Alexander's Bridge

By Willa Cather

Alexander’s bridge is the first novel by Willa Cather, and is an amazing story about a successful engineer and his simultaneous romantic relationships with two brilliant and capable women. Alexander’s Bridge is an intelligent exploration of morality, ethics, and dualities.

Having studied Willa Cather in a university course, I knew that this was her first novel and that she professed to hate it and feel very embarrassed about it. I was actually interested in reading it because of this. I wondered how her first novel would compare with her later masterpieces. While reading I could see the still-forming style that she would later come to perfect, which made the story seem a bit watery. Alexander is a complicated fellow that falls into the trap of boredom with his home life so he takes on a young lover while abroad. His lover is actually a girl he knew from his youth and his first love, but when Alexander realizes that she is more like a drug to his mid-life crisis, and that he has done something unspeakable to his loyal wife, he determines never to see her again. Alexander is a bridge builder, and the bridge metaphor plays out at the end of the story. It was interesting to read this first work and see the raw version of her later solidified style.

I give it a 3 out of 5- average

My Antonia

By Willa Cather

The classic tale of a pioneer woman coming from the Old World into a new one and the struggles and championship she makes of life on the prairie of Nebraska in the countryside of the town Black Hawk.  Often hailed as Willa Cather’s most beloved novel and most maturely written work, My Antonia is well worth the praise.

 

I fell in love with the works of Willa Cather after taking a college course solely dedicated to her life and works. It was fascinating. I thought, ‘how can someone make prairie life interesting?’ It sounded like the dullest subject I could think of; I’ve driven through Kansas and Nebraska; it’s monotonous, hot, and filled with wheat and corn. But reading Cather’s stories about the plains and the people who were courageous enough to first inhabit them is inspiring and frankly often times entrancing. Because she mostly based her characters off of real people, her fictional characters come alive in ways that will surprise the reader. She has the same sort of natural ability to depict humanity as Charles Dickens does when I read his works. There are base differences, Cather’s characters seem more real, while both these author’s characters seem alive. My Antonia is not my favorite Cather work, but it was beautiful in its own way. Narrated by Jim Burden, a boy who comes to Nebraska from Virginia (like Cather herself) at the same time as Antonia and her family arrive from Bohemia. It’s a novel about survival and love. Like many of her characters, Antonia comes to love the land that she had to work and cannot find anywhere she would rather be, save her homeland. It’s a great work of fiction, though I would probably point first-time readers of Cather towards “O Pioneers!” rather than this for an introduction to her work. My other favorite is “The Professor’s House” and if you like short stories, everyone should read her story entitled “Neighbor Rosicky”. A-maz-ing.

 

I give this a 4 out of 5 (But that’s probably a bit generous)

Death Comes for the Archbishop

By Willa Cather

 

This novel follows the life story of bishop Jean Latour and his work as a catholic in a new and untamed land of the Southwest.


This was the last Willa Cather book I had to read for my major authors class and it was my least favorite. Compared to Cather's other works, this one fell short for me; it felt stale and disjointed. It follows the stories in the life of Jean Latour and his hardships in the southwest and trying to firmly place Catholisism in the lives of the people. It is interesting and infomative, as well as some choice descriptive scenes by Cather, but it lacked the richness of her Prarie narratives. It was much like One of Ours, toward the end when it is set in France and less interesting; except it was through the entire book. Anywho, if you're going to read Cather, I'd suggest reading The Professor's House or O Pioneers!

I give it a 2 1/2 out of 5

One of Ours

By Willa Cather

 

Cather’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel explores the life of Claude Wheeler, a young Nebraskan who refuses to settle for a life others have imagined for him. Alienated from his parents and rejected by his wife, Wheeler finally finds his destiny on the bloody battlefields of World War I.


I cannot tell you how frustrated I was reading this book. Now, I liked it, but I was so sucked into the character's lives that I wanted to shout at Claude frequently...."NO! You stupid idiot! Don't marry her!" He frustrated me to no end, but I couldn't hate him, much as I sometimes wanted to. This book, like all of Cather's works is a great character central book, and deals with being true to yourself and not just folding in to percieved duty and responsibility. This book won a pulitzer, mostly because it was thought patriotic, having been placed at the time of World War I. Frankly, I was much more interested in the story before Claude goes to war, when he gets to France my interested waned quite a bit as I read. The ending was awesome though.

I give it a 3 3/4 out of 5

The Professor's House

By Willa Cather

 

Professor Godfrey St. Peter, a man in his 50’s, has achieved what would seem to be remarkable success, but when he is called on by family and social duty to move to a more comfortable home, something in him rebels.


So I probably never would have read this book, or proabaly any book by Willa Cather, if it hadn't been my only choice for a required major authors class for university. I have been plesantly surprised by how much I enjoy Cather's works, but The Professor's House is my favorite, with O Pioneers! a close second. The thing about Cather that made me leery of reading her books was that I had heard they were boring as all get out. To be honest, if you don't read a big chunk of them right at the start, they will drag too much and you won't get a feel for the characters or the story. The Professor's House is so enthrawling to me because it is all about a man and his family and how they deal with the sudden upswing in their material fortunes in life. It's intriguing and very personal view of how people change when they can get what they want, or watch other people they love get what they want. It's a story, mostly about Godfrey St. Peter, and how he goes through a sort of mid-life crisis. He feels useless and un-needed.  I loved St. Peter from the start because he reminded me of myself, and I could see so many of my own good and bad qualitites in him. I understood him, so I fell in love with his predicament. 

I give this a 4 out of 5. 

O Pioneers!

By Willa Cather

 

Alexandra Bergson, a young Swedish immigrant girl, inherits her father’s farm after his death only to have to deal with the ever-increasing hardship of farming a raw untamed prairie and two brothers who don’t see the worth in enduring for the land—a story full of strength, hardships, love, heartbreak, and even murder.



This is the first book I've read by Willa Cather, and honestly I probably wouldn't have read it if it wasn't on my booklist for one of my classes this fall. I really liked it. I'd heard that Willa Cather's most well-know book 'My Antonia' was boring, so I was ready to read something dull and difficult. I was surprised to get into this book right away. It wasn't full of action, but it was written in a way that made me care about the characters and their well-being. I wanted Alexandra to clock her brothers upside the head and show them that she was a smart lady and could manage their farm. I was rooting for her, and I was in pain when she was; it was wonderful and real-life book. It had the drama of love-lost, which was the part I had the most controversial thoughts about, and then the sweet coming together at the end was just the right touch for me. I really really enjoyed this classic.

I give it a 4 out of 5