I am sad that this journey is over

The final book in the Little House series is my least favorite. The focus is on the first four years of married life for Almanzo and Laura. But, it isn't written to the same standards as the prior installments and seemed to be an outline of a book versus one that was intended for publication.

It also paints a somewhat different picture of both characters. Laura isn't quite the spitfire hard worker that we had come to love. And Almanzo never saw a loan he wasn't willing to take. They both made some monumentally bad decisions and paid for them.

Just didn't feel the love for this one. 3/5 stars.

Mild spoilers throughout the review, but y'all, we've read this book by now, haven't we? Or at least looked up her Wikipedia page and learned the truth?

All right. Good. Now proceed.

This was yet another book I swore to reread as an adult. So here I am, officially an adult by my own standards, rereading this book.

When I was probably 12, I read this book the first time, by myself as my mom didn't want to read it again (for obvious reasons, I now see!) and was confused and disappointed. I realized, for the first time, that I had been reading Rose's fictional reflection on her mother's retelling of events she probably didn't remember super clearly. I realized that, even though I'd felt for years that the Little House books dealt with plenty tragedy, they hadn't scratched the surface. I realized it was a fantasy. And at 12, you know, I was old enough to be okay with that.

At 14 or so, I reread it and noticed a lot of elements I hadn't the first time (Laura's bitterness, the loss of her second baby, the way she clearly wants to prove herself to parents who don't really believe in her - granted, for good reason, tbh - even her little "well, at least I enjoyed it" in reference to the *coughs* creation of Rose ... thanks, Laura, always good to know xD).

I also realized the full story that my mom had briefly told me as a kid - that a "friend" (not my friend, thank you very much) had published this draft, really more of an outline by my writing standards, that Laura scribbled out and forgot (probably losing interest after her husband's death), that Rose didn't rewrite, that were not meant to be published.

And I'm glad they were published. But if I ever get famous, I'm going to seriously consider deleting all my old drafts, because I wouldn't want this kind of draft out there. And I think Laura probably wouldn't want this available for all to read, either. Rose didn't seem to, either. I can see why.

Now, I'm 20 and married, and I don't feel like an adult, much as Laura probably didn't at 19, and I'm 100% sure I'll face tragedy in the next four years. So good as time as any to reread it, right?

And you know, it's an interesting story. It makes you realize that Laura was writing her own life however she wanted to write it, and then her daughter was rewriting this "however I want it to be", and when that happens, a lot gets changed and covered up. (Also, children's fiction.)

I came across the theory that Laura was probably just as whiny and stuck-up as Mary, as weak and easily-influenced as Carrie, and as she probably lived out her wish for herself ("my stubbornness is charming" - and yes, the book character is - "my gambling, foolish nature makes me heroic" - and in the books, it does!) through these books.

Which sounds exactly like something I would do if I weren't trying to be a little more self-aware.

I also realized that she was probably reliving, through writing, a tragic and even traumatic life to process some serious stuff. Like almost starving multiple times and having to face tons of dangerous illnesses multiple times and losing a brother and having a sister go blind and moving away from homes over and over again and losing a baby (and then literally never talking about it) and having your husband refuse to listen to you when you say, "I don't want to do this thing my dad spent his whole life failing at. Also, you shouldn't probably rule the budget because you are a spoiled (almost) youngest child."

Basically, if you don't have a safe life, you try to create something comforting and safe. And honestly, these books are that. So comforting and safe, even when rough things happen.

And you know what? Despite it all, you can tell Laura loved her husband. She did, and she loved her baby daughter, too. And she loved her family in general, though I feel a lot of unrealized frustration toward her father and a lot of realized frustration toward her mother. Which is understandable.

Even the starkness and the bareness and openness of this book can't take that away. Nor can it take away Laura's temper - how I love her temper.

Anyways, basically, I have reread this book and found it to be very interesting and without rating. How could you rate this book? I don't know how. Everyone else has been able to, but I just don't know how to begin.

Should I rate it out of anger at the publisher? Should I rate for my disappointment, my disillusionment? Should I rate it based on how depressed it made me? Should I rate it out of respect for Laura? Should I rate my level of approval at her self-revisions of her life? Should I rate it out of respect for Rose's skills as a writer in the other books?

I don't know - I don't know! So I don't rate it. And I say, "Wow, Laura. What a life you led! And I'm sorry for those first four years, and, probably, the years before them. And I hope you have peace now."

Read this book - but do me a favor and read the first eight a completed series then read this one whenever you're ready for reality. It's not really a novel in the series, at least not as intended by the author. However, as a spin-off, perhaps even a short biography, I think it's fantastic.

And wow, does it make you think!

My third read. A short, bitter, though optimistic ending to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series.
My review:
https://www.greatbookstudy.com/search...

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is an exquisite set of books that I cherished growing up. Read until they were dog-eared, this series has to be one of my childhood favorites. A story about a young girl growing up on the frontier, it was so popular they made it into a T.V. series even though the series didn't do it justice. Stories as a young girl I could relate to, the mean girl in town, fights with my sisters, and just the struggles of everyday life of any family. The love Ma and Pa had for each other showed through so much so, that even today I can still see Caroline's eye's sparkling bright blue as Pa whirled her around the dance floor. This series is a perfect example of a story well told. When you're there in Laura's life so much that you can feel her fear when in trouble, or you can taste the penny candy on Christmas, that's a story. I have no doubt this will be a children's classic for years to come. I highly recommend it.

ClassicsDefined.com

And so the Little House series comes to an end....actual rating 3.5

Finished reading the Little House series to the kids! The series made for a great family read aloud (even though I would skip paragraphs/pages at a time because of some boring details)
I love how it showed the kids what life was like not that long ago, and made us thankful for what we have. It also taught good morals and simple living!

Not my favorite of thr Little House series, but it is interesting to hear about Laura's life after marriage and the struggles in the first 4 years of marriage.

Reread January 15, 2017.

Oh, these were a fun few weeks with the Little House series. My parents moved for the first time since I had lived at home and moving necessitated that all childhood mementos be returned to the children. Mostly, us kids had to go through a ton of books.

So, my mom sent me home with the Little House books. It was funny, my sisters and I went through each childhood book, debating about who should take which book (it ultimately became a test of who remembered which book most dearly)... but when it came to this boxed set of Little House books, my mom adamantly stated they were mine.

I did love and read these as a kid, but I don't remember loving them the most. I am fairly sure I never reread them past the age of ten or so, although I loved reading, and rereading, some spin-off series of Laura in Mansfield, Missouri, as a grown-up fighting for the female right to vote, etc.

I feel like these past few weeks, rereading the series as an adult, has allowed me to rediscover my love for the Ingalls. I had forgotten but had remembered so much still. I am 32 and, for having not read these in 20 years, it was funny the things I had remembered: the China shepherdess, how special each Christmas was, oranges at the birthday party, the grasshoppers devouring the crop, Almanzo's whip, Pa's sweet fiddle, Mary's small stitches, and most funny or all: I very distinctly remembered Laura's new pantry in her first married home and could not wait to read about it (why do I remember the PANTRY?)...

I really liked all of these, but loved The Long Winter, The Little Town on the Prairie, and Those Happy Golden Years best of all. They have the most plot, Laura is older and more interesting, and, perhaps because she is older, we are allowed to see that pioneering isn't as easy as it had seemed earlier. The last in the series, The First Four Years, was published posthumously (both deaths of Laura and her daughter, Rose) and it is clear that Rose's editorial skills and experience as a writer had made quite the difference in the previous Little House books. Although... it is also clear that Rose provided rosier colored glasses on Frontier living.

Most of all, as an adult who now has the Internet at her disposal, I had the most fun googling during this Little House experience. I saw Pa's homestead claims scanned online, I read about the grasshopper blight, the meteorology and weather records of the longest, hardest winter on record in America, I image-searched button lamps, whatnot cabinets, door latches. It was a lovely rereading experience.

A Teacher Reviews Her Childhood Favorites

Historical fiction and books similar to historical fiction have never been my favorite so I was a little older when I actually read the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I grew up periodically watching (and loving) The Little House tv show and if I had never seen the show there’s a good chance I never would have picked these books up.

People always talk about the actual “Little House on the Prairie” book being their favorite, but The First Four Years is my favorite book of the Little House series for a couple of reasons. I was (am) a bit of a hopeless romantic and I enjoyed reading about Laura and Almonzo’s relationship. They went through so much together in just these first couple years of their marriage and stuck to it, when many couples nowadays would have given up. I was so frustrated reading about the intense difficulty of Laura and Manly’s “first four years”.

I know the death of infants at this time was common due to lack of medical technology, but the book brushes over the death of Laura’s son in just two sentences. Those two sentences always broke me.

Now I’m going to get a little controversial in this review. I’m not planning on making this a common thing with these reviews, but I feel I need to talk a little about the elephant in the room: The treatment and descriptions of Native Americans in this book series. Many people won’t let their children read these books because of the way Native Americans are portrayed. I guess I kind of get it, but I don’t agree in the censorship of books in any way. Ignoring things that happened in the past and feelings people had in the past is no way to keep people educated. The settlers did steal these Native Peoples’ land, and described them as barbaric savages. Reading these books does not condone what the settlers did. People really did feel this way back in the 1800s AND IT WAS NOT OKAY. Instead of banning and boycotting books like this, we need to use them as education tools for children, teach them about what happened and how we can prevent similar things from happening in the future. The way to teach children is not by telling them what to think and what to believe. Children learn best by forming their own conclusions through the facts we give them. Give children resources to learn about things like this in safety and let them draw their own conclusions. I know it's cliche, but when we ignore and try to hide history; we are doomed to repeat it.

The First Four Years

I was trying to put my finger on the real difference between the tone of this book and the tone of the other eight Little House books. Laura is almost a different character here. I guess that is because she is a grownup. It is not exactly the fact that there is so much hardship and tragedy in this book; it’s more that she actually gives us the hardship and tragedy, and everything else, without tempering it. In By the Shores of Silver Lake, we skip over the real-life death of her younger brother. Mary’s illness is only mentioned as the cause of her blindness, a thing that has already happened by the time the book begins. Money troubles are seen through the eyes of a child: the parents will always be there to take care of things.

In The First Four Years, Wilder doesn’t shy away from the really hard truths of adulthood, including agonizing financial problems, devastating illness, the death of her second child, her own responsibility and guilt in starting the fire that destroys her home. The Boasts asking if she’ll give them her baby; the encounter with the Native Americans who want her to run away with them; her exhausting pregnancies and even an oblique reference to having enjoyed the sexual act that led to them; these are all the realm of the adult Laura. And somehow, I feel, we are given a more frank look here at her personality, even though she is the viewpoint character of all her books. She feels more honestly flawed here, but also I get a sense of – this is the difference, actually – a sense of vanity that isn’t there in the other books. A sense of personal pride. I did these things and I’m glad. Go ahead and criticize me if you want. See if I care. In the other books, the omniscient narrator always points out to the reader when Laura is being mean or selfish. In this one, you have to make that judgment for yourself.

What makes this a joyous read for me, despite the grimness of much of the events throughout the book, is the deep love and understanding that Laura and Almanzo have for each other. “It was a carefree, happy time, for two people thoroughly in sympathy can do pretty much as they like.” Two people thoroughly in sympathy. This is her consistent portrayal of Almanzo throughout Wilder’s writing: he is absolutely her soulmate, and they are intellectual and spiritual equals. He is supporting rather than criticizing; he is constantly looking for ways to make her happy. He has his own flaws; he is optimistic to a fault, he is impetuous, he spends money they don’t have and doesn’t always listen to sound advice. But she, too, supports rather than criticizes.

As a child, I never could understand how Almanzo could possibly argue that the farming might have been a success at the end of this four years. “It all depends on how you look at it” – REALLY? WHAT. THE HOUSE JUST BURNED DOWN. But as an adult I do see, yes, they are well supplied with new and modern farm equipment. They have good and valuable stock. They’re solvent enough to become land owners.

But really, it comes down to this: “Two people thoroughly in sympathy can do pretty much as they like.”

The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that “it is better farther on” – only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.

Still true.

Just as I was finishing this book, my birthday present from my friend Amanda (who travelled with me to De Smet last summer) arrived in the mail. She’d found a bread plate identical to the one Laura and Almanzo bought themselves for their first Christmas together.

My birthday bread plate!

Random E Wein trivia: Laura and Almanzo Wilder have the same wedding anniversary as my grandparents (25 August).

Over the course of several months I listened to the complete little house series for the first time since my mom read them to me as a youngin. If you remember these books from childhood I HIGHLY recommend rereading one or two or more, it's crazy to revisit as an adult. Pretty dark stuff!!!! Pa is the villain!!!!