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The Long Winter - Be Thankful for What You Have
Date of Review: May 10, 2009
The Bottom Line: The Long Winter is the best book in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Often when I read historical fiction I can't help but dream about going back in time and experiencing the events described in the book. That is most certainly not the case with Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter.
The Story
You think you have it tough? Read the Long Winter. Imagine sitting in the dark because you had no fuel to keep a lamp lit. Imagine eating brown bread and potatoes for three meals a day, until there is only bread left, and then only enough for two meals a day. Imagine going to bed early to save the hay you must burn to try and stay warm. Imagine six people together in one small room for seven months, cutoff from neighbors by endless driving snow and the rest of their own house by bitter cold. Imagine never knowing when one blizzard would end and the next begin. That is the story Laura Ingalls Wilder tells in The Long Winter.
The Long Winter picks up where the previous book, By the Shores of Silver Lake leaves off, in the fall of 1880. There are many signs of a coming hard winter; the thick walls of a muskrat house, the quick retreat of wildlife and an old Indian's warning. The Ingalls family heeds these warnings and Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace move from their claim shanty into town to ensure accessibility to supplies. From October through April, DeSmet, (present day South Dakota) is besieged by blizzards. Storm after storm comes, until it is impossible for the trains to run, essentially cutting off the town and its residents from the rest of the world.
Our Experience
Although a work of historical fiction, The Long Winter is based on Wilder's life and it feels authentic. Earlier books in the series that detail her childhood were likely not her memories, but a collection of family lore. During this winter Wilder turned 14 and is clearly sharing her own memories and experiences with the readers, giving The Long Winter an authentic feel. You can almost feel the cold and the gnawing hunger from Wilder's words. Some might find the recurring descriptions of the blizzards repetitive; I think they add to the reading experience. Those descriptions, and each is unique, allow the reader to vicariously experience the monotony of seven months of blizzards.
Throughout all of Wilder's books in the Little House series you never doubt that the Ingalls are as poor as Laura's writing portrays them. But I don't think you ever really fear for them, knowing some how there will be food to eat and a roof over their heads. In The Long Winter you feel how grim the situation is for the family and actually wonder if all of them will survive this winter. Even the joy of the music from Pa's violin that sustained them through other challenging times has been taken away, as his fingers are too stiff to play.
But there are breaks from the bleakness of the Ingalls' winter. Wilder takes us to visit her future husband, Almanzo Wilder, and his brother Royal also living in town for the winter. There the winter is not as hard; they have plenty of supplies to tide them over until the trains run again. These glimpses not only lighten the reader's spirits a bit, but set Almanzo up as one of the heroes of the book.
The black and white sketches by Garth Williams seem so appropriate for this particular book. The simple pictures are stark and match the feel of the book. In the other books in the series I often feel his plain illustrations don't do the stories justice. But in The Long Winter, the drawings are a perfect match to the cold and lonely winter.
Final Thoughts
The Little House series only improves as it goes on. The Long Winter has always been my favorite book in the series and is my daughter's favorite so far. The family's desperate situation makes for an enthralling story. Reading of the town's plight during this terrible winter will make even the most hardened heart thankful for what they have.
