Title: O Pioneers!
Author: Willa Cather
Genre: Classic, set in late 19th century Nebraska
Pages: 161
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Sorry if you thought this was about Mormon pioneers. This book is about the early settlers on the plains in Nebraska, who were mostly immigrants from Europe. In particular the plot follows a girl named Alexandra, who immigrated with her family when she was small. She grows up, takes over her father's farm, and successfully manages to tame the land, but not without tragedy along the way.
Thoughts: I would say that, more than anything, this is a novel about how different people cope with what life gives them. All of the characters in the book face some sort of tragedy, ranging from death to the loss of crops for a season. But each person deals with their lot in life differently. Some lash out at other people, some fight against it, and others accept their fate and make of it what they can. Cather does an incredible job of winding all of this around a single plot line, and adding in beautiful description of the land at the time. The book is somewhat slow moving at first, but by the end I stayed up late to finish it. Overall, My Antonia (also by Cather) is a better, more moving, story, but O Pioneers! isn't bad at all.
Disclaimer: None.
Author: Willa Cather
Genre: Classic, set in late 19th century Nebraska
Pages: 161
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Sorry if you thought this was about Mormon pioneers. This book is about the early settlers on the plains in Nebraska, who were mostly immigrants from Europe. In particular the plot follows a girl named Alexandra, who immigrated with her family when she was small. She grows up, takes over her father's farm, and successfully manages to tame the land, but not without tragedy along the way.
Thoughts: I would say that, more than anything, this is a novel about how different people cope with what life gives them. All of the characters in the book face some sort of tragedy, ranging from death to the loss of crops for a season. But each person deals with their lot in life differently. Some lash out at other people, some fight against it, and others accept their fate and make of it what they can. Cather does an incredible job of winding all of this around a single plot line, and adding in beautiful description of the land at the time. The book is somewhat slow moving at first, but by the end I stayed up late to finish it. Overall, My Antonia (also by Cather) is a better, more moving, story, but O Pioneers! isn't bad at all.
Disclaimer: None.
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