O Pioneers!
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Description
One of America's greatest writers, Cather established her talent and her reputation with this extraordinary novel--the first of her books set on the Nebraska frontier. A tale of the prairie land encountered by America's Swedish, Czech, Bohemian, and French immigrants, as well as a story of how the land challenged them, changed them, and, in some cases, defeated them, Cather's novel is a uniquely American epic.
Alexandra Bergson, a young Swedish immigrant girl who inherits her father's farm and must transform it from raw prairie into a prosperous enterprise, is the first of Cather's great heroines--all of them women of strong will and an even stronger desire to overcome adversity and succeed. But the wild land itself is an equally important character in Cather's books, and her descriptions of it are so evocative, lush, and moving that they provoked writer Rebecca West to say of her: "The most sensuous of writers, Willa Cather builds her imagined world almost as solidly as our five senses build the universe around us."
Willa Cather, perhaps more than any other American writer, was able to re-create the real drama of the pioneers, capturing for later generations a time, a place, and a spirit that has become part of our national heritage.
Book Information
Posts
There is so much good content in this book and issues which surprised me in how openly they were discussed back then. There is mention of divorce and suicide and major plot points revolve around unhappy marriage, a (probably) mentally handicapped or ill man and an unmarried business woman. As a reader, you get a good impression of the hard life of building a farm in this new country, the uncertainty and need to adapt connected to it. While all of this is great, I feel like I should like this book much more than I actually do. I just wasn't engaged in the plot, which there isn't much of to begin with, but I don't always mind that. It might be due to the enormous time jumps that I couldn't grow attached enough to the characters, but, especially in the second half, whenever there was conflict, it felt too sentimental and not really compelling, especially since there isn't much page time to be devoted to most of it. It's absolutely worth reading to get a glimps at American history and what trying to settle there meant for the people. I think it is effective in discussing issues relevant to this time, however as a narrative it wasn't gripping enough for me.
Description
One of America's greatest writers, Cather established her talent and her reputation with this extraordinary novel--the first of her books set on the Nebraska frontier. A tale of the prairie land encountered by America's Swedish, Czech, Bohemian, and French immigrants, as well as a story of how the land challenged them, changed them, and, in some cases, defeated them, Cather's novel is a uniquely American epic.
Alexandra Bergson, a young Swedish immigrant girl who inherits her father's farm and must transform it from raw prairie into a prosperous enterprise, is the first of Cather's great heroines--all of them women of strong will and an even stronger desire to overcome adversity and succeed. But the wild land itself is an equally important character in Cather's books, and her descriptions of it are so evocative, lush, and moving that they provoked writer Rebecca West to say of her: "The most sensuous of writers, Willa Cather builds her imagined world almost as solidly as our five senses build the universe around us."
Willa Cather, perhaps more than any other American writer, was able to re-create the real drama of the pioneers, capturing for later generations a time, a place, and a spirit that has become part of our national heritage.
Book Information
Posts
There is so much good content in this book and issues which surprised me in how openly they were discussed back then. There is mention of divorce and suicide and major plot points revolve around unhappy marriage, a (probably) mentally handicapped or ill man and an unmarried business woman. As a reader, you get a good impression of the hard life of building a farm in this new country, the uncertainty and need to adapt connected to it. While all of this is great, I feel like I should like this book much more than I actually do. I just wasn't engaged in the plot, which there isn't much of to begin with, but I don't always mind that. It might be due to the enormous time jumps that I couldn't grow attached enough to the characters, but, especially in the second half, whenever there was conflict, it felt too sentimental and not really compelling, especially since there isn't much page time to be devoted to most of it. It's absolutely worth reading to get a glimps at American history and what trying to settle there meant for the people. I think it is effective in discussing issues relevant to this time, however as a narrative it wasn't gripping enough for me.