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This book will remain at the very top of my bookshelf forever. I read the whole book front to back, and from it I drew two conclusions. I have an addiction. This book will teach you how to catch a raccoon and turn it into a pet, tell you about customs that have long since died out, like the gifting and receiving of "May Baskets," and even let you in on why there were two toilet seats in the outhouse instead of one.
It is the perfect novel. Talk about interesting, this book is a mind blower. Happy Reading. Well, I was determined not to have another one of "those books" polluting my bookshelf. After all, I wanted to prove to myself that no matter how seductive the book seemed to be, it was really a textbook knock off.
A couple examples of other recipes offered are Corn Oysters and Applesauce Cake. It might look like a deliciously interesting piece of literature, but it had the distinct smell of a history book in disguise. Once the book was purchased reading it became my number one priority. Finally, I would set it back on the shelf from whence it came. So, I took a stand and refused to buy it, until the day I gave in and bought it.
For months, I passed the shelf at the book store on which this book sat. Anyone who has ever wished that life was a little bit simpler, a little bit friendlier, or little bit more carefree needs to buy this book and read it. My favorite is the recipe for "Cabbage Salad," although it is more like a coleslaw; I made it for New Years and everybody loved it. Yeah those books. Chapter by chapter, this book sucks you in and takes you back to times long passed and forgotten. Each chapter of the book provides a window to a specific aspect of life during the Great Depression.
I mean, I picked it up occasionally, I read the blurb on the back, and then I would stare at the front as if waiting for a sign to buy it. The book also provides a variety of common home remedies, from curing a cough to curing blood poisoning. The book provides more than a glimpse at what it was like to do laundry back then, the amount of work that went into keeping a farm, and how leisure time was spent by everyone from the children to the men. The book provides a small wealth of recipes for the home cook. You'll get directions on how to build a "Never-Fail" fire, how to get the most out of an egg, and how to get rid of a boil using a beet. Mildred Armstrong Kalish, a retired English professor, is the person responsible for this well-written, vividly colorful account of the Great Depression.
If you could only read one novel this year, I would highly advise reading this one.
The book is rich and colorful in its detail and story-telling yet still maintains its historical integrity.
Number two: a little bit of simple goes a long, long way.
Separated, the chapters are amazing, astounding, and delightful; together, they join seamlessly to provide an uplifting account of life during a difficult and trying time.
Everyone knows the books of which I speak, the ones that lure you in with the promises of a rich and colorful glimpse at history and then turn out to be nothing more than a glorified textbook.
I've made several of them and they have all been delicious.
She writes from her own experience of being a child and growing up on a farm, an Iowa farm nonetheless, during the Great Depression.
What can I say.
Number one: I was absolutely right the book was a deliciously interesting piece of nonfiction literature.
The Author through hindsight, sometimes arrogantly and with bitterness puts into perspective how material conveniences comes at a cost, sacrificing a natural order and opening Pandora's box (not stated this strongly ). Welcome to a place where the possibility of. The book is a needed change of pace, but the title is misleading, this is more of an environmental styled memior, the depression is seriously not discussed and details concerning the human characters for the most part are neglected (Four-legged and winged critters discussed). For me the motivation in reading a book like this, is in this Iowans righteous strength to succeed through adversity and to accomplish that with her soul intact, which unfortunately has been made redundant. "if you give them enough rope they will hang themselves". was not even a notion.
I will definitely use Amazon in the future for my needs. I'm very pleased by the expediency the books I'd ordered were received.
I don't really understand why it was published, let alone so well received. I often wondered as I read this if she is very disappointed in her children and grandchildren, as she tells us about her uplifting childhood that is so different from "kids today". As it is, I would have given it two stars, except that I feel it has value as a social history.
Does the frugal upbringing of which she so frequently boasts explain why she drove a basic, economical car like a Cadillac. Perhaps that explains a nostalgia for a life she didn't care to live as an adult. Armstrong never does deal with the disconnect between her happy memories of the past, and the fact that she ran from that life as fast as she could.
I was really expecting this to be interesting. I also found the author's smug self-satisfaction off-putting. Otherwise, I guess she is just a nostalgia bore, like so many people, wanting to see a golden age in the past that apparently wasn't all that pleasant at the time.
This is the sort of thing that would be a treasure for a family, and belongs in Iowan history collections. My opinion of of the New York Times's literary taste was not enhanced.This is occasionally interesting, but at times fragments into a mishmash of scattered reminisces, and was at times so boring that only the fact that I was reading it for a book club kept me going.
It is a chance to visit with them, to be there once again - what a good time I had and you will too. They 'made do' without fuss or self pity. You will recognize your Mom and Dad, your brothers and sisters, your cousins and neighbors on these pages. Whether you grew up on a farm and lived through the depression or just know someone who did, this is the book for you and for them. (I sent a copy to my brother and sister so they could also make the journey back and just remember). This is a trip in nostalgia, with humor in the reality, and it is definitely real. It paints a picture of a time and a place that was magical in spite of the difficult times. The hardships were dealt with and accepted.
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