"THE LONG WINTER"

I guess this book will make you really appreciate how lucky we have it today...& we really do have it easy!

This is my favorite book of the series. It also makes me think of the LHOP episode, The Christmas They Never Forgot", which is such a crazy episode, because if they got that much snow they sure wouldn't be worrying about how to get to their Christmas presents.

Hahaha! That's RIGHT! I've never thought about that! Maybe they already had fd supplies to face a really long and hard snowstorm?

Vanesa.

Been long time, since I read any of the LHOTP series. I did, remember, like reading The Long Winter. I should re-read all of LHOTP series soon. To refresh my memory.

I read the series once a year. They get dearer every time.

This one remains my favorite. I love seeing Almanzo as the hero.

This book has a new meaning for me now that I have been to DeSmet and seen the town. I can now picture how far the kids had to walk home from school and where everyone lived in relation to each other. It seems like places are farther apart when they aren't very far at all. But I guess being in a blizzard can make "across the street" seem like a mile.

I have never read this book
Maybe now that it's winter, it's a good time to read it :)

NOPE...wait til summer when its SO hot you want to sit in snow. I always read it in the summer, but I'm a little strange.

Gin wrote:

NOPE...wait til summer when its SO hot you want to sit in snow. I always read it in the summer, but I'm a little strange.

That actually makes more sense! lol

Carol, you are in California. You have no idea what winter is, lol.
I read it in the winter. When everyone is complaining about this and that, it is good to read this book and see what the Ingalls had to endure. It was a far harder time than we ever have. I always feel grateful for all of the modern conveniences of winter while reading this book.
Read it Carol, you'll love it.

The last time I read it was in March 2007. Definitely time to read it again. It's my favorite.

This was probably one of my favorite books. The way it was written almost makes you feel as if you were there.
Yes it was depressing and life was hard. But that was frontier life.

BTW....my favorite part of the book was when Pa helped himself to the wheat that Almanzo and Royal had hidden in the wall!!

The Long Winter is one awesome book. So much to think about when reading it.

One thing that strikes me is the navigation to the farm that had the wheat. On a featureless prairie with very few landmarks, and all white with snow. Coming back, even if they found a constellation to navigate by, they storm clouds started covering up the stars! Remarkable.

The fact that they didn't lost anyone to starvation, a miracle.

Laura writes, she feels "dull and stupid." That's not meer malnutrition, but I bet it was starvation starting to set in. Carrie's health problems were most likely the effects of near-starvation on a young growing body.

The Christmas in May when the train finally got through. Can you imagine the digestive problems after all of that rich food? Bet the outhouse was a busy place after dinner!

Here's a thought:
If Almanzo and Cap wasn't able to make the deal with the farmer to buy the wheat, anybody think there would have been some killing going on? Maybe one of them had a Colt in his jacket and said, "We'll get that wheat one way or the other." Or if they returned to town empty handed, would the townspeople have arranged a mob to go get it by force? Starvation can drive people to desparation.

This book would have made a killer movie. Would really take a talented writer to get into the psychology, the desperation, the fear of the Ingalls and the town. The ending would make a great adventure story.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Long Winter. I like listening to audiobooks on my long drives to and from work, and it was nice to have a LHOTP book to listen to. It can be interesting having female narrators try to do men's voices, but the narrator of this book did an excellent job voicing Pa, Mr. Edwards, and the other men in the book.

This is the next book, I'll be reading. Must wait until June 1st. I'm reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books every month. I'm almost done with BTSOSL.

This is a favorite of mine also. Partly because I like snow, although this is a tough survival story. I wonder if a couple of things are exaggerations. Does snow really pile up to the rooftops? I'm sure that's possible.

But every time Laura describes it snowing it's a complete whiteout and no one can see three feet ahead of them, or any of the other buildings. That seems hard for me to believe. Not that there can be a whiteout, but that it happens about every time it snows.