Started listening to my audiobook and the person narrating is doing voices for everyone…I don’t know how I feel. Do most audiobooks do this? I feel like when I listened to HP this wasn’t a thing. Most of the other audiobooks are nonfiction so there’s no need for voices.
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Depends on the narrator.
Stephen Fry does voices for the UK HP; I’ve read a few other excellent readers that do multiple voices. Some readers don’t try at all, and some try and it doesn’t go well.
The only other audiobook I’ve listened to that did voices was a romance novel read by a woman, and when she tried to do the main male character’s voice I just absolutely could not. Apparently if it’s smut I need to read rather than listen 
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When someone does voices well it can really make the audiobook awesome! I love the version of HP with the “voices”. He does a really great job.
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When I was a kid I aspired to be Jo. Now I aspire to be Marmee. She’s delightful and knows her kids so well, though she is so manipulative! What about you guys?
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When I was a kid I read up to maybe chapter 2 and I wanted to be Beth because people liked her and she was nice. Now I want to be either Marmee or Jo.
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When I was a kid I was Jo - a horse and writing obsessed tomboy who hated being a girl. I’m still like her in a lot of ways.
Marmee is a force of nature. She’s essentially a single parent who marshals four young girls, including one who is always home, and successfully parents them into good women. I just finished the part where they have a week off and dawdle, and I don’t really like how she manipulates them in that part, but she’s often an honest and straightforward - but clearly loving - parent.
I like that she’s strongly against corporal punishment in a time where it was common.
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Among the parenting types in my life we call that natural consequences - you leave your mitts at home? You have cold hands. Sometimes nature doesn’t give the consequences we wish it would so we give it a little nudge. Maybe it’s manipulative? But it’s how we guide kids into figuring out that X+Y=Z.
Parenting is basically just tricking kids into not being dicks.
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I think it’s more… I don’t know. I find it difficult to describe exactly what it is that bothers me about it. Maybe I need to review the section again tonight, hmmm. I don’t find “natural consequences” bothersome, normally.
Maybe I’m having a reaction to the industry/productivity part of it; not sure.
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The moralizing in the book gets under my skin. I want them to read Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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Yeah, the moralizing was definitely a lot to get past, especially stuff around Meg over and over again (I don’t remember how far we’re supposed to be in the book so won’t spoil). Part of it for me is definitely that it’s explicitly Christian moralizing, which always turns me off personally.
I think what redeemed it for me was that much of the moralizing is ultimately focused on being good to each other and the lessons they learn help them strengthen their bonds and grow and change and still remain close. It’s still a bit much.
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Reading a little ahead – I’m on chapter 25 right now. It turns out that having a book while waiting for medical providers to pay attention to you is very handy.
I’m enjoying this a lot more than I had on my previous reread in 2012, when the moralizing got to me too much. I’m able to have more distance from that now and am able to take the good lessons when they’re in there and otherwise roll my eyes at 1800s Christian American propaganda.
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I’m feeling the same. I think I have an hour left of the audiobook and if I wasn’t listening to it (which means also able to do other things like work) I would have put it down when all the “learn how to be good little Christian wives because that’s where your value is” stuff came up. But outside of that I actually have found I really like it. I also do like some of the lessons as long as I remove the gendered stuff and tell myself that if it were written today the lessons would have been applied to everyone, not just girls since after all they’re decent life lessons.
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I only just got my book today from the library, so I am only on page 25. Have today off so hopefully can catch up a bit
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How far are we supposed to be? I’ve only done chapters 1 and 2. Were we supposed to read parts 1 and 2 already?
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The first half of the month is part 1, the second half is part 2. I don’t think we’re holding tooo hardcore to the pacing, so read how works best for you. 
The pacing is mostly for spoilers in case anyone is worried about them (which, I know, written over 100 years ago, “spoilers” is a weird term…).
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i have AGAIN been caught out by the difference between part one and part 2 - I specifically bought a copy that claimed to be “complete”, but it turns out that only meant part one? Anyway, just finished part 1 - it was OK? I forgot how annoying Amy is?
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Oh no. I have no idea if I have part 1 or both in this audiobook. But I’m almost done so I’ll look at it in a minute
I’m ever so slightly beyond the end of part 1.
I’m liking it but not loving it. My favorite parts are the Jo-centric parts.
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Amy is SO MUCH BETTER in part 2. When she’s young she’s a total brat, but she grows up into a much better human.
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