This winter, the mounds of snow, the icy walks,
and seemingly never-ending Nor’easters have reminded me of
two famous books. One is the
“Winter of Our Discontent” by John Steinbeck.
The other is “The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Of
course, the “Winter of Our Discontent” by Steinbeck doesn't reference snow
and ice and storms. Steinbeck’s “Winter” is based on the first lines of
Shakespeare’s “Richard III”, a play that eludes to a stormy and
metaphorical winter of discontent, contrasted by the analogous splendid summer. The discontent is relevant because of the
constant dialogue we’ve all had with ourselves and each other. “I’ve had it with winter!” “Winter makes me sick.” Or “Winter.
I’m sooooo done with it.” Discontent might be an understatement.
Yet it is “The
Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder that conjures impressive
images of winter. “The Long Winter” is
Ingall’s sixth Little House book which is based on the blizzards that rampaged the
prairies of South Dakota in 1880-1881. They were painful and long-lasting. It
had been a half-century since I’d read it and I’ve never been able to
forget the blizzards, blowing snow, howling winds, and an emptying
household pantry. I revived my memory last month and experienced winter in its
prairie form again.
This
winter, Gerry and I have become a bit snow blind. By that, I mean, that we’ve nearly tried to
ignore the forecasts and 24/7 news alerts on television, radio and the
Internet. Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately because I have the safety of a
library to look after), our grandson alerts us to the fact that winter has been
long, ever-present, and practically a daily event.
The
night before an impending storm, 15-year old Colin announces the reality of a
coming Nor’easter (or not) at the dinner table.
Constantly on alert, checking his iPhone for announcements of a school
snow day, we can hardly escape the storm.
We answer his wishful thoughts “I can’t imagine having school in the
morning” or “they’ll for sure cancel school” with a sometimes unsympathetic
response. We say, quite coldly and simply, “you still need to study for that
Spanish test”. Certainly, Gerry and
I think, everyone will come to their senses and realize that we live
in New England! It snows in New
England! Get real!
School this year is,
inevitably, cancelled. Libraries and other public buildings are closed, and the
governor announces that people should work from home. And a storm rages once
again.
Laura
Ingalls Wilder actually lived “The Long Winter”. She was turning 14 years old
when her real Ingalls family lived in a prairie town in South Dakota.
Winter started early that year – in October – and lasted seven months through
April of 1881. When the family ran out of flour, Laura and her
sisters ground wheat in a coffee mill. When they ran out of
coal, they twisted hay into stalks that burned in the stove to keep them warm.
Ingalls
Wilder’s stories are historical fiction based on the facts of her real life.
She took liberties in her writing and she reduced her experiences in some
instances and embellished them in others.
Her winter was a series of many blizzards interrupted by several days of
frigid sunshine and the hope of spring.
Yet,
in true-Laura Ingalls Wilder-fashion, the hope held out, a spring thaw arrived
and with spring came the train and supplies – food, fuel and mail.
Eight
volumes of Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder were published between
1932 and 1943. A ninth volume was published posthumously (“The First Four
Years”) in 1971.
The series began with
“The Little House in the Big Woods” and it described, fictionally, her life in
Pepin, Wisconsin where Laura was born in 1867 (where the Laura Ingalls Wilder
museum stands today). “Farmer Boy”,
“Little House on the Prairie” and “On the Banks of Plum Creek” were written
before 1937. They were followed with “By
the Shores of Silver Lake” and “The Long Winter” in 1939 and 1940. The series ended with “Little Town on the
Prairie” (1941) and “These Happy Golden Years” (1943).
Laura Ingalls did not
publish her first popular book until 1932 when she was over 60 years old when
she became well-known as a children’s and young adult author. And it was not
until 1954 that the American Library Association honored Ingalls Wilder with
the inauguration of a lifetime achievement award for given to authors and
illustrators of children’s books. It was
first awarded to Ingalls Wilder and has been awarded more than 19 times since.
Many of the Little
House books are illustrated by Garth Williams (illustrator of “Charlotte’s Web”
and “Stuart Little” by EB White.) Those
versions are particularly wonderful for sharing with young children. The audio
versions on CD are also perfect for children – they sometimes include Pa’s
fiddle music performed by Paul Woodiel.
My favorite anthology
of the Little House books is a two-volume set (“The Little House Books”) edited
by Caroline Fraser and published by The Library of America. It is a lovely set
and includes all nine books with some annotations (in note format) and some of
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s history, talks and speeches. These books are for the adult reader (they
are not illustrated). They are a lovely
and quick read in this beautiful format which includes a ribbon bookmark in
each of the two volumes.
There are other ways to
experience the Little House books. In
2001, Wendy McClure wrote in “The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World
of Little House on the Prairie”.
Somewhat obsessed with the Little House books, McClure shares tales of
churning butter and wading in rivers while she investigates the life of
Ingalls Wilder in her books.
