Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
Book Review: A Good Read
Summary: 4 Stars
A good, entertaining read, but not quite the next great American autobiography that some reviewers have made it out to be. Sure recognized some of my Iowa forebears in it!Book Review: Aww** the good old days!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book will remind you of things you may have forgotten. Your Grandmother may have mentioned some of these things to you or you may have been too young to remember but reading this book is a trip through history and/or memory lane and you catch yourself saying, "Oh, thats how they did that".And "Wow, we have it EASY." Reading this book should make you very grateful for what you have if you aren't already grateful.Book Review: Taciturn Midwestern Narrative
Summary: 3 Stars
I find her stories spot on. I am a bit younger and grew up on a farm in Illinois, but the anecdotes are similar. She did jog my memory about similar things that happened to me. I think she did a good job of capturing the main characters in her life. How about those grandparents? A happy day was when you could recycle old clothing three times. My only complaint was the writing. I expected much more since she had been a teacher of writing. I just found her style so flat and droning. She had some funny stories, but they just weren't told with much verve. Book Review: sweet but not cloying
Summary: 5 Stars
I didn't want to put this lovely book down and was bummed when it ended. Perhaps if Kalish had had to live year-round with her grandparents, it would have been spirit-crushing -- and it would have been a different story. But having summer and fall off each year apparently gave her enough distance to develop real love and respect for them. What I found most moving: as repressive and difficult as Kalish's childhood was, she never whines. Instead we meet a warm and thoughtful human being. Book Review: And what about the depression?
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was very disappointing. I had read reviews that lauded its descriptions of the Great Depression. Instead, it was a tedious recounting of all the ways life was different then than now. ("We put the wash in the bucket...Then we brought a larger bucket in from the barn. Then we turned the door knob...Then the Big Kids filled the large bucket with hot water...).
We can appreciate that life was different 70+ years ago, as it will be different 70 years from today. But I wanted to know what it felt like when no one had money, when a great war was approaching, when people were leaving their homes for greener pastures.
I'll have to find a different book.