Wilder, Laura Ingalls. 1971. The First Four Years.
The stars hung luminous and low over the prairie.
The First Four Years was published several decades after the death of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was published after the death of Laura and Almanzo's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It is based on three hand-written notebooks. The story is believed to have been written in the mid to late forties. It is also believed to have been shelved by Laura Ingalls Wilder after the death of Almanzo. She never went back to work on it again. She never polished it up. She never sent it to the publishers. It is what it is, a first draft.
It has a completely different feel than the other Little House books. It doesn't have chapters, for one thing. But more than that there is an emotional undertone of sadness and regret that makes it pointedly different than its predecessors. It is just very melancholy. Yes, it captures all the horrible things that happened next. Yes, it's probably accurate enough to assume that most if not all farmers experienced this many brutal hardships. The other Little House books often dealt with hard issues as well. But I suppose they felt more balanced. I think she injected enough hope and light to lift them up.
Personally, I'd rather have the "happily ever after" ending of These Happy Golden Years than the brutal hardships of The First Four Years. Not that I'm promoting the unrealistic fairy-tale ending where marriage is problem-free. But to read of all the hardships with the farm, the land, the money problems, the debt, the worries, the health problems, the weather/environment problems, etc. It's just so hard, so brutal, so depressing.
134 pages.
3 comments:
The First Four Years is a very painful book to read. Or it was for me. In the other books I think it helped that there were strong adult figures who were in charge. In the First Four Years Laura and Almanzo are the adults.
I actually found it very cathartic to (recently) read about Laura's life in other sources. They went through a long rough time, but their families helped them, and in the end Laura developed a successful career and became famous. Unfortunately TFFY's makes a terrible sad ending to the series.
From what I've read, another factor in the different tone of THE FIRST FOUR YEARS is that it's generally believed to have been written for an adult audience. Honestly, I think it's a mistake for Harper to market FFY as both as conclusion to the series, and to children. Clearly, as far as Laura Ingalls Wilder was concerned, THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS is the happily ever after.
FFY is pretty much a total bummer when you're a kid, but reading it as an adult and knowing that it was intended for adults made made it much more palatable to me.
Wow, this week you are just pulling out everything that I'm about to read! =D I've actually never read this series and am about to get started on it.
I'm looking forward to it.
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