I would have died ten times over if I lived during Laura's time

The whole family moves into town to weather the winter of 1800-1801 - and it's good thing they do. This was one of the harshest winters they would ever face. Snow soon piles over their windows and the bitter cold ensures that they cannot leave their houses. Their fuel runs out, their food consists of scraps, and Pa can no longer play the fiddle for his hands are stiff with cold.

Even in her toughest year, faced with bitter cold and starvation, Laura still conveys the beauty of the prairie.

n  Then the sun peeped over the edge of the prairie and the whole world glittered. Every tiniest thing glittered rosy toward the sun and pale blue toward the sky, and all along every blade of grass ran rainbow sparkles.n

We are introduced to Almanzo as an adult. (The first time since Farmer Boy.) Laura (in the story) admires him first for his horses, then for his kindness and then for his bravery as he hitches up his team of horses to make a run for fuel for the entire town. I appreciate that he remains as a background character. Their love plays out so slowly compared to many teen books that it has time to bloom and blossom.

Wholesomely inspirational and heartwarming. An excellent book to read curled up under a blanket with a cup of cocoa.

n  “It can't beat us!" Pa said.
"Can't it, Pa?" Laura asked stupidly.
"No," said Pa. "It's got to quit sometime and we don't. It can't lick us. We won't give up."n

Audiobook Comments
Read by Cherry Jones and accompanied by Paul Woodiel on the fiddle. Such an incredible audiobook.

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Eleanor and I just finished this up last night. A couple thoughts before she starts her review:

I saw a facebook post not too long ago in which the person was opining that they didn't live in the "Little House days." This was in regard to Christmas. They mentioned how Laura and Mary et al received only one or two presents and were thrilled and grateful to receive them. You know, that was a "simpler time."

Several days later, I saw that they were taking a trip to Disney for Christmas. And there were no shortage of packages under their tree.

Not that I begrudge them going to Disney. I love that place. (Although, not as much as my sister... She takes it to a whole new level.)

The Long Winter, though, makes it pretty clear that we're romanticizing those times. The times were simpler - if you equate simple with hunger, boredom, and intense manual labor.

Not only that, but in certain circles, the Wilders are elevated to a Protestant sainthood. (Ok... most Protestant denominations already believe in the "sainthood of the believer," but lets set that aside for a moment.) The Wilder's are often put on a pedestal. That every decision they made was a right and moral one. (As they were living in right and moral times - as oppose to today's immoral, consumer-driven, drugged-out, gunned-out, society.)

But throughout the book, I saw them as people - people who made mistakes in very, very difficult times. There was a mob-mentality at the store when they forced Loftus to "see reason" and sell the goods at a reasonable price. True, Loftus agreed - and he shouldn't have jacked the price up in the first place - but I'm not sure that justifies what the town was doing. Or stealing from the emigrant train car. "'I'm past caring what he ought to do!' Pa said savagely. 'Let the railroad stand some damages! This isn't the only family in town that's got nothing to eat. We told Woodworth to open up that car or we'd do it. He tried to argue that there'll be another train tomorrow, but we didn't feel like waiting...'"

As a society, we can understand some forms of stealing - but that doesn't absolve the thief from the law.

Consider too, that this is what Laura wrote. (She wouldn't have been writing all the faults of her father in a children's book.) No doubt, the Ingalls were great people - but they were people. They were struggling to survive. They did what they could with little complaining - and that is admirable. But they were people living in a difficult time, with their share of mistakes and sins. In that way, they are very similar to all of us.

I have to look into getting Eleanor a goodreads account of her own. She's been sitting here patiently waiting for me to type up my part before she gets her say. She's got the patience of an Ingalls.

Eleanor: I've been thinking about my favorite part.

Dad: And did you come up with one?

E: YEAH!

D: What is it?

E: My favorite part was when they made hay while the sun shines.

D: Why was that your favorite part?

E: Because it was before the winter, and it was so nice and warm outside the claim shanty, and they didn't move into the town yet, and it was just so warm in their house.

D: So you didn't like the winter then?

E: No. It was too cold. Heh. WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY to cold. Way way way way way way way too cold.

D: So you didn't like most of the book then.

E: Well, I like the book. I just didn't like that it was so cold for so long for them. Because we usually have winters from December to February.

D: That's a good point.

E: Can you put a smiley face at the end?

D: Why?

E: At the end of the sentence. BECAUSE I'M SMILING!!! :)

D: Ok. I'll put it at the end of the sentence you just said. Tell me more about The Long Winter. What you'd think about it?

E: Pretty good. They were shivering, and they couldn't feel their feet. And they were selling wheat.

D: What was the book about?

E: KITTY! It wasn't about the kitty. I just saw the kitty and it distracted me. It was about when they settled in town for the hard winter. They were cold. And every day they shivered. And they only had brown bread and potatoes. Sometimes they had cod-fish gravy. Laura and Pa were always twisting hay into sticks for the fire.

D: Do you think it would be fun to live back then, or are you happy to live now?

E: Ummmmm... Either way is ok.

D: Why's that?

E: Back then they didn't have electricity. But I wonder how that brown bread tastes, and I didn't have cod-fish gravy.

D: You've had brown bread before.

E: When?

D: I think we have some downstairs right now. Although, I think it's softer than the bread Mary and Laura ate.

E: Why?

D: Because of the way it's made. ...So, if you had to choose - when would you live?

E: Now.

D: Me too. But, really, I think either would be ok.

E: Me too.

D: Should I put anything else in here?

E: YEAH! THEN IT WAS SPRING AND THE CHINOOK WAS BLOWING!!!!

D: I think that's the moral of the story.

E: What's "moral" mean? The "end" of the story?

D: No, it means the message, or the point of the story. It means, that sometimes times are tough. But spring, and the good times have to come eventually - if you can outlast the bad.

This is not a thriller but I felt thrilled during reading this book.

Es ist nun mittlerweile das sechste Buch aus der Reihe von Laura Ingalls Wilder, das ich gelesen habe und in meinen Augen ist es das bislang eindrucksvollste.
Wilder berichtet in diesem Teil von einem sieben Monate anhaltenden Winter, in dem Blizzards auf dem Tagesprogramm stehen, die Ortschaften voneinander abschneiden und dadurch die Versorgungslage vieler Familien lebensgefährlich bedrohen.

Sie berichtet anschaulich von der Eintönigkeit der Tage, eingeschlossen in den Wohnräumen; der eisigen Kälte als das Feuerholz ausgeht; der mühseligen Arbeit, Heu zu Stöcken zu drehen, um damit den Ofen zu heizen; der Angst um den Vater, der jeden Tag aus der Stadt zu ihrer Hütte und den Ställen fährt, um mehr Heu einzufahren; und schließlich der Sorge über das Mehl, das allmählich zur Neige geht.
Die Räume waren ständig kalt und dunkel, da sie auch an Licht sparen mussten. Die Schule war geschlossen und die Freunde ebenso abgekapselt zu Hause hockend. Wie der Tag so wurde auch das Essen eintöniger und trist. Der Zug mit den Weihnachtsgeschenken erreichte sie erst im Mai. - Und dennoch überstehen sie die harten Monate ohne Krankheit und größerer Not, weil es die Eltern verstehen, mit Phantasie und Besonnenheit ihre vier Kinder abzulenken und zu ermutigen. Der Vater spielt auf seiner Fidel, so lange seine durch die Kälte steif gewordenen Finger es erlauben. Die Mutter stimmt Lieder an und schlägt vor, Artikel aus Zeitungen und Zeitschriften sparsam zu lesen, um sich viele Tage daran erfreuen zu können.
Aber nicht nur die Eltern, sondern auch die Hilfsbereitschaft von ihren Nachbarn, den beiden Wilder-Söhnen, beeindruckte mich zutiefst.

Bei all den Entbehrungen, die diese Familien sieben Monate durchlebten, schäme ich mich ein bisschen über mein tägliches Lamento über den zu langen Winter.

I must have started and set aside a half-dozen books before I settled into The Long Winter. I'm finding it difficult to read in these uncertain times, but I saw Ruth recommending Long Winter on her blog A Great Book Study this week and I decided to give this book a try.

I'm very glad I did. If you are feeling worried and anxious, The Long Winter is a good book to read.

The Long Winter is the true story of the Ingalls family during a terrible season of blizzards that extended from October to late April. The Ingalls moved into town so they would have sturdy quarters as well as access to the supplies the train would bring through the winter. Deep into the winter, they learned the train would not be arriving, and there would be no new supplies. People were terribly worried as that would mean no way to stay warm and no food.

Reading about the way the family and the community worked together to help each other was helpful for me. It was also useful to put our current crisis into perspective. And it was somehow reassuring to see that not everyone was able to act in ways that put the needs of the group ahead of the needs of the individual; this was no whitewashed version of the situation.

This is historical fiction, and the attitudes and prejudices of the times are part of this story, so be prepared for that.

But, in spite of these, The Long Winter is a good story for these times, I think. It reminds me that people have always faced terrible situations, and that we must work together to overcome them, putting the needs of the group before our own selfish interests.

Goodreads thinks I'm reading this for the second time. Try 32nd. Or 42nd. This is my favorite of the Little House books. Usually I re-read the whole series in order, but this time I'm just letting myself enjoy The Long Winter all on its own.

This is not a series I can be subjective about - it is way too much a part of my childhood. And this particular book was one of my favorites. It has been cold here this week, but not nearly as cold as it was in the book, and I'm SO glad to have a heater and food! I love this story and the all of the endurance and ingenuity shown over the Long Winter.

And of course, we couldn’t forget The Long Winter. Personally, I always found this book . . . well . . . LONG, as a child. Somehow, the tedium the snowbound Ingalls family suffered during the longest winter of their lives transferred itself very realistically to the pages. That still didn’t keep me from reading, and re-reading it, however. And if you’re looking for a winter-themed story with plenty of historic and educational value, The Long Winter is definitely a great place to start!

Albeit that the sixth instalment of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, although her biographical and Newbery Honour winning (from 1941) The Long Winter (about the harsh, relentlessly frigid and plagued by continuous blizzards winter of 1880/1881) reads intensely and with a rather prominent feeling of a vague but also ever-present fear that not only the Ingalls family but many residents of De Smet South Dakota could perhaps be facing actual starvation etc. (once it becomes clear that the relentless blizzards will not be ceasing and that there in fact will also be no more supply trains into town until springtime), The Long Winter is also and always has been my absolute and hands-down favourite of the ALL of Little House on the Prairie novels. For while Laura Ingalls Wilder’s text is at times painfully fervent and with an understated but at the same time always glowing emotionality and expressiveness, any potential negativity, starvation and blizzard threat is in my humble opinion also quite mitigated and made bearable by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s narrational representation of how the Ingalls through ingenuity, perseverance and working together as a family unit manage to survive the harsh conditions of said long and stressful winter (by grinding whole wheat kernels for bread, by burning hay when there is no more coal and with everyone from Charles Ingalls to his children pitching in and helping out). Delightfully engaging and from where I am standing, both historically accurate and authentic feeling in scope, I absolutely have adored The Long Winter for decades, and yes, to the point of it now being a permanent member on my favourites shelf.

And yes, and finally, with regard to obtaining historically relevant and interesting, enlightening knowledge in The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder also clearly and emphatically shows to her intended audience, demonstrates to her young readership that for pioneer families, that in 19th century America, harsh winters with multiple blizzards and extremely cold temperatures could even stop the railroads for months, could leave entire towns with no supplies and no ways and means to get basic necessities for its residents, that winter in the olden days was therefore not just about skating and snowball fights but also and unfortunately a time of potential dangers and want (and not to mention that I also very much do appreciate how Charles Ingalls is depicted in The Long Winter as taking sufficiently seriously that autumn warning by an elderly Native American of a very long and relentless winter to come, that he appreciates and takes to heart the warning even if his wife, even if much more prejudicial Caroline Ingalls is at first not convinced and even quite majorly annoyed that her husband, that Pa Ingalls would believe and take seriously the warnings of a by her so very much feared, not to be trusted and despised “Indian”).

No regrets. Take that, haters from book club

To really enjoy this book, you need to read the others in this series. You COULD read it by itself, but it's not really written as a stand-alone book and should not be treated as so. If you've already read the preceding Little House books, then you should be familiar with this family and their circumstances as well as the time period they lived in, and the technology they had compared to us. I've read the negative reviews for this book and am surprised at some of the complaints, which didn't feel valid to me, but I digress.

I grew up in Wisconsin (where the first book in this series was also set), so I am no stranger to blizzards. But today we have city services, snowplows, supermarkets, and salt. We have heating and generators as well as better-constructed/insulated houses, so I can only imagine what being as cold as Laura's family must have been without all of the comforts that we enjoy today, and right in the middle of a furious Dakota blizzard! This book is an excellent look into pioneer life, not only is the Little House series a fun read, it's also immensely educational and is a vital read for anyone wishing to learn about pioneer life in a country that was still growing and forming.

It also makes you realize how lucky you are to have supermarkets and convenience stores, because Laura and the town nearly starved to death and wouldn't have made it without the bravery and luck of Almanzo Wilder. Pioneer life certainly was hard, so kudos to the people who forged on West and helped to make America the country it is.

Good reading for a summer heat wave.