The Wilder Life
The Wilder Life, by Wendy McClure (who tweets as @HalfPintIngalls), is a tribute to her fascination with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and life. I’ve read the whole original series, but until I picked up this book, I had no idea that the Little House phenomenon could be so entertaining, emotional and, on occasion, bizarre. Part memoir, part homage, and delightfully snarky in places, this was a very enjoyable read.
The first step of the journey into what Ms. McClure calls “Laura Land” is to cook the meals described in the books. So she grinds wheat, bakes sourdough bread, and makes syrup-on-snow candy, with mixed results (vanity cakes, she discovers, require one to two pounds of lard). And sometimes it’s difficult to explain to friends who rely on iPhones and Starbucks that you’re churning your own butter.
When talking to friends about buying a dash churn, one must be careful when making hand gestures. Do not simulate holding the dash in your hands and pumping it up and down.
With her boyfriend along for the ride, the author plans to spend a few days on a farm which provides workshops to develop such skills. Unfortunately her fellow participants turn out to be members of a survivalist cult focused on preparing for the end times and the collapse of civilization. Her boyfriend, questioned about their relationship, says they’ve been married three years (living together = no-no) and in their tent that night, they write messages to each other rather than risk being overheard. They also decide that if the end times occur, they don’t want to be anywhere near the survivalists, and will take their chances with whatever post-apocalyptic fate awaits them.
Her boyfriend, no doubt won over by her fried apples ’n’ onions – if not by the encounter with cultists – starts reading the Little House books and becomes a fan too. So the two of them decide on a road trip, a journey from Kansas to Walnut Grove to Plum Creek to De Smet. They’ll visit all the Little House sites along the way. This proves to be a great case of fiction meeting reality, especially when she discovers that Laura’s family also lived in Burr Oak, Iowa, where they worked as servants in a hotel, and then left in the middle of the night to avoid paying a landlord (!).
Another thing I learned from this book was that Ma’s brother was married to Pa’s sister, and also, one of Ma’s sisters married Pa’s brother, “and all of this no doubt made Laura’s extended family tree look less like a tree and more like the chemical diagram of glucose.” And then there’s the museum which features the Ingalls family recreated as life-size rag dolls and posed limply in armchairs, which I thought of as Little House in Uncanny Valley.
…in their demented way, they really did look a bit like the Ingallses, inasmuch as one could look at an old photo and render it in pillow form.
One of the most interesting things in the book are the three aspects of Laura Ingalls Wilder—the books, the TV show, and the reality. Oh, and by the TV show, I mean the 1974 one starring Michael Landon as Pa, not the Japanese animé series with episode titles like “A Cute Calf Has Arrived!” and “Wheat, Grow Tall!” As for real-life Laura, she’s intriguing. She worked together with her daughter Rose on the books, yet disagreed with her when necessary. For instance, Rose advised Laura to make Carrie the protagonist of Silver Lake, reasoning that book-Laura, at twelve, might be too old for the readership. Laura objected to this, saying that she couldn’t switch heroines halfway through, and she was right.
There’s so much more to discover about Laura Land, especially its politics and its impact on the lives of people today. I enjoyed the road trip/journey back through time, but whenever the author returned to her own life or reminisced about her own family, it just wasn’t as humorous or entertaining, which is why this isn’t a DIK for me. But The Wilder Life still gets a strong recommendation, especially for Little House fans.
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Book Details
| Reviewer: | Marian Perera |
|---|---|
| Review Date: | January 6, 2020 |
| Publication Date: | 04/2011 |
| Grade: | B+ |
| Sensuality | N/A |
| Book Type: | Non Fiction |
| Review Tags: |
Sorry – Typo Alert! “I don’t think “Joe Public” isn’t stupid” – should have read “I don’t think “Joe Public” is stupid”. Fingers faster than brain syndrome.
KesterGayle wrote: “We can’t place 21stC standards on books written many many decades ago, It would be like re-writing Gone With the Wind or Huckleberry Finn. Let’s learn from these books, not throw them away because we don’t like the history they portray.” Followed by: “I hired a handyman to come into my home and work, for which I paid him at the end of the day. He proceeded to hand me a brochure inviting me to his church. IN MY HOME!!! I am athiest, but he didn’t know this; we hadn’t discussed religion or much of anything else. I was shocked speechless for a moment, then I chased him to his truck, handed him back the brochure, and told him I planned to warn every homeowner I knew about him. Which I did. I also called the guy who referred him to me, and he was upset, too. He had no idea the guy was doing this. This is a perfect example, imo, of an ignorant and thoughtless person, and the world abounds with them. To accurately reflect the world, characters like this idiot need to be present in fiction.” Nan de Plume wrote: “You’ve probably noticed this too, but certain beliefs permeate certain professions. Your average handyman, for example, is unlikely to share too many (if any) political views with your local college professor. But I definitely don’t write off conservatives as a whole as “ignorant” or “thoughtless.” If anything, tradesmen often have legitimate reasons for holding the beliefs and values that they do. For example, I often hear people in the trades bemoan liberal tax/regulation policies- because they and their businesses are often directly hurt by those policies. Not theoretically, but actually. (I don’t want to get into specifics here, but I’m sure we could all think of some examples.) So I definitely understand where they are coming from even though I could do without some of the more overt religious beliefs that tend to come with the mix.” Now from me: I am an old timer at AAR (20 years at least). I generally try to keep out of politically tinged discussions for which the old Wild West board was appropriate and valuable. And I have followed with interest what both of the two contributors above (and others) have written on the quite controversial discussions we have had here recently. However, this exchange has really surprised me and so I am going to dip my toe in the murky, swirling waters. First I will say (as I have before) that I was born and educated in California (MA History with a BA Minor in Political Science at UCSB) and at the age of 29 left the US to marry and live in England where I continue to be very interested in current events on both sides of The Pond and think I have some small ability to comment where relevant on the situations both here in the UK and in the US. My take on the above comments are that, firstly, yes, you can’t re-write history but you can and should learn from it as an aid to shaping your moral and ethical judgments. So I was surprised that having made the first, shall we say “liberal minded” comment, KesterGayle then can’t contain her irritation at someone merely handing her a leaflet. OK, if you are not a believer, that’s fine but why not just politely say, “No thank you, I don’t wish to read this” and hand it back? And then to report him to his boss? This is really surprising as it might cause the poor handyman to lose his job. If he’d been a Muslim, would KesterGayle have chased him to his truck to remonstrate with him? You certainly would think twice here in the UK in doing that because you could be considered to be possibly committing a racist “hate crime” offence. Therefore, not liberal at all, really. And why does Nan de Plume assume that “overt religious beliefs” come with “the mix”. Please define “the mix”. I have to assume you refer to the blue collar folk (such as the handyman) who voted for the current President of whom very few “professional/white collar” liberal folk (in most places in the world including here in the UK) approve. Why call should KesterGayle call the handyman an idiot? On what basis to you define him thus? Because he does not agree with you? Because he might have differing political/moral/ethical beliefs? And why is… Read more »
The handyman was self employed, and he could have handed me religious brochures all day long anywhere else. But NOT in my living room..
This story about the “handyman” and KesterGayle made me genuinely sad when I read it because I think it represents a lot of situations and interactions that go on nowadays and because at the heart of it I feel is story of lack of understanding of the other person’s situation.
Having been raised Catholic, my situation (which I think applies to all the Catholics I know as well as all my Jewish friends) is that it is largely an “inherited” religion. My relatives and ancestors going back (I don’t even know how long), were all Catholic and produced more Catholics. All my Catholic and Jewish friends and schoolmates were the same. No one was “converted” or decided one day they would become Catholic or Jewish, it was as much a part of all of us as our ethnicities, (which was varied).
It wasn’t until I was closer to an adult that I was exposed to more religions, particularly ones where “Evangelizing” is not only a part of the religion, but a huge requirement. While I am no expert, I do know that many members of (and I am thinking now of many Christian religions) demand that practitioners spread the word. They genuinely believe and are told by their preachers, leaders etc. they are failing as a member if they don’t try to spread the “good word” which is essential to people being “saved.” I have a friend who moved south and was genuinely shocked when every phone call she made to get situated there (including ones to local utility companies) ended with an invitation to for her to “join their church if she hadn’t found one yet.” I was shocked in my early working years when a Born Again coworker would ask me if I was, and kept telling me (despite my stating I was raised Catholic and had been baptized once already) that Jesus and the Bible said it was necessary or I wouldn’t be saved. She truly meant it and seemed very worried that others were not following the same path. Years later, at a totally different job I heard someone in another office ask a co-worker quite seriously if they had “accepted Jesus Christ” as their “personal savior”.
As someone who never had a thought of trying to convert anyone to anything and always considered religion as a very personal, “settled” matter I won’t deny it was jarring to hear at first. I wasn’t offended or angry, but to me it was like asking overly personal questions to a mere acquaintance about their private business the way I wouldn’t ask them about their weight or private life or bank account balance. My friends who are Jewish, Congregationalist, Episcopalian etc etc would no more try and convert anyone to their religion than I would have asked anyone to start saying “Hail Marys”. It wasn’t part of our religious education or how our religions “worked”. This is not the case with other religions and groups where inviting people to join you is essential and required.
While I’m not shopping for a new religion, I certainly wouldn’t call anyone who issued a genuine invitation to their church (or temple, or mosque or meeting or whatever) an idiot or ignorant or try to ruin their livelihood. While it’s clear it hit a genuine nerve with the poster here because of her own feelings about religion- I get no sense the “handyman” had any malicious intent. I’m sorry KesterGayle felt uncomfortable in her home and I am sorry the man (who it seems did a good job on the work) probably took a blow to his income.
It seems to me to be a situation about two people with diametrically opposing views on religion (and probably many other things) having a culture clash. Add to this the heightened emotions attached to everything going on in the world today and this seems like a microcosm of the U.S. right now and a lot of what I witness on Facebook.
Chrisreader, thank you for explaining some religious differences. I think it is sometimes easy to forget that while evangelizing is a nuisance or deep offense to some, it is a strongly held tenet to others. Just part of living in this messy world with so many different, often diametrically opposed beliefs.
I know, for example, there are people out there who would probably love to prevent me from publishing erotica- whether through evangelization or the ballot box. And while some of these people might be just plain busybodies, others may be genuinely fearful that I’m going to roast on an eternal spit in you-know-where if they don’t save me. And others still may be secular people who sincerely believe that what I’m doing somehow encourages sexual crime, even though I only write on-page sexual situations involving consenting adults. (Shameless plug over…)
Overall, to wrap this up, I believe the culture wars you are describing are very real. The RWA kerfuffle that is still going on is just one example of many. But I like to think that there’s always room for love and joy, which is what so many of us readers and writers strive for.
There are many reasons I left the Middle East and migrated to Canada, but one of them was the pressure from my parents’ extremely religious friends who seemed unable to accept that I’m an atheist. More than once, they tried to persuade me to attend their church. When I repeatedly declined, they invited me to lunch, except the lunch was actually a meeting with a pastor and it turned out to be a surprise intervention.
I fully believe that their efforts stemmed from concern. They didn’t want me to burn in hell, so they felt that any amount of coercion was preferable. They had good intentions.
However, you know what they say about good intentions. Their efforts were meant kindly, but I don’t believe that any of those people respected my choices or my right to make those choices for myself. None of those people seemed to look beyond the scarlet letter A pinned to my chest, to find common ground or shared humanity. They just saw me as someone who had to be corrected.
I don’t think this is a very effective approach when it comes to any controversial topic.
I’m so sorry this all happened to you! I’ve been blessed (so to speak) that the majority of my religious encounters have been on the annoying/irritating side rather than the pushy/coercive side, at least during adulthood.
“They just saw me as someone who had to be corrected. I don’t think this is a very effective approach when it comes to any controversial topic.” Very true, but easier said than done. This is one of the reasons I ducked out of the RWA controversy as gracefully as I could. And peeking back at the thread, it looks like I left just in time. It has become quite heated again- and is now incorporating arguments about religion.
Thanks! A few times I’ve come across people here who react with concern when they realize I’m a nonbeliever and make religious overtures, but those have been mild rather than in-your-face. Also, all these encounters took place at work, and I would not hesitate to go to my supervisor or HR if anyone got pushy (which would not have been an option in the Middle East). It’s such a different culture.
Marian, I went through the conversion wars with both of my siblings, and got good at politely pretending to pay attention. I even sat in on a few bible study groups when trapped in one of their homes. But the lack of respect for my beliefs and choices was palpable and offensive nonetheless. I tried to keep our interactions light and funny, but I had to distance itself from my family, too. I moved 1500 miles away, got married, settled down, and communicated almost exclusively by phone or email. I rarely visited them and they never visited me. They are both dead now, and I miss them, but I do not miss the way they treated me.
Now, my husband and my closest friends all share my values for the most part, and I can be who I am. Found family is the best!
I’m sure you miss your family and friends, but I hope you have developed a new Canadian family who loves you exactly how you are.