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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
My nickname for my husband is Cap, in part because Cap Garland was a formative influence on me when I read this book as a kid. I wanted him to read this book so he could see why. Now we're reading all of the Wilder books aloud to each other and marveling at how incredibly good these are! Reading The Long Winter as an adult is very different from reading it as a child. As a kid, I knew the Ingalls family would come through just fine. They're the main characters! As an adult, I can see that this story is a lot grimmer than I realized. The family is basically starving to death (and many people did die that winter in reality). Definitely a darker tale than young Stephanie comprehended.
This is my favorite of the "Little House" books. Despite the terrible hardships, the Ingalls family makes everything seem warm and cozy as they suffer through a seven month winter.
Of all the books, this is the one that has a clear plot- how will they survive? And there is a rising action to help them get there- Almanzo and Cap heading off to find the wheat.
Definitely a good read, especially when it has been so cold up here lately!
Of all the books, this is the one that has a clear plot- how will they survive? And there is a rising action to help them get there- Almanzo and Cap heading off to find the wheat.
Definitely a good read, especially when it has been so cold up here lately!
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I hate to say it, but Mary is really starting to get on my nerves. Ok, so she's not bitter about being blind, we get it. Does she always have to be so freaking good and holy? It's really a bit annoying, I'm surprised it doesn't bother Laura more than it does.
One of the few books I read in elementary school. I still remember bits and pieces of it. I loved this series.
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
We're getting to the point with this series where I am wanting to see a romance start to bloom between Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls. The book was very interesting, especially seeing how they survived such a hard, harsh winter. I kept wishing that Caroline would allow Laura to act as her personality seemed to indicate, while at the same time teaching her lessons about being a lady, but Laura seems constantly stifled by her mother's censure. The one thing I hate about these stories is that they come to a very sudden end, and it is very jarring. Otherwise, I see the series on an upswing!
As a kid I loved all the bits about food and repurposing things and then the celebrations at the end.
Reading through this one as an adult, it was much more frightening than I remember when I read it as a child. The specter of starvation was never very far off that spring when the trains stopped coming and the wheat was running low. Even Pa eventually reacted viscerally to the blizzard as if it were a living thing, maliciously howling and pinning them down in their little shanty in town. I was impressed again and again with both Pa and Ma's ingenuity and ability to scrounge together a solution to their problems with so few resources.
My older two boys both liked the story of the uppity Eastern train executive who thought he knew better than all those Western train workers and was convinced he could force his way through the snow banks if he just backed up far enough and got going fast enough. My boys laughed and laughed when he got trapped in the tunnel of ice of his own making.
They were also excited to see how Almanzo and Royal Wilder's lives intersected with the Ingalls family, having wondered what happened to them after the end of Farmer Boy.
And now every time my boys complain about what's for dinner, I can remind them that the Ingalls family had nothing to eat but coarse brown bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months on end, especially once the potatoes ran out, so they'd better sit down and appreciate their tacos, dang it.
My older two boys both liked the story of the uppity Eastern train executive who thought he knew better than all those Western train workers and was convinced he could force his way through the snow banks if he just backed up far enough and got going fast enough. My boys laughed and laughed when he got trapped in the tunnel of ice of his own making.
They were also excited to see how Almanzo and Royal Wilder's lives intersected with the Ingalls family, having wondered what happened to them after the end of Farmer Boy.
And now every time my boys complain about what's for dinner, I can remind them that the Ingalls family had nothing to eat but coarse brown bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months on end, especially once the potatoes ran out, so they'd better sit down and appreciate their tacos, dang it.