From the Bookshelf of Easley Library Bookworms…

O Pioneers!

Willa Cather

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jul 25, 2022 Werner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, general-fiction

Willa Cather (1873-1947) was actually born in Virginia; but she was raised in rural Nebraska from the time she was nine years old, and though she moved back East after college, her consciousness was profoundly steeped in the memories of prairie life and a deep reverence for the land and for the courage of the settlers who built lives and community there in the face of great hardship. This was the first (published in 1913) of three novels with that setting that she would write, which proved to be Willa Cather (1873-1947) was actually born in Virginia; but she was raised in rural Nebraska from the time she was nine years old, and though she moved back East after college, her consciousness was profoundly steeped in the memories of prairie life and a deep reverence for the land and for the courage of the settlers who built lives and community there in the face of great hardship. This was the first (published in 1913) of three novels with that setting that she would write, which proved to be some of the most enduring of her works. The same setting would also inspire some of her short fiction, including "Neighbor Rosicky," the story which introduced me to her as a high school student. I went on to read another of her prairie novels, My Antonia, that same year (my review of that one is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , and some of those comments are relevant here as well). But though I always had intentions of reading more of her work, it's sadly taken me this long to get around to doing so. My only regret is that I didn't get back to her much sooner!

Our main setting here is the small farming community of Hancock, modeled on the author's real-life hometown, Red Cloud. (We'll also visit Lincoln, seat of her alma mater, the Univ. of Nebraska.)
The tale begins in 1883, where we meet young Swedish immigrant farm girl Alexandra Bergson (who's apparently in her early 20s); neighbor Carl Linstrum; her younger brothers Oscar and Lou and the much younger baby of the family, Emil, who's five; and her parents, including her dying father, worn out by his struggles with the initially unproductive land and often unhelpful weather. Recognizing in her the smarts and grit he realizes his wife and sons don't have, on his deathbed John Bergson basically invests Alexandra with the headship of the family and the custody of his dream of making something of their homestead. (And she'll have her work cut out for her!) After 1883-4, we skip over an intervening 16 years. When the story resumes in ca. 1900, the land has blossomed. But life has a way of posing other challenges even more demanding than wresting a living from the wilderness....

The novel is well-crafted, with a plot that unfolds naturally in the author's good time, and which doesn't need a spoiler-ish summary. (Unlike some cover blurbs, the one on this 1987 printing by Houghton Mifflin doesn't attempt one; nor does the Goodreads description.) Suffice it to say that we have both joy and tragedy, family relationships healthy and not so healthy, forbidden love and enduring love, an exploration of what matters in life, a look at the immigrant experience, and a celebration of the enduring land and of the qualities of those who partner with it for a lifetime to bring forth something worthwhile. In Alexandra, we have one of the greatest strong heroines of mainstream American fiction. There are messages here, but they're delivered very subtly. Cather's style is as solidly Realist as they come (she was perhaps the greatest regionalist Realist of her generation), but she plays as powerful an emotional symphony in the reader as any leading Romantic writer ever achieved. And the climax of the tale will come in a moral choice that's not explicitly associated with Christian faith, but which involves the concept that's central to it --forgiveness.

IMO, this novel is one of the crown jewels of American literature. I can't recommend it highly enough, to all readers who already appreciate serious fiction or who want to discover what that is. (And it's the kind of novel that demonstrates that you don't need a PhD. in literary theory to be an appreciator of serious fiction; you just need a love of reading for the pleasure of it and basic human sympathy for your fellow humans.)

Note 1: This edition has a Foreword by a Doris Grumbach (whose qualifications aren't given). It has information about the author and the background of the book which is interesting, and even fascinating. But you should read it, as I did, after reading the book itself, because it has spoilers --and I'd advise bailing before you get to p. xiv, since starting there it also contains spoilers for The Song of the Lark. ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2016 Lynne rated it it was amazing

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls