I, for one, didn't expect to see an Alcott title on this list. Granted, McCrum's selections are deeply idiosyncratic. His criteria for the individual selections are not always clear or understandable, though he provides his justification for each column's choice.
For
Little Women (1868), he's sketchy about everything, including why he chose it. It
's the shortest column he's done so far. I am disappointed, considering what one could have written about this book and the author. He makes errors about the book, such as confusing the girls' metaphorical playing acting of
Pilgrim's Progress with the little books that are the extracted account out of the New Testament of the life of Jesus. One senses he personally did not care for the book. It was a dutiful inclusion that covered the categories of 'Woman author" and "American" in one shot.
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| Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852, After Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin |
This choice allowed him to skip over another extraordinarily influential American woman author, who even influenced George Eliot's choices of including the Jewish identity - zionism arc in
Daniel Deronda --
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Evidently books that deal with this centuries-long sin, crime and conflict that is slavery and the slave trade are too intimidating for him -- and / or too controversial.
Over here, we are unimpressed.
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