A Classical Confession

If you know me at all, you know that I love to read, especially the classics. Give me a Jane Austen, and I could tell you every plot, character, love interest, and bad guy. Give me Charles Dickens, and I could tell you that A Tale of Two Cities is amazing and that Great Expectations is just what the title implies: it expects you to be a great reader because it is hard! The Bronte Sisters, L.M. Montgomery, Dumas, Forster, and Gaskell -- I'm a fan of all. However, being the avid reader that I am, I admit that up until recently I have never read the classic of the classics, Little Women. I know! How can you have read them all if you have never read Little Women?!?! Usually when I confess this small fact I am met with wonder and shame. That I have never read the book is inexplainable and unpardonable. I have tried to read it at least twice before. I was never able to get past 30 or so pages. It was just too boring or too something or other for me to go on. Well, I had a resolve to finally read it. At the beginnning of this last school semester I stuck the book into my backpack thinking that anytime I'd get bored with studying, I'd pull it out and read it instead of the textbook. It happened occasionally, but not often. Progress was slow or completely nonexistent. When the semester ended I was going through my things and found the poor paperback, and little worse for the wear but still unfinished. I had had a goal to read this book once and, by george, I was going to do it!! Well, a month later and I finally finisihed! And I'll tell you what, it is one of the best books I've ever read. I laughed, I cried (a lot), I loved and learned many lessons about life. So many good things come from this book. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner. But now I have and am the better for it.