Little House

I borrowed Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder from the library the other day and just devoured it. I didn't realize it's NOT the first book in the series until I started reading it, but it wasn't much of a problem to pick up what had happened before. What is a problem is that the library system is closed during the entire President's Day weekend and I can't read more! I'm tempted to go to the bookstore and buy the set since I'll have to wait till at least Tuesday to borrow the rest.

Man, oh man, are these books like reading about some alien planet. The life portrayed is just so different from what it is now. I'm torn on how to feel about their lives because in some ways they seem to live good and decent lives, but at the same time some opinions we'd disapprove of now are taken for granted. The Indian insults are one thing, but what really shocked me was the evening of entertainment by upstanding men of the community in blackface!!

I winced hearing about corsets and hoops, knowing what corsets can do to a woman's body. How did these hardworking women accomplish all that they did in torture devices? It's so sad when Laura's little sister comments that she's glad she doesn't have to wear corsets and Laura replies that she will when she's old enough to put up her hair and wear her dresses down to her shoes. The "this is how things are" mentality can be comforting but at the same time it feels so stifling. I know I didn't have any of these issues when I read them as a child. XD;