The First Four Years: Little House, Book 9

My wife loves Little House on the Prairie. She needed this book to finish her collection. Arrived on time and in good condition.

I had read the Little House series a number of times over the years, but never picked up the First Four Years. Finally, as an adult - and even more a fan of Laura than I was young - I picked up this book to see what happened AFTER "happily ever after."Well, I frankly wish I hadn't. Perhaps it's better to have the truth than to buy into the sugar-coating, but it truly disappointed me in a number of ways. Most other reviewers here have complained about the miserable story line - and it IS pretty depressing - but that's not even what bothered me the most. The Laura I had come to know through the first books was a good-hearted person who loved her family more than anything. It bothered me terribly that they were hardly mentioned (some of them, not at all!) throughout the entire book. The names permeating the book are mainly her own, Rose's and "Manly's."... and she's not even all that cuddly in regards to her husband. As others have pointed out, she intially refused to marry him because he was "just a farmer." Ouch. Did she hate her childhood that much? The Laura in this book does indeed come off as a cold and somewhat naggy woman, nothing like the sassy, charming, good-hearted Laura of old. And not only does she seem to forsake her family of origin - the main characters in all of her other books! - but she destroys secondary characters that I used to like. I'll never be able to read about Mr. and Mrs. Boast again without thinking that they're a little bit icky. Which really stinks. At least Mr. Edwards didn't show up and molest Rose or anything.Reading this really made me wonder about the degree to which Rose took a hand in the original Little House books. It's quite clear, reading this, that it is of a much lower quality and in a very different voice than the rest of the books. In defense of Laura, I can only posit that this is because these were actually notes and would have been seriously revised before being published as a "Little House" book. But with MacBride - the author of the Prologue and the one holding the "Little House" rights - having been so close to Rose, it might well be that he allowed the book to be released untouched on purpose, to show the world what the rest of the series would have been like stripped of his mentor's editing and re-writing touch-ups. To do her honor, so to speak, since she has claimed none on the rest of the series. Most telling is the contrast between Laura's version of her wedding in these notes and the version published in "Golden Years:" why did these need to be re-published? The story could have easily been begun where the last book left off. It almost seems as though it were left in as a study in contrast, meant to tip the readers off to something about the difference in writing styles and quality.All-in-all, if you want to learn more about praries and how much things cost in the late 1800s, by all means - pick this up. If you want to preserve your memories of how much Laura loved her Pa and Ma and her sister Mary, and of what a fiesty but caring young lady she was, I recommend skipping this. Maybe preferring the fictionalized world to reality isn't very mature, but there it is.I think I'm going to go watch a few episodes of the 70s TV series to cheer myself up, as long as I seem to enjoy fiction so much.

Our whole family loved the first 8 Little House books, and were determined to read this, the 9th installment. I believe that Laura Ingalls Wilder. Who wrote this volume without the editing of her daughter Rose, had a true gift for capturing domesticity in all of its beautiful monotony and drama in ways no else has been able to do. I may be biased, as I feel her and Almonzo's struggle in early marriage to support a young family closely resembles our own family's experience in several points. The ending is challenging, but instructive and beautiful.Our children are 7, 5, and 3, and they loved it. We (couple that just turned 30) also love it. :)

Published posthumously, The First Four Years is the unedited draft of what appeared to be Wilder's next book in her popular Little House series. Laura Ingalls is now Laura Wilder, learning to settle into her new life with husband Almanzo in a little home of their very own. Despite her childhood reluctance to grow up and become a farmer's wife, Laura has done exactly that! Almanzo and Laura strike a bargain: she will let him try farming for three years, and if it works, then she will happily remain a farmer's wife. However, if the venture fails, then Almanzo has promised that after three years, he will give up farming and try his hand at something new. And so the reader is taken on a journey through the first three years (and one more) of their marriage. Among the ups and downs, Laura learns to ride a pony, baby Rose is introduced, and Almanzo falls so sick that he will never be able to walk without the aid of a cane.I had always adored Wilder's portrayal of her pioneer youth. With every Little House book I finished, I found myself charged with energy to go extract maple sap, grind my own flour, or make cheese the good old fashioned way. No matter how tough Wilder's youth had been, she had always managed to weave a great deal of hope in her stories and a general sentiment that everything would turn out okay. The First Four Years is no different, but because of its lack of completion (and thus, closure) and editing, it carries a definitely more grown-up air than the rest of the Little House books. Wilder doesn't glance over the hardships in this book the way she did in the others, so at times, it seems bleak and without hope; the reader gets to follow Wilder as she keeps tabs on the family's dire financial situation and her emotional state after a tragic accident where she was partially to blame. The First Four Years made for a fantastic, quick read, but it wasn't exactly the happy return to innocence that I was expecting. I recommend it--but with caution to folks who are expecting the same type of rustic romanticism found in the rest of the series.[...]

O livro é em papel jornal, traz a última parte da história da querida laura

Laura Ingalls Wilderのシリーズは驚きの連続だ。ほぼ実際にあったことなのだろう。家族（夫婦）で力を合わせて丸太小屋を作るとか知識として知っているのと，間近で見ていた人の書いたものを読むのとでは受け取り方が違う。平易な英語だけれども，原文だから見慣れない単語が出てくる。100年も経っていないだろうに英語がずいぶん変化しているのを発見するのも楽しい。学習用教材だと書き換えられているので興ざめだ。残念なことに輸送中に物理的にダメージを追っている。簡易包装なのはよいが，輸送中に痛むことを考えてしっかりした封筒にいれてほしい。

ローラがアルマンゾと結婚してから4年間の生活です。英語は平易なので、日本語と同じ？ような？スピードです〜〜っと読めると思います。毎年、毎年、豊作か？と思いきや！突然の雹で壊滅、いきなりの春の吹雪、ブリザードで全滅、さあ収穫！という寸前に熱風の嵐で凶作、あと一度でも収穫できれば負債は返済できるのに・・と。ジフテリアでマヒが残る夫と2人の子の出産でも医者の介助が必要。出費はかさみ4年を過ぎても負債は残っている。こんな状況でもローラとアルマンゾはへこまずにすぐに立ち直り、いろいろな工夫で生計をたてる。雹に壊滅された畑に出て、雹をかき集めてアイスクリームを作ろう！というアルマンゾの発言には脱帽。たくましいですね。この時代のニンゲンは。いや、ニンゲンって自然と生きるときは常にたくましい。一年に一度は読み返す名著です。ローラの母親の心境、かたときも目が離せない子育てと次々に山積みされる家事、雑用に、つい女性の本音がこぼれる・・・時代を超えて共感できる要素には、深く考えさせられます。英語は平易で読みやすいのですが、構文はしっかりしていて、意味がわからない・・という箇所がない。・・・のは、おこさま向けだからか？あるいは古い年代の記述ゆえか？？

Reading the former reviews I was expecting some huge differences. True, the story was not as filled out as in former books, but I didn't see any real contradictions to what happened before. It did go back to fill in some details concerning their contract for marriage which were necessary to understand the "first four years". Adding those details were not really contradictions, I'm sure there were a lot of other details that were left out as well. Laura's fears concerning farm life can easily be related to her childhood where her father often had to seek work in areas outside of their land to sustain them. Laura worked as school teacher, and seamstress and gave all her money to the family because their income from their land wasn't enough to meet their needs. So Laura's hesitation on depending on farming for their living was understandable.Laura and Almanzo did start out their marriage in a comfortable way. Laura was very proud of her little home which Almanzo had built for her. They did have the one cow Laura's father had given her. They did have horses, etc. The first year seemed quite a happy year. The fact that they had crop failures, sickness, fire, etc. was a sad reality that gradually turned their first four years into very hard, trying years, but they obviously still had hope. Always thinking "next year" would be better. After her baby's death she was numb with grief -- but she pushed on -- she obvious did care very much. What others may have seen as hopeless non-caring, was actually caring very much but pushing on, though numb, and not giving up in hopelessness, because their was hope that it would get better.What I saw in the book was a strong hope and determination to make the best of things in circumstances that would have utterly devastated many, but they continued on together.I just wish there was a next book showing how they did succeed, for we know they did get financially more stable and had a good life together for many years.

These classic books of Laura Engalls have been long time favourites of mine but have held even deeper meaning for me since making the trip down to visit her childhood farm , school ect at Desmett , SD . We also visited the graves of most of her family members there as well as the home in town her Father built , the church he helped build & she and Almonzo’s tree claim . Although I was raised on our Saskatchewan family farm in the late 70s & 80s I too was raised without electricity , running water , a phone , tv ect ( oh & like Laura one of 4 girls ) so feel such an affinity to her writings . I was shocked when I shared photos of our visit there on social media to discover many folks were not aware that she and her family were ‘ real people ‘ - they thought they were tv characters only !! That to me is very unfortunate and I would highly recommend parents read these beloved books with their children . They are an important part of our history - both in the US and Canada I believe .