Holiday Reads: A Children Classic and A Golden Age Mystery

My last Christmas holiday reads consisted of two books, one was a readalong with my mother, and the other was a book I've intended to read for #DeanStreetDecember, but I ran out of time to review it. So, here they are...

A mother-daughter semi-readalong of
Little House on the Prairie (1935) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Watching Little House on the Prairie on TV was a family tradition in my childhood. I remember how we (my parents and me) sat in front of our black and white television after Sunday lunch, patiently waiting for the series to play. My mother and I, especially, keep the happy memories to this day.

Mama is 82 now, and her eyesight is declining with every year. For years she can't read or watch movies anymore, and even performing daily tasks is becoming more difficult these days. Early this year, I have read (listened to) Little House in the Big Woods, and casually told the story to Mama, which, surprisingly made her so happy. So, this holiday I have prepared to do what I called a "semi" readalong of Little House on the Prairie.

Everyday I listened to the audiobook (narrated charmingly by Cherry Jones), for 45 minutes, each session covering a chapter or two. I took notes of some important events, and some little details which I know my mother would love to hear. It's usually the household chores details, or of the meals. Then, during our mother-daughter-time each afternoon, I told it to my mother. Though I'm not a good storyteller, Mama cherished each second of these moments, which made me so happy. I know that one day I would be much grateful that I had made the efforts!

For me personally, it's a reread. Here's my review of the 1st read. Listening to audiobook made a different impression of the story. It feels like I'm living the same life of a settler with the Ingallses. My favorite moments would be the one when Charles was encircled by a pack of wolves while riding a horse. That's a horrifying scene! Then, of course, there's the Christmas story where Mr. Edwards (their bachelor neighbour) took mighty efforts to cross a roaring creek to bring presents for Laura and Mary - who were afraid Santa Claus won't come - pretended that he acted as Santa Claus' courier. It's heartwarming and very wholesome to read!

The Murders near Mapleton (1929) by Bryan Flynn

I have originally read this for #DeanStreetDecember - an event hosted by Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home, of reading books published by Dean Street Press. I have actually finished it around Christmas, but with one thing or others, I couldn't write the review until after New Year.

It's my first Bryan Flynn, and I was pretty impressed by the intricate plot. The story is set in a usual English countryside, on Christmas Eve dinner, hosted by Sir Eustace Vernon, and attended by his niece, as well as several of his friends. After dinner he went away after receiving a very bad news, and never came back. His body was later found near train station by Anthony Bathurst - the amateur sleuth who would investigate the case. A red bon bon was found on Sir Eustace's clutched hand. The same was also found on his butler's dead body, which was proved surprisingly to be a woman!

It's a proper Golden Age murder mystery with intricate plot red herrings, one-on-one interview with each suspect, and all that. Quite the perfect read for the season.

How's your holiday been, reading wise? What kind of books you usually enjoy during holiday?

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Review of an Audiobook

 

💙 Little House in the Big Woods is the one that started the series of nine autobiographical novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, based on her childhood memories in the American Midwest.

💙 The story is told from Laura's perspective, who, in this book, is four years old. The family consists of Pa Charles, Ma Caroline, Mary - Laura's older sister, and baby Carrie who was just born. They lived in a log cabin at the edge of Big Woods in Wisconsin. The Ingallses are busy preparing for the upcoming winter. They are butchering the animals and preserving the meat; harvesting fruits and vegetables from their garden to be stored in the attic. Everyone is lending their hands to the works.

💙 At night, when they are tired from the day hard work, Laura feels warm and contented by the blazing fire, the safety of their sturdy log house, the warmth of family love, while Pa's singing and playing his fiddle.

illustration by Garth Williams

💙 Then the freezing winter came. There's Laura's cousins, aunt and uncle staying with them; the joy of finding presents inside their stockings (Laura got a beautiful doll she named Charlotte), and of course, delicious foods. It is so satisfying to follow Laura's excitement in every simple thing she's enjoying, like when she's scooping snow from outside of grandma's house, then grandma poured hot sticky maple syrup on it to make a sweet candy. It's really a bliss when one can obtain so much happiness from little things like that!

💙 The joy continues on next in spring, summer, and fall. Of course, there're scary moments too when one lives on the edge of a big woods, such as when Ma and Laura went out to the barn, and seeing the shadow of what they thought is their cow, Suki. Ma slapped the animal, which turned out to be not a cow, but a bear! I couldn't imagine how scared they were (including the bear... it might be more scared for it to be slapped by human like that!!) 🤣

illustration by Garth Williams

💙 I enjoyed this book in audiobook version, narrated by Cherry Jones. Let me tell you, one of my favorites is Pa's fiddle. Every time there's a scene where he's singing and playing his fiddle, the narrator sings accordingly, accompanied by a fiddle play (played by Paul Woodiel)! That only enhanced the reading sensation; I felt as if I was transported to the Ingallses' log house by the big woods on a cold night!

💙 I loved also Pa's stories. The one when he heard a scary voice in the wood when he's a boy coming late from running errand, for example, which turned out to be a screech owl's! 🤣

💙 But the funniest one is Pa's story about grandpa & his brothers' sled riding when they were kids, and the black pig. One day they sneaked out of the house on a Sunday afternoon while their father fell asleep, and rode the sleigh down the hill, when a pig appeared suddenly in front of them out of the wood. They couldn't stop the fast going sleigh, so the pig ended up landing on the boy's lap and they sleighed down with the scared pig squealing, passing the house to the astonishment of their father!🤣🤣 That was so funny I had to stop the audio for a minute to laugh out loud!

💙 It was a so satisfying reading experience, that I planned to read through the whole series (I have only read Little House on the Prairie so far) from audiobook. Cherry Jones is such a perfect narrator for this series!

Rating: 5/5

Little House on the Prairie

I remember…. When I was a child, our family lived in a rented house, and our television was still monochrome. Every Sunday afternoon we (me, my mom, and dad) would sit calmly in front of our TV, and excitedly waiting for one familiar theme song, and the scene of a prairie with its long grass, where from afar came a little girl with her dog ran across. Yes, it was the famous TV series of Little House on the Prairie. It was my family’s favorite, and it always sent warmth to my heart to see one family that was bound together by love and kindness. Thirty years after, I still remember that scene, that exciting anticipation, that theme song, and that warm feeling, all over again while reading the original book at last.

Little House on the Prairie (number three) is one of eight Little House series Laura Ingalls wrote about her childhood as pioneer in the 19^th century. It covers the period when the Ingallses move from the “Big Woods” of Wisconsin to Indian Territory of Kansas. Pa Charles Ingalls has received information that the government would soon open settlement for the whites, and so he immediately packs their belongings on the wagon, takes a long way to Kansas, and finally settles on the prairie before anybody else, so they can pick the best part. The family (Pa Charles, Ma Caroline, Mary, Laura, and baby Carrie) must start all over again to have a comfortable home. Laura tells us in details how his father builds their log house literally alone, the stable, and the furniture, and is only occasionally helped by their neighbors: Mr. Edwards and Mr. Scott.

Throughout the book Laura describes beautifully how she sees the prairie’s nature. My favorite scene is the nightingale song; it’s so serene and majestic! But their life is not always peaceful; there were the wolves which scare them at night. But the more dangerous is the presence of the Indians. Pa Ingalls’ confidence proves to be wrong; the land where they have built the house is actually the Osage tribe’s reservation. After reading how the Indians have been cruelly treated by the whites at Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, it was interesting to read about them from the white settlers’ perspective.

There are mixed feelings among the pioneers. Mr and Mrs Scott seem to believe “the only good Indian is the dead Indian”. Ma and Mr. Edwards might not be that strict, but they dislike the Indians very much. Only Pa is sensible enough to try to make good relationship with them. At one occasion, he even sits and smokes with an Indian in front of the fireplace. And the Indian then saved them when other Indian tribes want to harm the whites. In the end of the chapter about the horrible war cry of the Indians, which makes everybody sleepless at night, Laura tells us that ‘no matter what Mr. Scott said, Pa did not believe that the only good Indian was a dead Indian’.

I too have mixed feelings about this book. Had I read this in childhood, it might have been my favorite, and I would have praised it very high. But, as an adult, and because I have just read an awful history of the Indians and the whites, well… in the end I was troubled as much as I was entertained by this book. Pa Ingalls is kind enough to not make the Indians his enemy, but on the other hand he is just the same as those white settlers, who, knowing that they have settled on an Indian Territory, still claim the land as theirs. They just don’t want to think about the Indians; it’s enough that they don’t harm their families.

Laura’s discussion with her Pa echoed my thought:

Pa: “White people are going to settle all this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our pick. Now do you understand?”
Laura: “Yes Pa. But, Pa, I thought this was Indian Territory. Won’t it make the Indians mad to have to—“
Pa: “No more questions, Laura. Go to sleep.”

The way Pa sharply interrupts Laura’s phrase only shows that his conscience actually troubles him, but he shuts it up to justify his decision to settle there. He knows that it is only rumors that the government will open settlement, but he hurries up there in order to get the best land. It is only another proof how the whites are greedy by nature, although some of them are good and kind-hearted as Charles Ingalls.

But…. enough of the dark atmosphere of human injustice! Let’s talk about love, because (almost) throughout the book, Laura always speaks about love; the warmth of family life. I admire Mr. Edwards, their bachelor neighbor, who on Christmas day takes troubles within the thick freezing snow, only to get to the city’s store to buy presents for Mary and Laura. How sweet and touching is that scene! The Christmas spirit is really there….

And for all that…. I granted four stars for Little House on the Prairie.

~~~~~~~~~~

I read Harper Trophy (Harper Collins) paperback edition

This book is counted as:

13^th book for 2014 TBR Pile Challenge

83^rd book for The Classics Club Project

3^rd book for Twelve Months of Classic Literature 2014: freebie (Children Lit)