[.ca] The First Four Years (ISBN 0060264276)

The First Four Years - painting life with words:
Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote from the heart and from her experiences of life on the prairie as a child. If it's been a long time since you've read a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, then I suggest you pick this one up and read the beautiful descriptions and let your mind paint the scenery with words. Laura wrote what she saw and she described life so well you can nearly smell the farm air and help her with sewing her new black cashmere dress or feel the threat of the thunderstrom rolling in. Make no mistake, you are there with Laura. The tone in this book is a bit different then some of her other books. Perhaps there is a reason why she never had this book printed. Interestingly enough, the draft of the book was found among her personal papers and was written on an orange colored school tablet. The family lawyer looked over her personal works and had the book published after her death. I for one am glad he did. This book tells of Laura's life as an adult and the birth of her daughter Rose, and the hardships and disappointments of farming and life in the mid to late 1880's. It is a great book! A classic. It tells about life as it was with all of the bumps along the way. It is a must read for youngsters who like this historical time and want to know more about everyday life. It is a treasure if you are one of those that grew up on the "Little House" series and want to relive the series of books through your children or the neighbors children. Oh, what the heck, read it for yourself just one more time. You will not be disappointed.

Warning! Read This If You Loved the Series So Far!:
The Little House series is fantastic for readers of all ages. Laura Ingalls Wilder is a wonderful writer. It was her intention that the series end in the nice, neat little wrap-up she included in "These Happen Golden Years." However, this novel, "The First Four Years," was published after both Laura and her daughter Rose had died. And after reading the text, I can see why these pages were not really written to be published. Foremost, the book is too sad. None of the cheerful quips and passages that fill the other Little House books are included in this one. It is only a detailed account of all the incredible hardships the young couple faces. Second, the book contradicts parts of the other novels (in fact it starts with the same marriage proposal scene captured so sweetly in "Golden Years" only in this version, Laura initially says no because Almanzo is a farmer and she can't stand the idea of being a farmer's wife!) These are things to keep in mind before getting this book. Admittedly, it is interesting to know what happens next to Laura, but this book is not like the others. Be prepared.

Tough times for a hardy pioneer family:
"The First Four Years," by Laura Ingalls Wilder, tells the story of the early years of the marriage of Laura Ingalls and Manly Wilder. The introduction by Roger Lea MacBride notes that the text was discovered as a manuscript among the real-life Laura's papers, and was not published as a book until after the deaths of both Laura and her daughter Rose. As the story opens in 1885, Laura agrees to marry Manly and help him try to make a living farming. Manly quotes the Irish saying, "Everything is evened up in the world. The rich have their ice in the summer but the poor get theirs in the winter"; this saying recurs throughout the story. The young family eventually grows with the birth of baby Rose. "First Four" offers lots of details about farm economics and daily farm activities. The pioneering family faces much adversity: sickness, the harsh climate, and more. Wilder presents the often deadly dangers of pioneer life quite frankly; I don't believe that this is a sugar-coated portrayal. There are some dark and troubling moments along the way, but ultimately I found this book to be joyful and hopeful. Wilder celebrates the courage and tenacity of the pioneer farm family.

The first years they are married:
Laura Ingalls has a new name! She has just gotten married to Almonzo Wilder, and is very happy. She has written this book word for word, no one has edited it. It is straight from her diary, and is her exact words. During these first four years, they have many struggles. They have fire, death, hail, and no good crops for four straight years. They also have a major problem with debt. Yet somehow, they stay strong. They get very excited over the newest member of their family. Her name is Rose, their first baby. Through out this book, you can see all the courage, and faith they have to get through each year. This is a good book. It really shows how they had to survive back then.

"The rich man gets his ice in summer; the poor man gets his in winter.":
"The First Four Years" describes Laura and Almanzo Wilder's wedding and first years of marriage on a Dakota farm in the 1880s. Laura first tells Almanzo that she will never marry a farmer because the life is so hard and offers little financial security, so he makes a deal with her: They will try farming for three years and if it doesn't work out, he'll get a job in town. She agrees, and they begin their life together. The manuscript for this book was found after Laura's death in 1957. It is very different from her previous Little House books in that there is neither dialogue nor emotion; rather, it is a dispassionate list of events. A lot happens to the Wilders during their first four years including the birth of a daughter, disastrous weather and constant debt, serious illnesses, and a death in the family. Yet never once does Laura describe any emotional reaction to these events; she faces both good and bad times with equal stoicism. Although the book is short, it seemed to drag because it was so dry and repetitive; we get endless descriptions of prairie weather, the condition of their livestock, and their financial troubles, all told by a detached observer. I learned about living conditions at the time, but found it lacked the charm and energy of earlier books.