Finished The Long Winter

[Scarlett]

I've never been so happy to finish up a book. That has got to be the most depressing one of the Little House Books. I don't remember this feeling from reading it as a child. I guess back then I didn't 'get' all the references to the fact that they were starving to death.

On to Farmer Boy!

[Lady Katherine]

But I know what you mean. I got so cold just reading "The Long Winter."

[AmyinPA]

Yep, I think it should be re-titled, "The Long Book" .

[Rhonda@LivingWater]

I could not get warm enough as I was reading that book. I was probably hungrier than usual too. It IS a rather difficult book but overall I really like the LHOP books.
Btw, Farmer Boy is really enjoyable, we liked that one a lot. :)

[Anne/Ankara]

Oh, I loved The Long Winter! It's my favorite. Brrrrr. What heroism those early pioneering families showed. Amazing!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Oh, I loved The Long Winter! It's my favorite. Brrrrr. What heroism those early pioneering families showed. Amazing!

As a kid, I read it mostly as a big adventure. It does seem much more harrowing now. I'm struck reading all the books by how much more cyclical food was in general. Even in good times, a day's intake seems much smaller or at least much more centered around grains and vegetables.
Sebastian
Percival Blakeney Academy (http://blakeney-academy.blogspot.com/)

[Karin]

The first time I read it it felt long and depressing. I was reading it aloud to one of my dd's. I've read it aloud 3 times now, and it didn't seem quite so long the last time for some reason. It was such a hard time. But we read Farmer Boy earlier as in our series they list it earlier (of course, it took place earlier than all the other ones.) That's a fun one, and my ds loved it.

[Katia]

I agree. That book was the longest depressing book I had ever read (until I read The Time Traveler's Wife). However, I decided that because it was such a long, depressing time for them that the author managed to express those feelings to the point that the reader felt it as well. That is quite the writer's gift! So, from a literary standpoint I suppose it means the author touched you the way you were supposed to be touched and you now totally understand where she was coming from.

[kokotg]

I read the Long Winter in the middle of summer a couple of years ago, and it was really incongruous. And then a few weeks ago I came across something about how you can soak wheat to make it soft and then eat it without milling it, and I felt really bad that no one had told them that and saved them all those hours and hours putting wheat through their coffee grinder to make flour.

[Sparkle]

I love The Long Winter. We're just getting ready to listen to it in fact. We have 2 more chapters of By the Shores of Silver Lake and then we'll move on to it. I wonder if my dc will like it as much. They have enjoyed all the other books so far, although Farmer Boy has been my son's favorite.

[shanmar]

I always liked that one too. I think I liked to imagine myself suffering with them... must be my martyr complex.

[Virginia Dawn]

I've been thinking about the cyclical nature of food lately. It really wasn't so long ago that it was that way.
I'm 43 but I remember only having apples and citrus for fruit in the winter. And even then it was such a big deal to get an apple, an orange, and some nuts in your Christmas stocking. We ate a lot of canned fruits and vegetables in the winter. We ate from the garden June-September. Winter was the time to eat root vegetables and winter squash.

Now we import so much fresh food in the winter that Americans have forgotten what it is like to not have certain items available at certain times. I had to do a double-take the other day when I saw a woman in the grocery store with a box of blueberries in her hand.

Anyway, I liked reading The Long Winter. It is good to get a dose of reality now and then to help you remember to be grateful for where you are.

[Scarlett]

I do agree that Laura expressed herself and their situation VERY well. She was definitely a gifted writer. I am glad we read it, but I just felt so sad so much of the time that I read it. At the end when they had Christmas dinner in May (when the train finally got through with their Christmas turkey) and Pa said the simple prayer, 'we thank you Lord for thy bounty', I started crying! I'm wacked I know...:) Ds looked at me like I'd lost my mind....but anyway,
I cannot WAIT to start Farmer Boy. I remember it fondly and so many of you are saying your sons liked it as well. We didn't read it in the written order because we borrowed a boxed set from the neighbors and it wasn't included for some reason.

[Tammyla]

I was surprised how much I missed in them after reading them with my kids. I think kids have a way to see that silver lining, while parents understand hardship and the suffering. There were some teary moments, but we still loved them.

[Janna]

However, I decided that because it was such a long, depressing time for them that the author managed to express those feelings to the point that the reader felt it as well. That is quite the writer's gift! So, from a literary standpoint I suppose it means the author touched you the way you were supposed to be touched and you now totally understand where she was coming from.

This is exactly what I was going to say. I remember reading out loud to my dd about 3 years ago and thought the same thing - will this book ever end? In fact, I think it is literally the longest of all of them. But the visualization in that book, and the feeling so cold just showed how extremely well it was written - which means it must have really stood out in Laura's life to remember it in such detail, you know?

But yes, it felt looooong.

[PariSarah]

As a kid, I read it mostly as a big adventure. It does seem much more harrowing now.

Same here--I just didn't get how threateningly bad things were until I was reading it to ds. It was still one of my favorites, though. Farmer Boy is, of course, the best.

[Scarlett]

After " The Long (and very depressing!) Winter" we went on to read Farmer Boy. By this time ds8 has figured out the connection between Almanzo and Laura and so he is really into it. He loved FB. It was such a joy to read about all the delicious food that family had after reading about a whole town nearly starving to death in TLW.

Now we are reading These Happy Golden Years and times are better and Mary is away at college for the blind and Laura is teaching and she's had her first sleigh ride from Almanzo. It just feels so light and happy--even with the hateful Mrs. Brewster in the mix.

And I'm discovering my little boy is a romantic at heart. ;)

[PrairieAir]

We finished that one recently. We sat reading it through some of the coldest days here and it made us even colder and more depressed reading it. This was my second time through it since I read it with the older kids when they were younger, and both times I was never so glad to finish a book. It is a good book, but it is full of hard lessons. You know they survive since there are more books, but it is painful to read about all they went through. It is somewhat inspiring toward the end, but it just seems to draaaaaag--just the way it must have dragged for the Ingalls family. She really did an excellent job in writing to make her readers feel some of what they experienced!

We're on These Happy Golden Years now and then on to The First Four Years and we'll finish with with Farmer Boy.
________

You said you're discovering your little boy is a romantic at heart. I'm reading with my 11yodd, and it has been so funny to watch her get wrapped up in the romance. First she was sure that Laura would marry Cap Garland. LOL, I guess she had forgotten that the name of the author is Laura Ingalls Wilder. We have just finished reading about the last sleigh ride home from the Brewster's and every hint of romance just leaves dd giddy with excitement.

[Emmy]

I just finished reading the whole series (just to myself) and These Happy Golden Years is definitely my favorite of the series. The Long Winter was really looooong for me.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I loved all of these as a kid. As I read them aloud to my kids, I really got how much they suffered. I, too, was freezing. However, I still think it was wonderful. No matter how bad things got, the family stayed positive. I learned so much about how suffering is a state of mind - that they wouldn't allow themselves to dwell on the suffering.

Also, since we experienced this book, I always have a ready answer for when the kids complain:)!

[jail warden]

We were just starting to go through a tight financial time and it really put things in perspective and made me want to try harder to be content. They went through soooo much and yet they made do and were very resourceful with what they had. They definitely faced a lot of difficulties, way more than we do today!

[LibraryLover]

I read the book (the entire series) when I was a kid and loved it. As an adult, I read it to my children, and wanted to rip my hair out of my head. It never stops snowing! I was dying.

I still have not read it to my 8 year old...I can't bear to. I've pointed it out on the shelf...for her to read to herself...yk, the series being a childhood classic and all. Of course, she jolted me back to reality and said "Mummy, you are the Little House fan. I was done with the series after Little House in the Big Woods, remember?"

She's right. She's not a fan.

[JFS in IL]

I read somewhere that part of why Laura put so much description of food into Farmer Boy - those huge meals! - was because she had such an unvaried, dull diet for most of her childhood.

[Robin Hood]

But I know what you mean. I got so cold just reading "The Long Winter."

Not only that, my fingers were hurting from the twisting of the straw. But I loved the book.

[Leta]

We've had a long, weird winter here, and I reread TLW, and it made me feel really grateful for central heat and a full pantry. I'm still jealous of their horses, though.