The Long Winter - Laura Ingalls Wilder

[goodreads]

Title: The Long Winter Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder Genre: Classics Rating: 4/5 # pages: 251, ~7hrs Date read: July 2007, Jan 2010, August 2012, January 2018, November 2024

The town of De Smet is hit with terrible, howling blizzards and Laura and her family must ration their food and coal. When the supply train doesn't arrive, Almanzo Wilder and his brother realize something must be done. They begin an impossible journey in search of provisions, before it's too late.


My mum used to say that this was the most boring book of the lot. Perhaps for that reason alone I never felt so. I realize it's quite repetitious, but you get to follow an entire town during a difficult time, and get lots of survival tips... should you ever be in a situation where they're actually needed ;) If I remember correctly it's the only book not told solely from one person's POV which I think was a good choice as there would otherwise have been far too much telling and not enough showing.

Reread in January 2010: It's been insanely cold for an insanely long period of time (after Danish standards anyway), so I figured it was quite appropriate to reread this now. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it as much as always. Definitely made me realize how lucky I am to live in a day and age where electricity, heat and transportation are things we can take for granted.

Reread in November 2024: It struck me this time around that they managed to find Christmas presents for everybody except Laura! That bothered me a bit.