I grew up adoring the Little House on the Prairie books. (The show, not so much. Didn't care too much for the casting.) By 4th grade, I had read them over and over again, and when my teachers wanted to do a unit on the books, and make a mural, I was ecstatic.
So when my friend Deborah told me about this book, the Little House story from Caroline's POV, I was all over it. I ordered the audiobook because my Kindle is about full and I wanted to make sure I got a chance to read it soon.
Then Deborah messaged me that she was disappointed in the book, that it was pages of NOTHING happening. So I approached the book with less enthusiasm than before.
The story begins when the family leaves the house in the Big Woods to go to Kansas, and they're in a bit of a hurry because they want to get across the Mississippi before the ice breaks up, otherwise they'll have to go miles out of their way. So she's hastily saying goodbye to family she thinks she will never see again. It was pretty sad. I guess I never realized how hard it must have been.
Deborah was right that there were stretches of tedium, but the language on those parts--throughout the whole book--was just masterful. Sarah Miller has a beautiful way with words that made even the sewing of the canvas interesting reading. I wonder if I would have noticed as much if I hadn't been listening and not tempted to skim over.
The pacing was interesting, though. I have about a 25 minute ride to work each way, and it seemed something big always happened in those 25 minutes--Indians or wolves or prairie fire. But it wasn't overdone--it felt like it had really happened that way.
So I loved the book. Have you read it? What do you think?
So when my friend Deborah told me about this book, the Little House story from Caroline's POV, I was all over it. I ordered the audiobook because my Kindle is about full and I wanted to make sure I got a chance to read it soon.
Then Deborah messaged me that she was disappointed in the book, that it was pages of NOTHING happening. So I approached the book with less enthusiasm than before.
The story begins when the family leaves the house in the Big Woods to go to Kansas, and they're in a bit of a hurry because they want to get across the Mississippi before the ice breaks up, otherwise they'll have to go miles out of their way. So she's hastily saying goodbye to family she thinks she will never see again. It was pretty sad. I guess I never realized how hard it must have been.
Deborah was right that there were stretches of tedium, but the language on those parts--throughout the whole book--was just masterful. Sarah Miller has a beautiful way with words that made even the sewing of the canvas interesting reading. I wonder if I would have noticed as much if I hadn't been listening and not tempted to skim over.
The pacing was interesting, though. I have about a 25 minute ride to work each way, and it seemed something big always happened in those 25 minutes--Indians or wolves or prairie fire. But it wasn't overdone--it felt like it had really happened that way.
So I loved the book. Have you read it? What do you think?
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