O Pioneers! in Retro Chapter Chicks

Jun 12, 2020 Book Concierge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, concierge, strong-women, nature, 19th-century, classic, nebraska

Cather’s first novel follows one family over decades as they settle the great plains of Nebraska. The heroine is Alexandra Bergson, who comes to the prairie near Hanover, NE, as the only girl in a family of brothers. Yet it is Alexandra who grows up to take over the farm from her father and ensure the family’s prosperity.

I loved Alexandra, despite her blind spots. This is a strong woman! Her love of the land is evident, but she is no romantic. Her eyes are wide open to potential disasters, but ...more

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Jun 30, 2018 Celia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-read, classics, ten-year-challenge, kindle-list, 2018-caz, jaline, historical-fiction-read

Willa Cather has written three books entitled The Great Plains Trilogy.

The first in the series is O Pioneers!
The second is Song of the Lark
The third is My Antonia

It is not important to read them in order. Their link is the Great Plains. The settings are Nebraska, Colorado and Nebraska.

I make this point because I read My Antonia first. I have now read O Pioneers! Nothing in Antonia prepared me for Pioneers. To me, they are THAT different. I was so touched by this book, I could barely write the r ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Theresa rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics-and-classic-redos, buddy-reads, country-life

My first Willa Cather, and it won't be my last! This was wonderful!

The story of an immigrant pioneer family farming in Nebraska, it primarily centers on Alexandra who takes the family to prosperity after her father's passing, chivvying her brothers along the route to prosperity even though they are reluctant to do anything other than as the neighbors do. We first meet Alexandra when she's around 20, and already the strong center of the family, and we see her adn the family through to her early My first Willa Cather, and it won't be my last! This was wonderful!

The story of an immigrant pioneer family farming in Nebraska, it primarily centers on Alexandra who takes the family to prosperity after her father's passing, chivvying her brothers along the route to prosperity even though they are reluctant to do anything other than as the neighbors do. We first meet Alexandra when she's around 20, and already the strong center of the family, and we see her adn the family through to her early 40s when finally she reaches for personal happiness separate and apart from the land and the family. There is tragedy along the way as well as great joy and prosperity. For such a short book (all of 159 pages) you get a real picture of the midwest settlers and how generally unsuited they were not only as pioneers creating a life out of prairie, but as farmers even of established farms. The dream and the reality clash was gently but deliberately revealed.

Through it all runs the land, the effort to control the land, the rewards gained from the land, and the constancy of the land that survives all, constantly welcoming youth and new ideas. The prairies of Nebraska are as much the central character of this story as Alexandra herself. The premises suggests that the land will survive all, yet one has to wonder given the environmental destruction man, industry and climate change has wrought as of today.

The writing is fresh, beautiful, timeless. In some ways it's hard to believe this was written and published in 1913 - except for occasional choices in vocabulary and sentence structure, it could have been written now. There were a few scenes I thought awkwardly and even confusingly written -- those where there were romantic undertones especially. Also, while I found all the women to be well-developed, I thought to some degree the men were mostly less effectively drawn, more one note -- definitely in general weaker than the women (not that THAT is necessarily a problem). But I'm picking nits and applying 21st Century expectations. ...more

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Mar 31, 2024 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, home-shelves

O Pioneers! is set during the period of homesteading in the American Mid West. Cather's heroine, Alexandra Bergson, is a challenging and intelligent woman who grows up in the harsh Nebraska climate. When most of the townfolk are selling off their land to prosper elsewhere, Alexandra notices an opportunity and purchases their land. After working the land and seeing the management of the land, even after her father's death, she learns what will and won't grow on the land she purchased. Her family ...more

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