Customer Reviews

Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first good biography of Mrs. Wilder, even though it leaves out a lot of information, especially about the years between 1894-1957. I don't understand why the publishers decided to make the Ingalls family on the cover look so similar to the TV Ingalls. It is a real shocker for the first-time reader to turn to the photos in the book and see that Pa did not look like Michael Landon in the slightest.

I thought that "Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder" was much more informative, but "Laura" is, I think, geared towards teenage readers, while "Becoming LIW" is more for college/adult readers.

When my grandmother began reading the "Little House" books to me when I was 8 I don't think she had any idea what she was starting. Until I read "Laura:The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" I could only imagine what Laura, her family, and the other characters from her books were like, how they effected each other and even how they looked. It was so exciting for me to open the pages of this book and see for the first time the beautiful young woman I had come to know through the years. Donald Zochert's research and care are evident on every page. He transports us into Laura's world and gives us even more details of her fascinating life.

While it is true that this book reads like a novel, it is also true that it reads like one of the most poorly written novels I have ever forced myself to read. I say "forced myself" because the facts it contains on the Ingalls family are very interesting for someone who grew up on the books and television series. If you want to know about their real lives, this book provides that knowledge, in a round about way. If you can get past the cheesy 70's cover (complete with Laura in a low cut shirt gazing over her shoulder at a strapping, dimpled-chin version of Almanzo on the back), survive the writer's eternal conflict over whether he's writing a Harlequin romance novel or a pioneer biography, and wade through the repetitive use of the same gooey, sentimental phrases (I thought at one point that if he likened the rolling of the wagon to a lullaby one more time I was going to have to throw the book across the room), then this is the biography for you. The only good thing I can say without reservation is that it has great pictures. They are the only reason I didn't toss it when I was finally done.

This is the first biography of Laura. It was published in 1976, less than a decade after Rose's death. Although there are other biographies of Laura, they usually only focus on a specific time in her life, or are for children. This is in my opinion is the best and most complete biography of Laura. I first read this book when I was ten, and I read it again when I was fourteen. Although I had read other books about Laura before this, it was not until I read this one that I completely understood Laura's life. This book is just as entertaining as fiction. This is an excellant account of Laura's life overall, but my favorite part of the book is the chapter on the time the Ingalls family spent in Burr Oak when Laura was nine. This chapter contains the best writing in the whole book. Also, it brings one of the lesser known parts of Laura's childhood to life. I think it is the best description of Laura's time in Burr Oak. Certainly, it is much better than Old town in the green groves which although an excellant idea, was written by somebody who has never even visited Burr Oak! This chapter really brings to life Laura's time in Burr Oak. This book is defintely the first book anyone should read about Laura. It focuses on the years covered by the Little House books more than on her later years. This is fine, however, because the years of Laura's childhood were the most interesting of her life. This book does an evocative job of describing Laura's life. It brings the facts behind the Little House books to life. This book does not tell too much about the years after Laura's marriage, or her relationship with her daughter Rose. This is not as easy to read as William Anderson's
biography of Laura, but it is worth it. This is one of the best books you will ever read. It brings Laura and every place she ever lived to life. I am Laura's eighth cousin and I was a tour guide in Burr Oak two summers.

I wept when I read this book. I think I was just so moved to actually SEE the faces of these people I had read about and traveled with in my mind for so many years. I had never watched the TV series much, so I wasn't seeing Melissa Gilbert or Michael Landon when I pictured the Ingalls family. It was so wonderful to be able to give them faces after all these years. I was also overwhelmed by the hardships Laura left out of her books - the depth of the family's financial problems, sickness, etc. While I realize this was probably done with her audience in mind, it was powerful to add these struggles to the ones she wrote about - an incredible burden and an even more accurate picture of what pioneering meant. I agree that it was probably not intended for adults, but I still give it five stars because it is an excellent book, regardless of the intended age.

I wish that Karen Conzoneri's review had been posted before I purchased this book. I think "Laura" is filled with interesting facts and stories, (I especially enjoyed the additional background on Charles and Caroline), but I just could not get past the fact that it was written for 11-14 year olds. I would definitely recommend this book for that age group, but I'm still on the lookout for one written for adults.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in how it really was for LIW. Not that any of what you read in her books is fiction, oh no, Laura didn't write fiction, but there are many events and places that are left out of her books, or that she rearranged a little bit. Perhaps on purpose, perhaps on accident. Donald Zochert researched a lot of details by looking in libraries, newspapers, talking to people. He lists years things happen. He uses bright, colorful words, when I read this book, I can actually see Laura and her family trailing across the prairie. This book tells what happens after the books end, and interesting little known facts! I read this many years ago, and am pleased to have just recently purchased a copy. This book is a must for any true LIW fan! The pictures in the middle are a little faint; I have seen better copies of the same photos in different books, but the way the author tells us the way it 'really was' makes up for that fact!

I was interested to read through several of the reviews of this book. This was the first biography of Laura Wilder that I'd read (other than Anderson's booklet "The Story of the Ingalls") and I was fascinated to learn all the little details that Donald Zochert had found. As I understand it, he took a lot of his stories straight from Laura's unpublished first manuscript, Pioneer Girl, which makes it doubly interesting. Although the book has several inaccuracies, it was the first biography done on LIW, and has several bits of information that aren't easily found elsewhere. It's a must read for Laura fans, IMO (although I could do without the cheesy cover art, especially the ridiculous pictures on the back cover!). It's very enjoyable and easy to read. It fits in nicely between the geared for children "Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Anderson, and the more scholarly "Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Miller (both also excellent reads).

This is the best biography I have read about Laura Ingalls Wilder. A thouroughly engrossing, can't put it down 'til I know all the facts by heart book....one you will read over and over, if, like me, one of your wishes in life is that you could have ever known Laura in person. Lots of details that we LIW fans crave. Two questions I put forth to future Laura biographers that I think we'd all like to see answered in a future Laura book: did Laura ever say why she hadn't thought to choose a name for her newborn son that died?...and could someone research and include children that Carrie and Grace and Eliza Jane and Alice and Perley and Royal, etc. may have had and who they married and where they went off to make their lives, etc? I think alot of us would be interested in seeing the rest of the family trees as they went on.....

This is a really good book. It has lots of info on Laura's life and her neighbours and where the houses are. It has just the right amount of information, and heaps of other stuff that her books don't tell you. (eg:It says about when Carrie was born and you reconized things from LIW's book 'Little House on the Prairie', but they weren't really detailed, which was good because you didn't need to hear every little detail again that you already knew). This book even has black&white photos! Laura, Almanzo (and family), Rose, Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie and Grace! Don't let the tiny writing and many pages put you off, because its a must for LIW fans! I recommend this book for 12 year olds and over.