Choice 评论
As a historian at South Dakota State University who lives only 40 miles from De Smet, South Dakota, Miller is well qualified to write about how Laura Ingalls Wilder's early years living in De Smet later influenced the writing of the "Little House" books. Miller's book provides a detailed account of life in De Smet in the late 19th century. The key strength of this work is allowing readers to envision the historical context from which Wilder's writing sprang. Miller is also careful to point out that Wilder's remembered experiences (she only started writing the "Little House" books in the 1930s) are not always an accurate portrayal of historical reality. He does a laudable job discussing how Wilder's writings make the historical record more accessible and humanized. It is a pleasure to see a publication that so thoughtfully studies children's literature and recognizes it as an important part of history. Although this book is somewhat weaker as a literary analysis of Wilder's work, it provides a study of historical context that is essential for any scholar of Wilder. Informative for undergraduates as well as upper-level readers, it would be a fine addition to any library collection. S. A. Inness; Miami University
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
Miller (Looking for History on Highway 14, Iowa State Univ. Pr., 1993) seeks to demonstrate how history both informs and is revealed in Laura Ingalls Wilder's novels. Taking concepts such as place and community, freedom and control, and love and affection, he considers how they operate in Wilder's novels of prairie life. He also tackles the question of the contribution of Wilder's daughter to the finished product, concluding that Rose Wilder Lane's editing greatly enhanced the novels' literary merit. Miller's final three chapters discuss the real world that lay beyond Wilder's family history, showing that much social and community life is left out of Wilder's books. Though grounded in painstaking research of the Dakotas of the 1880s, this book fails to demonstrate its thesis conclusively. The various topics do not cohere, and while we learn something of prairie history, it does not illuminate Ingall's writing. For ``Little House'' specialists and historians of the American frontier.-Marie L. Lally, Alabama Sch. of Mathematics & Science, Mobile (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
