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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
This book is not polished and edited the same way as the other Wilder books, but the rawness makes the story even more compelling. There is a lot of anger in this book, justifiably so, and a lot of despair. Only read it after you've read the other Wilder books, and be prepared for the sense of loss you'll feel when you come to the end of the series.
As the title would suggest, this details the first four years of Laura and Almanzo's marriage. They have two children (Rose, who lives, and a son, who doesn't) and basically have a ton of bad luck (a hailstorm ruins the crops one year, plus there's a fire...basically anything that can go wrong, does).
This is a lot less cheerful than the first eight books. Part of that may be that when she was younger, Laura was shielded from a lot of the reality of prairie life and it was sort of like, oh, isn't this great fun? But when you're an adult and a wife, you can't hide anymore.
Also, the last book (These Happy Golden Years) ended with the proposal, which is how this book began. EXCEPT the conversation's a little different in this book. Laura tells him she doesn't want to be a farmer's wife but agrees to give him three years to make a go of farming.
That didn't happen in the last book. Since this was basically a rough draft, I wonder if it would have stayed in this one.
This is a lot less cheerful than the first eight books. Part of that may be that when she was younger, Laura was shielded from a lot of the reality of prairie life and it was sort of like, oh, isn't this great fun? But when you're an adult and a wife, you can't hide anymore.
Also, the last book (These Happy Golden Years) ended with the proposal, which is how this book began. EXCEPT the conversation's a little different in this book. Laura tells him she doesn't want to be a farmer's wife but agrees to give him three years to make a go of farming.
That didn't happen in the last book. Since this was basically a rough draft, I wonder if it would have stayed in this one.
It's a little jarring to go from one style for eight books to this one, which is a much more rambling diary-esque format. Also, Almanzo becomes "Manly", which is just a hilarious nickname.
Cross-posted from my blog: http://quietandbusy.blogspot.com
The First Four Years is a little bit different from the rest of the Little House books. As the introduction in the front of my edition explained, this novel was written by Wilder in the late 1940s, but she did not complete or revise it before her death. As such, it is shorter and different in tone than previous books in the series. Also, some details don't match up between this book and the earlier ones and some story threads are forgotten. This is a draft of a story and it reads like a draft.
The plot concerns Laura and Almanzo's first four years of marriage together. The beginning of the story is a recap of how they decide to marry, their small ceremony, and Laura's first day in their new little house. This was all previously detailed in These Happy Golden Years, but it is described differently here. Its tone is less much less sweet, and Laura expresses the opinion before agreeing to marriage that she does not want to marry a farmer because they are always dependent on uncontrollable factors like weather and are constantly being taken advantage of by businessmen. She also wants to push back their wedding date to be able to collect her last paycheck from teaching and spend it on clothes. These are both jarringly different details that don't match up with her behavior and actions in the previous book. In any case, Almanzo asks her to let him spend three years trying to make the farm work. If he can't make it successful in that amount of time, then he will move onto something else. Laura agrees.
Unfortunately for them, the next three years are not successful. Bad weather decimates their wheat crop every year, their tree claim fails to thrive, and natural disasters like tornadoes and wildfires destroy their land and farm buildings. Laura contracts diptheria and becomes very ill. She has a baby that dies as an infant. She has a bizarre interaction with a Native American that tries to break into her house, steal her things, and take her as his "squaw" (she gets him to leave by slapping him in the face). Each year, Almanzo has an excuse for their misfortunes and a plan to turn everything around for the next year. Usually, these plans involve going into debt to purchase tools and farming equipment that they can't afford. He manages to beg another year of trying to farm from Laura, which she grants. That year also doesn't go well. Laura worries about money a lot and is constantly trying to calculate their expenses and potential profits in her head. When the fourth year is up, Laura essentially gives up on her ultimatum and just lets Almanzo do what he wants with the farm, deciding that she doesn't mind the farm life so much after all, even though all of her experiences with it have been terrible so far.
There are a few nice bits in the story too. Laura and Almanzo have a baby that lives, Rose Wilder, and she brings a lot of joy to the family. There are also some cute animals that join the household, which lighten the mood. Overall, however, the signature sweetness of the series is absent here, completely swallowed in one misery after another. Gone is Almanzo's capability as a saavy businessman and farmer, and gone is Laura's enthusiasm for the pioneer lifestyle. She doesn't enjoy keeping house, which is a big turnaround from previous novels which lovingly describe all sorts of recipes, handicrafts, cleaning routines, and farm tasks. This is a Little House book with all the life sucked right out of it. It's probably a much more realistic view of Wilder's experiences, and the fact that it is so gloomy makes you wonder how happy she truly was all along in her real life.
Due to its unfinished nature, I would barely even count The First Four Years as the true conclusion to the series. Readers would do well to end their experience with These Happy Golden Years, but I'm pretty sure that anyone patient enough to read through those eight novels isn't going to stop without reading this last one. It's a sad ending though.
The First Four Years is a little bit different from the rest of the Little House books. As the introduction in the front of my edition explained, this novel was written by Wilder in the late 1940s, but she did not complete or revise it before her death. As such, it is shorter and different in tone than previous books in the series. Also, some details don't match up between this book and the earlier ones and some story threads are forgotten. This is a draft of a story and it reads like a draft.
The plot concerns Laura and Almanzo's first four years of marriage together. The beginning of the story is a recap of how they decide to marry, their small ceremony, and Laura's first day in their new little house. This was all previously detailed in These Happy Golden Years, but it is described differently here. Its tone is less much less sweet, and Laura expresses the opinion before agreeing to marriage that she does not want to marry a farmer because they are always dependent on uncontrollable factors like weather and are constantly being taken advantage of by businessmen. She also wants to push back their wedding date to be able to collect her last paycheck from teaching and spend it on clothes. These are both jarringly different details that don't match up with her behavior and actions in the previous book. In any case, Almanzo asks her to let him spend three years trying to make the farm work. If he can't make it successful in that amount of time, then he will move onto something else. Laura agrees.
Unfortunately for them, the next three years are not successful. Bad weather decimates their wheat crop every year, their tree claim fails to thrive, and natural disasters like tornadoes and wildfires destroy their land and farm buildings. Laura contracts diptheria and becomes very ill. She has a baby that dies as an infant. She has a bizarre interaction with a Native American that tries to break into her house, steal her things, and take her as his "squaw" (she gets him to leave by slapping him in the face). Each year, Almanzo has an excuse for their misfortunes and a plan to turn everything around for the next year. Usually, these plans involve going into debt to purchase tools and farming equipment that they can't afford. He manages to beg another year of trying to farm from Laura, which she grants. That year also doesn't go well. Laura worries about money a lot and is constantly trying to calculate their expenses and potential profits in her head. When the fourth year is up, Laura essentially gives up on her ultimatum and just lets Almanzo do what he wants with the farm, deciding that she doesn't mind the farm life so much after all, even though all of her experiences with it have been terrible so far.
There are a few nice bits in the story too. Laura and Almanzo have a baby that lives, Rose Wilder, and she brings a lot of joy to the family. There are also some cute animals that join the household, which lighten the mood. Overall, however, the signature sweetness of the series is absent here, completely swallowed in one misery after another. Gone is Almanzo's capability as a saavy businessman and farmer, and gone is Laura's enthusiasm for the pioneer lifestyle. She doesn't enjoy keeping house, which is a big turnaround from previous novels which lovingly describe all sorts of recipes, handicrafts, cleaning routines, and farm tasks. This is a Little House book with all the life sucked right out of it. It's probably a much more realistic view of Wilder's experiences, and the fact that it is so gloomy makes you wonder how happy she truly was all along in her real life.
Due to its unfinished nature, I would barely even count The First Four Years as the true conclusion to the series. Readers would do well to end their experience with These Happy Golden Years, but I'm pretty sure that anyone patient enough to read through those eight novels isn't going to stop without reading this last one. It's a sad ending though.
My least favorite... nothing goes right, there is heartbreak over heartbreak. What saves the book for me is knowing that Laura and Almanzo lived into their 90s and remained a happy couple all those years. The story itself doesn't inspire much optimism for their future, so thanks to Wikipedia for reassuring me that there is indeed, a happy ending.
Okay, all 9 are finished. And what a ride through droughts, blizzards, a lot of baked beans and salt pork, failing wheat crops, twelve different types of buggies, hay stacks galore, and mean, terrible Nellie Olson.
Immensely satisfied with the series with some obvious lowpoints surrounding the treatment of Native Americans, and my god, the songs about "darkies" were just horrific.
Also a lowpoint? Jesus fucking balls, Pa certainly did not give one shit about Ma. He drug her all over creation just to satisfy his need for open space. She very clearly wanted to live close enough to a town that had a church and a school and he just didn't care.
And the last two books that dealt with Laura's marriage? Almanzo might be dreamy but that man had no idea about money. They were so massively in debt yet he keeps buying shit like a new stove. The old stove works fine! You owe hundreds on your mortgage and wheat thresher, stop buying new stoves!
Also fascinating? The flip between basically living off the land in Big House to relying on store bought coal and pork in the Long Winter is crazy and led very close to death and starvation.
Overall, loved this. Will continue on with Caroline and Prairie Fires.
Immensely satisfied with the series with some obvious lowpoints surrounding the treatment of Native Americans, and my god, the songs about "darkies" were just horrific.
Also a lowpoint? Jesus fucking balls, Pa certainly did not give one shit about Ma. He drug her all over creation just to satisfy his need for open space. She very clearly wanted to live close enough to a town that had a church and a school and he just didn't care.
And the last two books that dealt with Laura's marriage? Almanzo might be dreamy but that man had no idea about money. They were so massively in debt yet he keeps buying shit like a new stove. The old stove works fine! You owe hundreds on your mortgage and wheat thresher, stop buying new stoves!
Also fascinating? The flip between basically living off the land in Big House to relying on store bought coal and pork in the Long Winter is crazy and led very close to death and starvation.
Overall, loved this. Will continue on with Caroline and Prairie Fires.
This one is flat out no good. It's a great example of why posthumously publishing books is a bad idea.
These Happy Golden Years brings the series to a nice completion. We end with her as an actual grown up, married and moved out. But I read on. I mean, don't we all want to know more. "And they lived happily ever after," doesn't sound quite true (even when it's not claimed).
It was interesting comparing the different accounts of the wedding between the two books. "Let's not be farmers!" "But, it's how I know I'm free." "Well, okay, I guess we can try it."
Then Almanzo (I refuse to switch to calling him Manly) is worse than Pa with the risks he takes. Only whereas Laura the child saw Pa somehow succeed, Laura the wife keeps worrying about Almanzo's imminent failure. Please stop buying things on credit! There is not a banking system to bail you out and you don't have crop insurance!
I did like hearing about the Boasts' infertility, but only because I guessed it in a previous review. The "give us your child because you can have more" argument was CREEPY. (If only it was used to put Laura's asking Pa for a papoose into perspective.)
I'm 90% sure this was my first time reading this book and I'm 90% sure that I won't be the one who gives it to a child to read. That said, after reading it, I started [b:On the Way Home The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield Missouri in 1894|278223|On the Way Home The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 (Little House #10)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310688796s/278223.jpg|999046], so it's good enough if you're in a completest mode to keep going.
It was interesting comparing the different accounts of the wedding between the two books. "Let's not be farmers!" "But, it's how I know I'm free." "Well, okay, I guess we can try it."
Then Almanzo (I refuse to switch to calling him Manly) is worse than Pa with the risks he takes. Only whereas Laura the child saw Pa somehow succeed, Laura the wife keeps worrying about Almanzo's imminent failure. Please stop buying things on credit! There is not a banking system to bail you out and you don't have crop insurance!
I did like hearing about the Boasts' infertility, but only because I guessed it in a previous review. The "give us your child because you can have more" argument was CREEPY. (If only it was used to put Laura's asking Pa for a papoose into perspective.)
I'm 90% sure this was my first time reading this book and I'm 90% sure that I won't be the one who gives it to a child to read. That said, after reading it, I started [b:On the Way Home The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield Missouri in 1894|278223|On the Way Home The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 (Little House #10)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310688796s/278223.jpg|999046], so it's good enough if you're in a completest mode to keep going.
The last, and wonderful, edition of The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Gorgeous characters, wonderful story, and a beautiful cover, of course!
I got this as a box set, and it's pretty much my childhood in a box :)
I was so sad to see this series end! I wish this book was longer so I could read more...but I am not sure if this book was actually published after her death?
I got this as a box set, and it's pretty much my childhood in a box :)
I was so sad to see this series end! I wish this book was longer so I could read more...but I am not sure if this book was actually published after her death?