#7QT: First Impressions of Little House on the Prairie

-- one --

We've been {listening to The Little House on the Prairie audio book} on my long drives to and from Tampa twice a day.  Would you believe this is my first time experiencing a Little House book?

I don't really, either.  I have some vague memory of Little House in the Big Woods, so I believe it was read to me a long, long time ago.

-- two --

That might explain the great nostalgia I felt immeidately for the heavy, wooded Wisconsin the Ingalls leave behind.  Or more likely, I prefer and have known forests better all my life.  I have to hand it to her, though.  Though I've never seen a prairie, and never really felt called to it, Ms. Wilder's gorgeous writing makes me sort of like to see it.

-- three --

Is it just me, or is baby Carrie crazy good?  How in the world does a family with an infant strike out into the wilderness, crossing frozen lakes and flooding rivers, in nothing but a canvas-covered wagon, go so far with me forgetting about the infant's existence?  I'm wondering if there's some heavy memory editing going on on Laura's part.

Either that or babes were made far hardier back then.  Cause mine would be all like, "Pioneers?  Ha, no."

-- four --

Any couple needing to brush up on their relationship might do well to read a Little House book.  The cooperation of Ma and Pa Ingalls is just inspiring.  The moment when they cross the river and Caroline has to take the reigns and keep her cool while Charles jumps in to lead the horses.  I'm in awe of how much confidence and faith they have in one another's capabilities.

Seeing it through Laura's eyes reminds me a lot of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Little House is a little weaker in that Laura has to spell things out for the reader, but she somehow manages it without sounding moralizing.

-- five --

That being said, I don't like Caroline much.  She's the stereotype of the frowning, disapproving mother, always scolding them and expecting them to act like ladies.  Boo.  I hate the strictness.  It leaves a sting of joyless Puritanism.  Don't get me wrong; I admire her amazing strength.  I'm pretty sure I would die out there on the prairie if I had to do the things she does.  But I'm also pretty sure that if we were contemporaries, we would have nothing in common.

I much prefer Charles.  Someone somewhere said that the books were his stories more than Laura's.  They are indeed.

-- six --

That common human decency is something that can be counted on is fascinating to me.  Charles is intrinsically good, of course, but then so are the strangers who they meet on the prairie who they are happy to call neighbors.

-- seven --

Last, there is a great deal of description put into the setting up of buildings and the living in the wilderness.  I feel as if I'm getting a minor education in homesteading what with the careful account of how to make a door without nails, etc.

When did you first read the Little House books?  What were your impressions?  Should we bother to read the rest of the books after this one, or is this as good as it gets?

Linking up with Kelly for {Seven Quick Takes Friday}.