My Ántonia in Easley Library Bookworms

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Feb 13, 2008 Werner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

Since about 1980, I've tended to read much more speculative and "genre" than descriptive, mainstream fiction; but that's partly a result of quirks of circumstance, and in my younger days that proportion was very much the reverse. This novel is one I read during my high school days (but on my own, not for a class) and remains an enduring favorite; it's a monument of the Realist tradition that exemplifies what "mainstream" or "general" (what I like to call "everyday" fiction, in no snide sense) ca Since about 1980, I've tended to read much more speculative and "genre" than descriptive, mainstream fiction; but that's partly a result of quirks of circumstance, and in my younger days that proportion was very much the reverse. This novel is one I read during my high school days (but on my own, not for a class) and remains an enduring favorite; it's a monument of the Realist tradition that exemplifies what "mainstream" or "general" (what I like to call "everyday" fiction, in no snide sense) can and should be when it's done well --an evocation of LIFE, in all the drama and meaning, the gamut of emotions and experience, that it truly has.

Cather was raised on the Nebraska prairie where she sets her novel, and was a contemporary of her characters. Of course, this means it's set, now, more than 100 years ago (hence my recommendation of it to fans of historical fiction; it wasn't that when the author wrote it, and so isn't that now in a technical sense, but would still appeal to readers who like historicals set in that era, IMO). The basic nature of human beings, though, hasn't changed in the interval. I remember a lot here --even after over 40 years, which is saying something!-- that I liked: a sense of the beauty and immensity of the then largely unspoiled prairie, born from the author's really strong descriptive style (I later went to college in Kansas, so I saw some of that even in modern times); an evocation of the hardships and dangers of pioneer life in a land that could be as uncaring and demanding as it was beautiful; and an appreciation of the qualities of character it took to survive and build a life in that setting. Characters, though, tend to make or break a book for me. Here, the secondary characters tend to be well-drawn: for instance, Jim's grandfather; Antonia's parents; Lena Lingard. But the captivating interest is in our two main characters. I liked Jim, and enjoyed his narrative voice, flowing in Cather's solid, meaty prose; and I really liked and admired Antonia. And I appreciated the depiction of their enduring friendship, with its testimony to the fact that deep male-female friendship is possible without romantic or sexual interest. Perhaps the friendship theme resonated particularly for me as a lonely, bookish only child without many friends. (It's worth noting, too, that despite the book's being written in 1918, before "multiculturalism" was a buzzword, that this is a cross-cultural friendship, WASP meeting Bohemian immigrant Catholic.) Cather tells a story here, too, with a plot that's interesting and that can be painfully tragic at times; but this is more a novel of character than of plot.

This is the only one of Cather's novels I've read, so this and her short stories "Neighbor Rosicky" and "Paul's Case" (unlike most critics, I like the former better) constitute my acquaintance with her work. I regret never having followed this up when I was younger with reading more of her corpus. Of course, for a lot of years in my early adulthood, I didn't read much fiction --long story. (Sigh!) But several of her novels are on my to-read shelf, and I hope to broaden my acquaintance with her work eventually. When that happens, I think it's probable that she'll take a place as one of my favorite authors. ...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Crystal marked it as under-consideration

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