Laddie - Gene Stratton-Porter

I started reading Laddie quite a long time ago. It was barely a start though. I'd never gotten past the 30th page, I don't believe. Not for lack of will or because it was boring but because I began reading it during a few moments spared from work and never took the step of borrowing it so I could complete it.

It took longer to read than I expected (which is good). I guess I underestimated the length of the narrative based on the size of the book. I'm sure you can find plenty of summaries or reviews with a little search so I won't do that. I'll just mention what I thought as I read it.

The two things that I think of foremost after reading Laddie are these: It's so very funny and, Laddie (Little Sister's big brother. Little Sister is the narrator) is just such a man it's kind of disconcerting. As to the humor... Leon (another older bro) was the big source of that. My favorite scene is when he was reciting the verses he'd memorized for the Sunday service at church. He selected texts that applied to various people in the congregation and quoted at them rather than to them. You can read that section here... The story related to the tramp\robber, "Even So" was also funny. And Leon's memorable farewell to Miss Amelia...

Now about Laddie... Since the narrative is by Little Sister (a great character in her own right) the perspective on Laddie was from her view. As she said, "Laddie does everything well...". I suppose it was just somewhat challenging to encounter him with his manhood of a kind not so common now, it seems. At least I couldn't find it in me...

I'll certainly have to sample some more of the writings of Gene Stratton-Porter. My quite a name... It seems necessary for writers to have such names doesn't it?

If you'd like to read Laddie I recommend find a copy at the library but if you don't mind reading online or wanna see some excerpts you'll find the whole thing at the link below.

Laddie @ Project Gutenberg