Back from the War
Well. It's been about two weeks since I last posted, which is far more time than I ever intended to let pass. The good news is, things are starting to settle a bit, so I should be back in the swing of things.
I've been re-reading the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I like to revisit books I read as a child, especially in times of stress. They take me to a calmer place mentally, into a world much safer and simpler than my own, both in reading and in remembering.
However, many children's books have quite a bit of interest for adults, beyond just retreating to childhood. Beverly Cleary's Ramona series has a whole layer of wry humor that is invisible to the eye of an eight-year-old. In the Little House books, small clues about culture and the adult world are tucked here and there like little treats, waiting to be discovered.
For instance:
In Little House in the Big Woods: " '[Laura's Uncle] George is wild, since he came back from the war,' Pa had said, shaking his head as if he were sorry, but it couldn't be helped. Uncle George had run away to be a drummer boy in the army, when he was fourteen years old." (p. 137)
"The war" was the Civil War. By "wild", of course, Pa could simply mean that George did as he pleased and didn't care what others thought. But George still wears his blue uniform coat (with brass buttons) and frequently blows his bugle--strange behavior several years after the war is over. Might Uncle George have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder? A drummer boy would see battle action just like a regular soldier, and a fourteen-year-old boy fresh off the farm probably would not have all the coping skills he'd need to deal with what he saw.
In Little House on the Prairie: The family contracts malaria, and are cared for by a black doctor. "Then the doctor came. And he was the black man [Laura had seen in her delirium]. Laura had never seen a black man before and she could not take her eyes off Dr. Tan. He was so very black. She would have been afraid of him if she had not liked him so much....Dr. Tan was a doctor with the Indians." (p. 191-192)
According to the Little House on the Prairie website (http://www.littlehouseontheprairie.com/web/facts1.htm), Dr. George Tann was a real person who is buried nearby (the webpage has a picture of his headstone). This website has more on Dr. Tann: http://webpages.marshall.edu/~irby1/laura/tann.html .
Also, of course, throughout the early books in the series, there are many run-ins with the Indians living nearby, discussions of politics related to land ownership, and instances of financial hardship. Reading the books now, I am curious to know more about Laura's real life, as opposed to the fictionalized version.
For the series is fictionalized, edited, and cleaned up (which, of course, makes it a better and more comprehensible story for children). If you read On the Way Home, Laura's diary of their move from Minnesota to Missouri, you get a grittier, less polished, adult account. I like this particular voice of Laura's, and want to read more. I haven't done any searching yet, so I don't know what's out there, but feel free to reply with suggestions, if you have any.
Also (hanging my head in cybernetic shame) I can't figure out how to make a link to a website instead of copying and pasting the whole thing, so if you know how, please let me know.
I've been re-reading the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I like to revisit books I read as a child, especially in times of stress. They take me to a calmer place mentally, into a world much safer and simpler than my own, both in reading and in remembering.
However, many children's books have quite a bit of interest for adults, beyond just retreating to childhood. Beverly Cleary's Ramona series has a whole layer of wry humor that is invisible to the eye of an eight-year-old. In the Little House books, small clues about culture and the adult world are tucked here and there like little treats, waiting to be discovered.
For instance:
In Little House in the Big Woods: " '[Laura's Uncle] George is wild, since he came back from the war,' Pa had said, shaking his head as if he were sorry, but it couldn't be helped. Uncle George had run away to be a drummer boy in the army, when he was fourteen years old." (p. 137)
"The war" was the Civil War. By "wild", of course, Pa could simply mean that George did as he pleased and didn't care what others thought. But George still wears his blue uniform coat (with brass buttons) and frequently blows his bugle--strange behavior several years after the war is over. Might Uncle George have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder? A drummer boy would see battle action just like a regular soldier, and a fourteen-year-old boy fresh off the farm probably would not have all the coping skills he'd need to deal with what he saw.
In Little House on the Prairie: The family contracts malaria, and are cared for by a black doctor. "Then the doctor came. And he was the black man [Laura had seen in her delirium]. Laura had never seen a black man before and she could not take her eyes off Dr. Tan. He was so very black. She would have been afraid of him if she had not liked him so much....Dr. Tan was a doctor with the Indians." (p. 191-192)
According to the Little House on the Prairie website (http://www.littlehouseontheprairie.com/web/facts1.htm), Dr. George Tann was a real person who is buried nearby (the webpage has a picture of his headstone). This website has more on Dr. Tann: http://webpages.marshall.edu/~irby1/laura/tann.html .
Also, of course, throughout the early books in the series, there are many run-ins with the Indians living nearby, discussions of politics related to land ownership, and instances of financial hardship. Reading the books now, I am curious to know more about Laura's real life, as opposed to the fictionalized version.
For the series is fictionalized, edited, and cleaned up (which, of course, makes it a better and more comprehensible story for children). If you read On the Way Home, Laura's diary of their move from Minnesota to Missouri, you get a grittier, less polished, adult account. I like this particular voice of Laura's, and want to read more. I haven't done any searching yet, so I don't know what's out there, but feel free to reply with suggestions, if you have any.
Also (hanging my head in cybernetic shame) I can't figure out how to make a link to a website instead of copying and pasting the whole thing, so if you know how, please let me know.
posted by Violet at 12:42 PM
2 Comments:
Well, the way I do it on homeschoolblogger is this:
Link Name
so you could do:
Rainbow Cottage
Only, on blogger, my links don't work. I think it has something to do with cookies or something.
Oops, that did an actual link. I'll email you.
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