By The Shores Of Silver Lake (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Alright... By the Shores of Silver Lake... You ready, Eleanor?E: Mm-hmm.Dad: Ok. Go for it.E: Um. Well. My favorite paaaarrrrt waaaassssss.... hmmmmmmm... hmmm. hmmm. hmmm. Chapter 8? I thiiiink. I think, daddy. I think... uh... My favorite part was when they went out in the shanty, and when they got- do you want me to tell you the surprising part that I liked, or the regular part that I liked?D: Start with the regular part.E: My favorite parts were the ones with the littlest sister, Grace! (Grace was introduced in chapter one. One of the first sentences says, "Mary, Carrie, and baby Grace..." Eleanor picked up on a funny thing though. They never actually say Grace is their sister. This was pretty frustrating for Eleanor, because she wanted to be CERTAIN that it WAS their sister before saying it. We talked about it being inferred, but that wasn't good enough for her. I had forgotten all about this, even though Eleanor brought it up quite a few times. It took all the way until page 180 before it was explicit: "And there on Ma's lap sat the littlest sister Grace, with her hair the color of sunshine, and eyes as blue as violets." When I read that part, El interrupted, shouting out "DAD! DAD!!! GRACE IS THEIR SISTER!!! Does this mean we don't have to infer anymore?")(I just read what I wrote to Eleanor...)E: Dad, I didn't mean to interrupt, I was just so surprised and shocked, I couldn't help it.D: Yeah, don't worry about it. I love it when you get into the story. What other parts did you like in the book?E: I liked when they talked about the Shepherdess, because they hadn't talked about her in a REALLY long time.D: Anything else?E: Something big happened to Mary, Laura, Carrie, Ma, and Pa! Men kept coming to their house, because theirs was the only house around. And they kept EATING AND EATING AND EATING. OH! DAD?!?!D: Yeah?E: It's the review now, so why do they keep moving and moving and moving?D: What do you mean?E: Well, because... when we read that book - you said not to ask that question, and wait until the review to ask it.D: Oh, yeah. It's a good question. They moved a LOT, didn't they?E: Yeah. Why did they? Did Pa like to move or something? Why did they keep moving and moving and moving?D: I think, if I were Ma, I would have been very frustrated about this. How many times did they move? Do you remember?E: They moved in Little House on the Prairie, from Wisconsin to... the Prairie. And then to Independence, Missouri. And then to the Creek. And to the Wonderful House - that was book 5 - remember, Farmer Boy wasn't about them.D: Yeah, yeah. You're right. Keep going.E: Then, to the Shanty. Then to the surveyor's house. And then to the one with cracks. Then to their claim. So, it looks like the one with the surveyors was 6 - which means they've moved 8 times so far.D: You are really good at keeping track of this. I'm not going to fact check you.E: What's fact check mean? And why are the Big Woods called Wisconsin?D: I'll get to that later. Give me a minute to be impressed with you. I would have forgotten a couple of those places.E: DAD! You still didn't answer my question! Why did they move so much?D: I don't know. But maybe it was because Pa was never content. Maybe he thought the grass was always greener on the other side. That means he thought life would be better somewhere else, even though it would have been just as good where they were. Like, Pa thought the wonderful house was going to be wonderful... but he didn't know about the grasshoppers... If they would have just stayed in the big woods, they would have had to dig out all those stumps, but they wouldn't have had to deal with the grasshoppers - you know?I think Ma's the best character in the books.E: Why?D: She's very self-less. And I think it's very admirable to be self-less.E: I like Grace more.D: Why do you like Grace more?E: I like Grace more, because she started out like a baby, like Carrie.D: So, you like youth? Young people?E: Yeah. I like them to start out young, and get older and get older and get older...D: Our family has 3 little girls and up until now, their family had 3 little girls. Do you think we need to have another little girl now too?E: I think so, because... who will be Grace? That's what I wanna know.D: Well, who are the other kids, and tell me why...E: Me, Gwennie, and Poppy. Poppy's is Carrie because she's 1. Gwen's Laura because she's 4. And I'm Mary because I'm 6 and the oldest and Mary and I are blind. And Mary sometimes bosses Laura around, and I sometimes boss Gwennie around. Will mom be mad if I put that in the review.D: I don't think so.E: And sometimes Gwennie tries to boss me around too. And sometimes Laura tries to boss Mary around too, even though Laura's younger.D: So this was another good Little House book?E: Mm-hmm. Lets add (laughs) The Long Winter to the currently-reading shelf.D: Ok.
This was always my least favorite of the Little House books, so I tried to read it with a more interested and knowing eye this time, and liked it better. So impressed with how LIW is aware of both the story arc for the individual book, and for the series as a whole by this time. She introduces Almanzo here, and brings back many characters - some of them fictional - from previous books (Aunt Docia, Mr. Edwards, Reverend Alden) - doing a really good job of making this book a link from all her previous travels to the settled domestic life - but changing social life - that lies ahead for her.Also, I don't think I realized before how complete a story this is - it is the story of the Ingalls' final move and of the building of the new town of De Smet. There are so many "lasts" and "firsts" that occur in this book. I'm also kind of shocked at the changes that have *already* occurred in the land - the Native American population is gone, and many times it's mentioned that "the buffalo are gone" and that Laura will never see one in her lifetime; she sees the last buffalo wolf the winter before the town is settled, but in fact it has already left - just makes one lonely return journey with its mate to visit its old den before heading out west. The wild birds so abundant on Silver Lake during the Ingalls' first winter there don't settle on their way north in the spring because the new town site is so busy. It is all the last. As Pa talks about the tree claims that settlers are supposed to plant, Ma comments that the new trees will act as wind breaks, and Pa replies, "Likely they'll... change the climate, just as you say."Laura Ingalls Wilder published this book in 1939, and imagines Pa speaking in 1880. Too bad some of us STILL can't get this concept into their heads.
What do You think about By The Shores Of Silver Lake (2007)?
Read to Meg (11) and Kate (7). The first two chapters have sad developments, and the following chapters include almost painfully long descriptions of landscapes, machines, and household tasks. The family is isolate for most of the book. It occasionally lost the girls' attention, and I don't blame them much. Although I was a huge fan of the series as a child, I do not remember this one being a favorite. While 3 stars may be too generous, one redeeming quality is that the book captures Laura's transition from a happy child to the adult she will become. The reader sees that Laura's life will be defined in a large way by her sister's blindness.
—Kelly
This one begins so sadly, with two years since Plum Creek has ended, the family sick with Scarlet Fever, and Mary now blind. I've always wished Laura had written about those years, as Baby Grace appears during that time, and apparently a baby brother was also born and died during that time. Clearly, it was a sad and difficult time, but I find their fortitude inspiring and I wish there was more about that time. Laura us much more grown up in this one-- I feel there is a separation between Plum Creek, the last book where she is truly still a little girl, and this one, where she is expected to behave more ladylike and to now care for Mary and take on the burden of Mary's chores.Almanzo makes a brief appearance in this one, as well.
—Treasure
Laura is growing up in this book - perhaps because Mary, her older sister, now needs her protection, and there is also another baby in the house, Laura has to assume a more responsible role. The book starts with a sense of quiet sadness (things have clearly been pretty grim in the years that have passed since the end of Plum Creek) and although there is almost immediately a note of optimism, as Pa takes a new job which will take them all to the west, there is one more tragedy for Laura to cope with (and, Harry Potter fans, it's up there with the death of Hedwig. 'Nuff said).The journey they all take is absolutely fascinating. It involves a ride on the new railroad (when they achieve the previously unimaginable speed of 20 mph), a stay at the railroad camp (where there are riots and rough language), overwintering in the largest house Laura has ever lived in (it has five rooms), a stay in Pa's new house in the brand new town of De Smet, and then a move out to the new claim shanty (which is basically half a shed. For five people to live in).As a child, I was captivated first by the idea of a little town appearing on the prairie within a fortnight, and second by that moment when Grace is lost that LIW slips into the first person. This was real. Of course, eventually I found that it wasn't exactly real. But it is mostly real; and the emotions and landscapes unarguably so.And what, I think, Laura shows us in this book, is that it is not the building or the furnishings which make a home. You can make a home anywhere, with people you love. This isn't overplayed - again, it's not a sugary book - and I don't think I was conscious of this message when I read the book as a child. But it's what comes through to me now, as an adult; that, and the utter emptiness of the prairie before the settlers arrived.
—Deborah
