Pioneer Days: The Works of Laura Ingalls Wilder

[dwanollah]

Rose freakin' rocked. "Ghost in the Little House" -- while critically problematic -- is a great read.

[lefty]

Ma said in the books that Pa had "wanderlust". I don't think it was uncommon at the time. Nowadays, we'd label a guy like that a Peter Pan or a commitmentphobe. Back then, he was a Pioneer, Manifest Destiny's Warrior

I know about Pa's wanderlust. I know why he moved so much, in the literal sense. I guess what I meant was, it was always something I scratched my head over, how much work/worry/trouble he caused himself with the uprooting.

[kanding]

I'm amazed that Ma always followed him and delivered her children in remote places. She had it hardest of all with all the uprooting.

[Deleted]

Another thing that freaked me out, and was so casually mentioned in the books, was when the Boasts wanted to take baby Rose in exchange for a horse. Hey y'all, just leave the baby with us. On your way out, go to the barn and take your pick....

I was just coming here to post that same thing... that part always left me feeling very strange. How sad, but how creepy! "You can have more babies, Laura..." (shudder)

The other part that always unsettled me was when Pa kinda lost it during the many days of the blizzard, and leapt out of bed and started screaming at the wind.

And the grasshopper plague... and Pa having to fight off the claim jumpers... and Ma's china figurine... so many things I still remember.

My favorite book was These Happy Golden Years. I love the part where Laura had to beg Ma to let her cut bangs. "The Lunatic Fringe..."

I must have read the series a half-dozen times. I can't wait to share it with my daughter. But I'm angry about the illustrations.

[lefty]

Oh, the grasshoppers. I can almost feel them walking on me when I read that part. And when Laura was falling asleep, and right on the other side of the log was a wolf sniffing. And the leeches stuck to their skin!

Oddly enough, even though when they were in the surveyors house they were completely alone, I liked that part. Laura made the house seem very cozy and fun.

I was never happy with the direction Michael Landon took with the TV series. Albert, Adam, Mary's burnt baby, he even had a character (Sylvia) get raped. I realize it's all for ratings and drama, but I wish he didn't go into soap opera territory.

[Deleted]

These were my most beloved childhood books.
I remember how freaking awestruck they were on getting a candycane and a penny for Xmas. It was the most incredible Christmas ever, thanks to Mr. Edwards.

Also, how they thought they were living the high life when ma made a cake made of WHITE sugar for Laura's party. (remember the pond leeches?)

I also remember how Ma said don't eat watermelon, it would give them malaria, but Pa ate it anyway and all became very ill. No one was well enough to tend to the other and were in bed. If that random doctor had not come by they probably would have died in that cabin.

Another memory is the really run down shack they were living in that had holes, and Laura woke up all warm for the first time since living there because she was under a pile of snow.

But yes, since becoming an adult, I think Pa moving all the time and never letting them establish and get any comfort level was pretty selfish.

[prydainprincess]

Hey everyone! They now have a bound set of the first five LH books for sale! I have to ask, tho, what order was everyone's books in? My boxed set went Big Woods, Prairie, Farmer Boy, Plum Creek, but the bound set has Farmer Boy as #2, not 3.

[dwanollah]

Farmer Boy was the second book written, but the third published because it had to be edited more. (Ain'tcha glad I'm such a LH Know-It-All, pp? ;D)

I'm re-reading Rose's "Old Home Town," which is fantastic!

[Kristina]

OK, you people got me to dig out my old boxset and start rereading these books. I got through Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie on Sunday. (Could not put them down!)

I'm having some trouble getting through Farmer Boy. I'm not even sure I read that one when I was a kid. I hope to have a chance to get more into it on the weekend.

The things they faced flabbergast me. In a way, these books are having more of an impact on me as an adult reader. Just picking up and driving away from the home you spent the past year building with your own hands? I can't imagine! And after Pa had bought glass windows! *gasp*

[lefty]

I had read somewhere that Pa was too hasty in his decision to pack up the Indian Territory house. That the US government overturned the decision to take the settlers' homes away. Interesting to think what the future would have held, had they not kept moving onward, and eventually ended up in Dakota Territory. But I have a feeling Pa would have found another excuse to keep moving on.