My Antonia by Willa Cather

[Scheherazade]

Which one will you start with - "My Antonia"...?

Well, yes. Started with My Antonia and finished it couple of days ago. I think I will read One of Ours next (Pulitzer winner).

Loved every single page of it; Cather reminded me of Wharton a little and the book itself of Ethan Frome, somehow; not sure why... ( as well as of "The Little House on Prairie" ).

This book has introduced me to a side of America I have not read much in the books: Those immigrants who were not from Italy etc and who did not live in the cities and I love the stories of the Eastern/Northen Europeans.

Who do you think the narrator in the first chapter of the book? The one who travels with Jim and agrees to write her side of the Antonia's story as well? Nina?

[Janine]

Well, yes. Started with My Antonia and finished it couple of days ago. I think I will read One of Ours next (Pulitzer winner).

Scher, I am delighted you read it and loved it. In that case, I can guarantee you that you will love the other two in the trilogy: O'Pioneers and Death Comes To The Archbishop, the last title is a bit deceiving and many people seem to be put off by it. Lynne, my friend, called me recently and said she read it and loved it, too. I think I recall that it takes place in New Mexico. Of course, if we win the vote for "One of Ours" we both probably will be reading it. I did find my copy and should read it soon. I really like her writing and that's correct, this one did win the Pultizer.

Loved every single page of it; Cather reminded me of Wharton a little and the book itself of Ethan Frome, somehow; not sure why... ( as well as of "The Little House on Prairie" ).

Yes, I thought that, too and yet she is still a little distinct and I can't really point to why.

This book has introduced me to a side of America I have not read much in the books: Those immigrants who were not from Italy etc and who did not live in the cities and I love the stories of the Eastern/Northen Europeans.

Exactly; I think that is why I felt she was so different and distinct. She also seems to know the realistic side of human nature. Her novels are not sugar-coated but more realistic I think. Many of the characters were just slightly quirky enough to be interesting.

Who do you think the narrator in the first chapter of the book? The one who travels with Jim and agrees to write her side of the Antonia's story as well? Nina?

I wish I could answer that. It has been such a long time now since I read the book that it's indistinct in my mind. I only recall vividly the night they spend in the cave dwellings. I thought that was really well described and I felt as though, I was actually there with them. I think those dwellings are amazing anyway, so this really caught my interest.

[Katy North]

I read this book in ninth grade, and remember thinking it was as dry as... well, something very dry. I remember my English teacher that year was somewhat uninspired.

Of course, that was the year before I really started to love the classics... so it looks as though I need to make another attempt at it!

[Sancho]

Hi guys,

I read this book for the first time last week and absolutely loved it. The plain, direct language tricked me at first but I soon realized I was reading a sophisticated and nuanced literary work. As I attempted to peel back the layers, I kept thinking what a great book-o-the-month selection My Ántonia would be for this club.

Who do you think the narrator in the first chapter of the book? The one who travels with Jim and agrees to write her side of the Antonia's story as well? Nina?

Not sure, but I assumed she was speaking as herself there and used this technique as a device to allow her to use Jim as her first-person narrator.

[Scheherazade]

Not sure, but I assumed she was speaking as herself there and used this technique as a device to allow her to use Jim as her first-person narrator.

How does this work? Could you elaborate a little more on this, please?

Why don't you nominate it for our Summer Read? This summer's theme is "family" and I think it fits the bill.

[Sancho]

Hi Sher,

Well…I think it’s a good example of my fuzzy-headed thinking versus your clear headedness. Here’s how I came around to my opinion:

I read this book cold – without doing any background work or reading any criticism – and when I read the introduction, I initially thought it was an author’s preface. So the idea that the narrator was really Willa Cather was already firmly ensconced in my fuzzy little noggin. In fact I remember thinking, Holy cow! Willa Cather really hates Jim Burden’s wife .If she trash-talked someone like that nowadays, she’d get sued. Then I kept waiting for a young Willa Cather to make a cameo appearance in the book, like the little John Steinbeck peering from behind his mother’s skirt in East of Eden.

Anyway, I slowly came around to idea that, by and large, Jim Burden was a stand-in for Willa Cather. Much of My Ántonia was drawn from the real-life experiences of Willa Cather, making the novel somewhat autobiographical. Ántonia herself was based on a childhood acquaintance of Cather’s. Jim’s life (Virginia-Nebraska-NYC) closely paralleled Willa’s life. On one level, My Ántonia is a great love story and even though neither Jim nor Ántonia acted on their love, none the less, it seemed to me they were truly in love with each other. So the story wouldn’t really work if Jim were a little girl. At least it wouldn’t work for that time and place. So, when the unnamed narrator has the middle-aged Jim write down his memories of Ántonia, it allows Cather to maintain a feminine authorship while telling the story from a masculine point of view.

And that, is Sancho’s fuzzy-headed thinking on this subject.

Optima dies…prima fugit (Virgil’s Georgics: “The best days are the first to flee”)

[Scheherazade]

Hi Sher,

Well…I think it’s a good example of my fuzzy-headed thinking versus your clear headedness.

Very funny

I read this book cold – without doing any background work or reading any criticism – and when I read the introduction, I initially thought it was an author’s preface.

Have to admit that I don't know much about Cather's background either but I felt the same way about the introduction; ie, it was penned by Cather herself as the author of the book. So much so that I had to go over it couple of time to make sure that I had not skipped any parts.

Anyway, I slowly came around to idea that, by and large, Jim Burden was a stand-in for Willa Cather.

I agree with this; however, I am not sure how authorship can be "feminine" when it is made clear that it was what Jim had written.

I find myself thinking about this book quite often; I don't think I am happy how things turned out even though I am very aware of the fact that there would not be a way for them to end up together. However, I also do think that Antonia should have had a better chance.

[Sancho]

I find myself thinking about this book quite often; I don't think I am happy how things turned out even though I am very aware of the fact that there would not be a way for them to end up together. However, I also do think that Antonia should have had a better chance.

I’ve found myself thinking about it a lot too. Good books hold that sway over me.

There’s a lot going on in this book but mostly, I think, it’s about the tenacity and spirit of pioneer women in the middle-west. I admired the way Willa Cather challenged the norms of day. She made the movers and shakers dirt-poor, immigrant women and completely ignored the Western Cowboy ethos (or mythos). I also admired the way she challenged us, the readers, in our expectations. Jim didn’t save Ántonia when she returned with her illegitimate child; Nena didn’t wind up on skid row; etc.

I loved the way she created a deeply spiritual yet unconsummated relationship between Ántonia and Jim. And as for Ántonia herself, I felt an impending sense of doom upon beginning the last chapter. Tiny Sonderball met Jim in Salt Lake City and told him Ántonia had “not done very well,” and “she had had a hard life.” So I expected a haggard, beaten-down, old woman when we met Ántonia for the last time. But the woman we met was strong, vibrant and exuded good-health and well-being. As Jim approaches Ántonia’s farm in the final chapter, there is a tender scene of two little boys bent over their dead dog. That scene gave me a sense of the values that had been imparted to them from their mother – it told me what a good mother Ántonia had been to her children. And later, as Ántonia showed Jim around her place, she seemed to have a spiritual attachment to every tree and plant on the land (she’d planted and nurtured most of them). And that gave me a sense of Ántonia as Mother Earth herself.

Anyway, I guess that’s what I had in mind by “feminine authorship.” It’d probably be better to say the book was written with a feminine POV but narrated by a masculine surrogate.

[ktm5124]

I wasn't crazy about The Professor's House. I liked it a good deal in retrospect, but not so much while reading it. Any chance I'll think differently about this?

[Scheherazade]

I admired the way Willa Cather challenged the norms of day. She made the movers and shakers dirt-poor, immigrant women and completely ignored the Western Cowboy ethos (or mythos). I also admired the way she challenged us, the readers, in our expectations.

I think my problem lies here. I am looking at the book and the characters from the point of view of a 21st century reader. I would have been much happier if Antonia somehow got educated and became a teacher or something... However, like you said, Cather simply does not want this to happen; she has another agenda, which is far superior to mine, no doubt. So, she makes Antonia overcome her difficulties in her own way while still leading a "worthwhile" life.

Thanks for taking the time to post, Sancho (you should do so more often ).

I wasn't crazy about The Professor's House. I liked it a good deal in retrospect, but not so much while reading it. Any chance I'll think differently about this?

I really enjoyed this book so, I say, give it a try.

[Three Sparrows]

Oh I love My Antonia! I really should read it again, its been so long...I have also read O Pioneers!, a little depressing, but who says that's bad? And Paul's Case-incredible.

[Sancho]

Thanks for taking the time to post, Sancho (you should do so more often ).

Thanks for the prod Sher. And you’re right, I should post more, but as both my wife and my supervisor at work keep telling me, I am notoriously unreliable. Yuk-yuk-yuk

Also ktm5142, I agree with Sher, give it a try… Take a chance – General Custer did.

[kelby_lake]

I thought My Antonia was quite good. It wasn't very eventful but its slow pace was interesting. I agree with everyone about it being a reminder of a lost time, and think it works well on that level.

[Insane4Twain]

The first book I read by Cather was A Lost Lady. I was not impressed, but then I was in the middle of pursuing an undergraduate degree and I guess it got pushed under a pile of other obligations so I rushed through it.

Many years later my wife picked up My Antonia for herself. I fancied the book cover (Yes, sometimes you just do judge a book by its cover). I LOVED it. In fact, I went on to read more of her works because of it.

[prendrelemick]

Ok, having read all the comments above I think I need to read this book again. I finished it acouple of months ago, and recommended it to my book club - but never realised it was held in such high regard. Perhaps this is the kind of past that America wants now.