I finished rereading Jo's Boys yesterday, and feel like jotting down some thoughts.
-- I'm surprised to find I don't hate Bess the second time through. I think I hated her so much the first time because I read the book directly after Little Men, where she is indeed terribly cutesy and annoying. Somehow my annoyance of her carried over so I didn't stop to notice that she'd grown up into a viable character. Also there fact that she tends to be much cooler in fan fic than in canon might have colored my view of her.
-- Nan has officially replaced Dan as my favourite character in the book.
-- I like the Nan/Tommy pairing. That said, I don't want to see anything come of it. I think I'd have been really disapointed if Nan had married Tommy, or even engaged in a brief romance with him. They've got some great banter going on though, and an intereting dynamic. I dig it. It's interesting how they paralell Jo and Laurie in some ways (though I actually do like Jo/Laurie romantic involvement).
-- I wonder what the Nat/Daisy relationship would be like once they're married. They're cute and all, but what do they talk about?
-- I hate how the original March sisters are referred to as Mrs. Jo, Mrs. Amy, and Mrs. Meg. It sort of puts them at a distance. And whenever I read anything about them I keep wishing they'd go act like their younger selves. I actually found myself occasionally muttering things like, "Damnit Meg, you used to be cool," throughout the course of the book.
-- Jo is like Marmee only better, but I'd much rather she were more like 15 year old Jo. Granted, that wouldn't make sense, because people do get older and change. Actually I like Marmee a lot better than I do older Jo, because Marmee seemed to struggle more with her temper and the like. Some of the interactions between her and Laurie are still amusing at least.
-- The Emil shipwreck plotline is pretty awesome.
-- Actually most of the characters get an aweomse plotline in there somewhere. Good use of the huge ensemble cast.
-- I think I'll reread Little Women next. I'm not sure I'll ever manage to convince myself Little Men needs a reread, because it's too much about little kids being little kids. No love affairs, murders, or shipwrecks to keep my interest.
bound_to_befall, which is lovely of course, but it's only Jo/Laurie and I've spoken to a couple of people who I know prefer other relationships. Granted, I prefer Jo/Laurie above all others myself, but would also be happy to see fic for -any- of the characters.