Little House on the Prairie (1935)

How have I not rated this yet? I must have read it 20 times - it was a staple of my childhood. ( )

3.5 stars. It’s taking me a little bit to warm up to the Ingalls family. The writing is very simple, definitely gives the feeling of being aimed at children, but there are moments of beauty; I especially liked at the end when the family looks over the prairie, and the descriptions of harrowing moments were pretty effective.

I can definitely see why these books are beloved and used a LOT in schooling scenarios, Wilder can almost effortlessly move from telling the story to narrating how something works or the purpose of an object. It’s obvious when it happens, but it adds to the reader’s understanding and ability to picture the scene. I enjoy Cherry Jones’s narration and the addition of the fiddle music for the songs enriches the audiobook.

The things that bother me are more products of their time, and the difference between today’s culture and that of Wilder’s time. Laura’s obvious training in not speaking at table, not asking questions, etc, seem to only benefit the adults, tho there were still plenty of questions asked and answered. Obeying right away and without question are obviously important in a time and place where perils abounded, as shown obviously through the book. The designation of being “naughty” given to not wanting to share a pretty new thing or wanting to be a Native American child (just so she can run around naked and free) are troublesome to me, and the treatment of the Native Americans was disconcerting, tho realistic.

I can understand settlers being nervous or afraid of Native peoples, I’m sure they’ve heard innumerable stories of their behavior, most likely focused on the dramatic and negative. It would make sense that Ma would probably resent having people come into her house and take whatever they want, and her feeling that she has to allow it, but this doesn’t completely explain her outright fear and dislike of them. Pa obviously had had more dealings with them and understood them to be individuals, worth giving the benefit of the doubt. The assertion that “the only good Indian is a dead Indian” was thankfully (tho mildly) rebutted, but as the family watched the Osage people walk past their house, they were still described as “fierce savages.” Hopefully any parent letting their kids read these books takes the time to combat that notion in their family.

I never read the books growing up, they just couldn’t compete with Ramona Quimby, Nancy Drew, or the Sweet Valley Twins. I feel that this helps me tho. I can see them without the romanticized eyes of nostalgia, and look at them more objectively. They’re not bad books, I don’t necessarily dislike them, but man, if they weren’t in my house and already being read by my kids, I wouldn’t really feel the need to introduce them. ( )

Laura Ingalls and her family are heading to Kansas! Leaving behind their home in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, they travel by covered wagon until they find the perfect spot to build a little house on the prairie.

I love how terrifyingly brave this book is... and how it reduces humans to their most basic desires. ( )

Unlike the TV show, the book "Little House on the Prairie" does not take place anywhere near a town (the nearest town is 40 miles away, a two-day journey). The only neighbors live several miles away, and the closest people are the Indians that sometimes come uninvited to the home to take food, and the ones that are congregating down by the creek.

Pa Ingalls builds a house from scratch with some help from the neighbors. They start growing food, Pa goes hunting.

The most interesting part of the story is, in my opinion, how the Indians are presented. The first meeting with some Indians happens while Pa is away. Two men, wearing skunk loin clothes, but little else, come in and take food -- no words spoken. Caroline (Ma) is terrified and lets them take what they want. Mary and Laura are also afraid, they smell bad and leave an unpleasant impression. When Pa comes back, he tells Ma she did right not to protest their actions, but from then on they lock up there supplies in a cabinet with a lock.

Overall, Pa seems to feel that nothing bad will happen, as long as they don't do anything to irritate the Indians -- this means chaining up Jack the dog because he growls and lunges at the Indians when they go by the trail. Laura hears the neighbors say that the only good Indian is a dead Indian, which Pa does not agree with. Later, when Laura starts asking about why the Indians have to move west, her father cuts her off, basically saying the Indians will have to move because the government has given the land to people like themselves, settlers. Without getting into details, political or otherwise, Laura's question plants the idea that something is very unfair, even immoral about what they are doing there.

By the end, the Ingalls watch as a long, long trail of Indians move past their little House to another settlement, away from their homes and what they had always known. This is a telling chapter. Laura watches with excitement at the ponies going by with the men. The descriptions of the Native Americans is somewhat stereotyped, but not necessarily negative. Then come the women, the mothers and children and last, a lone woman with a baby -- and Laura wants that baby. She is hushed by her father, but she cries. She can't explain what she is feeling. She knows they are gone forever.

After all the work of building a house, digging a well, planting crops, dealing with a prairie fire, Ingalls packs up the family to move west when he finds out the government will remove the settlers from Indian Territory. Once again the family is traveling in a covered wagon to new horizons. ( )