passifloraincarnata's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
jamie_o's review against another edition
4.0
After eight books, it's time to say goodbye to Ralph.
In the final book Ralph recounted his up's and down's living in Kansas in the 1920's. He was such an intelligent, hardworking, and innovative guy but once again chose a complete deadbeat to work with (in my opinion, it was due to loneliness). As such, he ended up in debt but was able to overcome it with his trademark determination by the end of the book.
Ralph was always willing to try a new job and he ended up farming, raising and selling pigs and cattle and learning the livestock market, and doing a short stint as butcher. After all of his generosity, it was inspiring to see the farmers rally around him when he came upon hard times.
As with the previous books, some of the agriculture and livestock technical descriptions/processes were lost on me, and that's probably why I found some of those parts dry. Still, it's a great series that my whole family enjoyed. While it's aimed at older youth, there's depth and greater meaning that appeal to adults.
"I ain't takin' a thing away from the girls, but I don't recollect givin' you no advice. Of late years I've been kind of leery 'bout passin' it out. If it's good the folks that take it generally always come to believe the notion was theirs in the first place, but if it turns out to be wrong they never forget where it come from, and it can stir up hard feelin's." - George Miner
In the final book Ralph recounted his up's and down's living in Kansas in the 1920's. He was such an intelligent, hardworking, and innovative guy but once again chose a complete deadbeat to work with (in my opinion, it was due to loneliness). As such, he ended up in debt but was able to overcome it with his trademark determination by the end of the book.
Ralph was always willing to try a new job and he ended up farming, raising and selling pigs and cattle and learning the livestock market, and doing a short stint as butcher. After all of his generosity, it was inspiring to see the farmers rally around him when he came upon hard times.
As with the previous books, some of the agriculture and livestock technical descriptions/processes were lost on me, and that's probably why I found some of those parts dry. Still, it's a great series that my whole family enjoyed. While it's aimed at older youth, there's depth and greater meaning that appeal to adults.
"I ain't takin' a thing away from the girls, but I don't recollect givin' you no advice. Of late years I've been kind of leery 'bout passin' it out. If it's good the folks that take it generally always come to believe the notion was theirs in the first place, but if it turns out to be wrong they never forget where it come from, and it can stir up hard feelin's." - George Miner
nbeethe's review against another edition
5.0
Great end to a great series! I highly recommend all of them!
satyridae's review
4.0
The final chapter in Moody's series of memoirs, this one takes place when he's in his early twenties. Interesting that he never wrote about anything later in his life- and kind of sad, too. He's just as competent in this one as the earlier ones, teaching himself several new trades including butchering. There are some interesting characters here, and some fun stories. Worth a listen.
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