"One may live and learn much in a month. A good fit of illness proves the value of health; real danger tries one's mettle; and self-sacrifice sweetens character. Let no one who sincerely desires to help the work in this way, delay going through any fear; for the worth of life lies in the experiences that fill it, and this is one which cannot be forgotten."

I've decided to continue to start off my year with short reads in the hopes that they will serve as a buffer for my reading challenge when and if I peter out again later on. At only 112 pages, this one certainly fits the bill. I've had Hospital Sketches, sitting only my shelf for a few years now (it was a procurement from my bookshop-working days), which means it also ticks off another one of my reading goals for this year: read more from the collection already on my bookshelves.

At the time, I bought this because I enjoy history and 19th century literature, am a big fan of Little Women and also loved the only other text I had up until now read of Alcott's, her satirical short story, "Transcendental Wild Oats," facts which led me to believe I was well disposed to be a fan of the author in general. Hospital Sketches confirms that for me. Despite the heavy subject matter at its core, the book is balanced with a healthy dose of levity and a highly readable, colloquial writing style that make it an all-around terrific read.

Sketches first came to be from the letters Alcott wrote home while serving as a volunteer nurse in Washington D.C. When they were published as one volume, the account gained the attention of other writers, and helped launch Alcott's career. Reading this, it is easy to see why. At just 3o years old, and despite only being a nurse for six short weeks, Alcott penned a firsthand account that is entirely immersive. Each "chapter" records a different phase of her time as Nurse "Tribulation Periwinkle": her decision to go, her journey to get there, her time on the ward, and, after she falls ill herself, an experiment in 19th century "people-watching," as she at first walks D.C. and then, once confined to her room, looks down on the people below from her hospital window.

The segment on tending the soldiers is unsurprisingly the most touching. Alcott renders wonderful, full portraits of the men on her ward, no less moving for being brief. An account of one dying soldier in particular brought tears to my eyes, though I only knew him for a few short paragraphs. She brings to light the voices, experiences, and suffering of many other, describing everything their range of countenances to their various injuries, including typhoid, pneumonia, bullet wounds, and ailments of the mind that in Civil War times had yet to be named. Alcott also writes well of the challenges of hospital work, the long hours, the flustered doctors, and the ineptitude and disorganization of the hospital itself, which was erected as an overflow facility when the better-run hospitals were full-up.

The other sketches, however, are no less fascinating. I particularly enjoyed her wayward depiction of getting her train ticket to D.C., and later, her walk around the city to the Capitol Building and her thoughts on the various statues. In all, this is a deeply interesting and personal primary account of a woman's experiences during the Civil War. I am glad I read it, and would say it is well worth a quick read for anyone with an interest in the author or her subject matter.