Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Beth Dies (Spoiler Alert!)

There's a lot of background information necessary to truly appreciate this post.

My baby sister loves Jane Austen and Emile Bronte and Louisa May
Alcott and everything written in that time period. She owns the five-
hour version of Pride and Prejudice. Anne of Green Gables was a staple
in our household. Meg, Beth, Jo, and Amy were also common visitors.

I don't know how it started, but whenever I would see her reading one
of those books or watching one of those movies, I would say "Beth
dies". She would roll her eyes and say "Derek, this is Northanger
Abbey." It became a ritual between us.

When my roommate Ryan started reading Little Women, I casually said
"Oh, Beth dies." He looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and cried
"What!!!"

Oops...

He approached me a few days later and said, "Derek, I'm not enjoying
the book anymore. Every chapter I keep on expecting Beth to die."

Sorry Ryan. I thought everyone knew! Here's a picture of Louisa May
Alcott's house as a peace offering. She grew up here, and it was her
experiences with her sisters which inspired her to write Little Women.



Interesting facts: it's about a mile away from Emerson's house, and not
far from where Nathaniel Hawthorne did some of his writing. Walden
Pond is also less than two miles away.

5 comments:

B said...

It's okay Ryan, I cried too.

MKP said...

Who knew all those brilliant minds lived so close together?! Must be something in the water.

Shelly said...

Just told that story to someone a few days ago.

Shelly said...

And don't you think the title should say "(Spoiler Alert) Beth Dies"

D said...

Yeah, it should. Meh.