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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
This wasn't nearly as awful as I expected it to be after reading a handful of warnings. Sure it's unfinished, but it's serviceable.
Can something good please happen to these people? It almost becomes absurd, the number of terrible things that happen in the first four years. Any time there's a comment about "This year, we'll make so much money from the harvest!" the whole family groans: What is it this time--hailstorm? fire? blizzard? plague of locusts? I'm sure this is an accurate portrayal of the incredible hardships the pioneers faced, but at a certain point you just wonder if maybe South Dakota wasn't meant to be farmed. I also assume that if Laura had finished this book during her lifetime, she would have added in the little details that make the other books in the series such fun: social events in town, family news, national events, and so forth.
This is a quick read about Laura and Almanzo after they are married. I believe it was taken from Laura's notes and not completed by her. I didn't feel it was as good as the other books, but still found it interesting to read a little more of their lives.
Although I read all of the Little House books when I was a kid, this one wasn't published until I was a teenager and so this was a first time read for me. The manuscript was found among LIW's papers quite some time after she died so she had never submitted it for publication--and presumably had some more work to do on it (especially given the overlap with "[b:These Happy Golden Years|77770|These Happy Golden Years (Little House)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900426s/77770.jpg|4132]"). Or maybe she had decided against publishing it. It has a very different style from the earlier books--a bit more dry and somewhat dispassionate. But still a wonderful story. I loved the description of that pantry, and I guess she did, too, since she included it in both "THGYs" and this manuscript. There is really nothing in the whole world that is quite so cozy as a LIW description of one of her homes!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hardcore depressing, these two just couldn't get a damn break...
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I finally finished this series I missed out on as a kid!
There's a reason Laura never published this book... She closes the series on a pitch-perfect note with These Happy Golden Years. The First Four Years is laced with a sarcasm that sours the pioneer girl perspective that readers have grown to love over the previous books. That being said, it's something of a special treat to read a Little House book without the optimism of the rest, and it's definitely worth a read. Just doesn't fit as a part of the Little House Series.
My ranking so far from best to worst:
These Happy Golden Years
The Long Winter
Little House on the Prairie
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House in the Big Woods
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
The First Four Years
Little Town on the Prairie
My ranking so far from best to worst:
These Happy Golden Years
The Long Winter
Little House on the Prairie
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House in the Big Woods
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
The First Four Years
Little Town on the Prairie