This is a bit of a dirty little literary secret for me because I know an immense amount about Little Women and have the Winona Ryder movie completely memorized. Everyone has always assumed I had read this classic of American literature because it seems exactly like the kind of thing I would read and love and read again and again, but for my many attempts I've never had much success.
Considering I've never managed to finish it, I own quite a few copies of Little Women. I have one physical copy on the bookshelf, and the pages are clearly mangled through Chapter 4 or so (hangin' with Laurie), and the rest is in pristine condition. Then I have the free version of the audiobook which was too dry and poorly recorded for me to make it beyond Christmas morning. Finally, I have the good Audible version read by a professional, which has 18 hours and 22 minutes remaining. So I've endured the opening Christmas with the March family multiple times, but I've never read or even listened to any other part of the book.
There is a really great sub-plot on an episode of 'Modern Family' in which Alex babysits for Lily and insists on reading aloud to her from Little Women for her own good; a chapter or so into the book, Alex realizes how annoying all the characters can be and gives up, and Lily gives her a makeover. I couldn't find a clip but it's the episode 'The Late Show.' And that pretty much sums it up -- it is such an overbearing morality tale and it smothers the otherwise sparkling characters of the March sisters, which is why I think they translate so well on screen. Winona Ryder can scowl better than anyone, and she can convey ten different emotions in a single scowl, including, most importantly, her own selfishness mingled with the realization of her own selfishness and her simultaneous desire NOT to be selfish. Jo March on the page has no such skills, which is why she has to go on and on about wanting to be good, which gets very old, very fast.
Also, and this is probably the most important point -- how can anyone get behind this travesty of a novel KNOWING (spoiler alert) that Laurie and Jo don't end up together?
Books I Can't Even (apologies for the use of Internet cliches) is a recurring post on books I absolutely could not finish, usually after several attempts.