storytelling habits and abilities, and on his literary/writing skills. He told stories almost constantly in his conversation to defuse situations, amuse his listeners, and make a point--it was funny because it seemed like no matter where he went, and no matter what age he was, he was always surrounded by a crowd of people listening to his stories. He started telling stories to his friends when he was a kid, entertained young men around the fire in his friend's shop before he was even a lawyer in Springfield, and would lighten the mood while waiting for telegrams with his aides during the War. Also, Goodwin called him "our only poet-president"--can you believe if our leaders wrote their own speeches today? Everyone wrote their own speeches then; men had to be accomplished orators to be successful as politicians.

He definitely wasn't perfect, but it definitely seems like he was the ONLY person who could have helped the nation weather the storms it went through at that time period, and he was the only person who could have gathered the people around him who helped to solve the problems. He definitely seems like probably the only person who could have responded to so many unfair and ill-willed situations with such graciousness and, yes, magnanimity. It's interesting because one reason he is such a huge public figure is because of his assassination, making him a martyr and instantly preserving him as this larger-than-life person, but he really was an incredibly capable and charitable person beyond just his presidency during the Civil War and his assassination.

I tend to have a very cynical opinion about politics and politicians, but this book helped me to see a little bit about what politicians do (or at least what they DID, but I am sure that some of it transfers still, in generalities) and why it is valuable and why it takes skill. I guess if all politicians were like Lincoln, things wouldn't be so bad in this country.


A few other random notes about this book: I was really touched by Goodwin's description of Seward and Lincoln's friendship and Seward's reaction to finding out that Lincoln had been killed. I loved Stanton and hated Chase--he drove me crazy with his lack of responsibility and obnoxiousness. I feel so sorry for Mary Lincoln, even with all of her craziness--I could never go through all of those trials that she went through without partially losing my mind either.

Book #23: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

I'd read this before, actually. But the last time was probably eight years ago, so I picked it up again and re-read it this week. It tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. Each chapter is told from the perspective of different generals or officers, from both armies, and how the entire battle was planned and happened.

Growing up, I for some reason thought of Robert E. Lee as the epitome of evil, as the general of the BAD SIDE of the Civil War. But everything I've learned about him shows that he was the most amazing person who was absolutely worshiped by his men. This book reinforces that, but also shows how human he really was--the Battle of Gettysburg was a big mistake and his right-hand general tried to convince him out of it repeatedly, but he kept going and ended up losing the war partly because of it. Honor was the biggest motivator in this book, and Lee had to keep his honor by not retreating.

Also, Shaara really emphasizes how many people had friends and family on both sides of the war. All of the men who were professional soldiers, who'd attended West Point (which was pretty much all of the major officers), had served together in the U.S. Army before it broke up into two opposing sides. The saddest story in the book (to me) is Armistead (a Southern general) and Hancock (a Northern general) who were best friends and had planned to meet up after the battle.

I'll be honest--I cried the entire last two chapters describing the final attack by the South. (I think it's the hormones.) It's just so pathetic and sad and awful. Especially when Armistead died--that's what did it for me.

Book #21: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I've been wanting to read this book for AGES. I stole it from my parents' house probably three or four years ago and never actually got around to reading it until this week. I can't believe I waited this long!

The main reason I shied away from it for so long was because of its bulk, of course. It's over 1,000 pages. But it took me fewer days to read this one than Connecticut Yankee did, because I was SO much more interested in this one. I started it on Wednesday and have spent a few hours reading each day since then.

First off, I loved it. The story is awesome. I've seen the movie once, and it pretty much includes EVERYTHING from the book. But the background and internal conflict/thoughts you get in the book is SO much more involving than in the movie. I still did not like Scarlett, at all, even after reading the book, but you can't help being fascinated with her and rooting for her, even as you hate her. (Except for the whole Ashley situation--that just MAKES ME SO MAD.) I love how Mitchell really creates the world of the Southerners and helps you to understand where they were coming from, how they felt about the war, and all that stuff. It's all so foreign and old-fashioned to us, but I felt like she did an excellent job of getting the reader into that.

As a part of that, it's so interesting how the book is so not-self-conscious about the racism and sexism in it, since it was written in the 1930s. The freed slaves in Georgia are really seen as a totally different species, almost. And Mitchell definitely portrays the institution of slavery (and the whole Southern culture) as being so romantic and perfect. All the slaveowners love their slaves and treat them like family, which is so counter to usual slavery portrayals you read in books.

I really did get into the whole book. I kept explaining how interesting it all was to Tommy and talking about parts of the book with him all weekend long. I just cannot get over HOW much I hate Scarlett for trying to steal Ashley from Melanie all the time, and how obnoxious it is that Melanie never believes that Scarlett's trying to do it. And there are ALWAYS people telling Scarlett how lame Ashley is or how dissimilar they are, and she just always replies with, "You don't know anything about him! You aren't worth to wipe his shoes!" and it's SO OBVIOUS that she's stupidly wrong. But it's still awful at the end that Rhett leaves her--you want her to be happy with him because that's what HE'S wanted all along. But I'm still glad he leaves--she needs to be taught a lesson. I think in the END they should get back together, though. In a decade or so.

Also, I wonder if they re-made the movie nowadays, how it would be different. What parts of the book would they leave out? Because they didn't leave ANYTHING out of the book for the 1939 movie--the entire plot is in there. They would never do that in Hollywood today. I'm really interested to see what stuff they would leave out and include--but I don't know if they'll ever re-make it, since it's still the most popular movie of all time.