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My Antonia (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) [NOOK Book]
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Widely recognized as Willa Cather’s greatest novel, My Ántonia is a soulful and rich portrait of a pioneer woman’s simple yet heroic life. The spirited daughter of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia must adapt to a hard existence on the desolate prairies of the Midwest. Enduring childhood poverty, teenage seduction, and family tragedy, she eventually becomes a wife and mother on a Nebraska farm. A fictional record of how women helped forge the communities that formed a nation, My Ántonia is also a hauntingly eloquent celebration of the strength, courage, and spirit of America’s early pioneers.
Gordon Tapper is Assistant Professor of English at DePauw University. He is the author of The Machine That Sings: Modernism, Hart Crane, and the Culture of the Body, from Routledge.
During Cather's studies at the University of Nebraska, she worked as a drama critic to support herself and published her first piece of short fiction, "Peter," in a Boston magazine. After graduation, her love of music and intellectual pursuits inspired her to move to Pittsburgh, where she edited the family magazine Home Monthly, wrote theater criticism for the Pittsburgh Daily Leader, and taught English and Latin in local high schools. Cather's big break came with the publication of her first short story collection, The Troll Garden (1905). The following year she moved to New York City to work for McClure's Magazine as a writer and eventually the magazine's managing editor.
Considered one of the great figures of early-twentieth-century American literature, Willa Cather derived much of her inspiration from the American Midwest, which she considered her home. Never married, she cherished her many friendships, some of which she had maintained since childhood. Her intimate coterie of women writers and artists motivated Cather to produce some of her best work. Sarah Orne Jewett, a successful author from Maine whom Cather had met during her McClure's years, inspired her to devote herself full-time to creating literature and to write about her childhood, which she did in several novels of the prairies. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for her novel about World War I, called One of Ours.
She won many other awards, including a gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Prix Femina Americaine. On April 24, 1947, two years after publishing her last novel, Willa Cather died in New York City of a cerebral hemorrhage. Among Cather's other accomplishments were honorary doctorate degrees from Columbia, Princeton, and Yale Universities.
Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of O, Pioneers!.
Cather was the first woman voted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame, in 1961.
She spent forty years of her life with her companion, Edith Lewis, in New York City.
In one of Jewett's most important letters to Cather, she addresses the relationship between fiction and its autobiographical sources in words that would resonate deeply with the narrative design of My Ántonia. Jewett was concerned that Cather had not yet learned to see her "backgrounds . . . from the outside,—you stand right in the middle of each of them when you write, without having the standpoint of the looker-on" (quoted in Lee, p. 22). In My Ántonia, Cather makes just this kind of effort to see her experience "from the outside" by inventing Jim Burden, the transformed version of herself who serves as the first-person narrator. In addition to giving Jim many of her own experiences, Cather sets him on a journey into his past that echoes the imaginative reconstruction of her own childhood. In the introduction that establishes the narrative framework for My Ántonia, we learn that Jim is a very successful middle-aged man—"legal counsel for one of the great Western railways"—living in New York. Like Cather, who also lived most of her adult life in Manhattan, he is therefore geographically and culturally remote from his small-town origins. As Jewett suggested, Cather's appreciation for her provincial "parish" would be made possible by her knowledge of the wider world, and Cather places Jim in a similar position. But if Jim represents a fictional alter ego who allows Cather to observe her own return to the past from the "standpoint of the looker-on," Cather begins the novel by very explicitly distinguishing herself from her narrator.
Cather revisits her Nebraska childhood in several of her early novels, but it is only in My Ántonia that she creates an intriguing dialogue between herself and one of her characters, which occurs in a brief introductory section of the novel. Instead of writing from the point of view of Jim, as she does everywhere else in the novel, Cather adopts the voice of a first-person narrator who meets Jim by chance aboard a train. Although she never names this speaker, Cather suggests that it is yet another version of herself, since she very unobtrusively reveals that the narrator is both a woman and an experienced writer. (In order to distinguish Cather the author from this female narrator, who never reappears in the novel proper, many critics refer to the narrator as "Cather.") The narrator and Jim are old friends who grew up together in a small Nebraska town, and during their reminiscences they talk fondly of Ántonia, who "seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood".
Although Jim and the narrator agree that Ántonia somehow embodies the essence of their childhood, their individual relationships to her differ in several critical ways. Unlike the narrator, who has lost touch with her, Jim has reestablished a close friendship with Ántonia. When Jim expresses his surprise that the narrator has "never written anything about Ántonia," the narrator confesses that she had never known Ántonia as well as he had. The two then agree that they will both try recording their memories of this "central figure" of their past. Jim cautions, however, that he is not a practiced writer (implying that "Cather" is) and will therefore have to write about Ántonia "in a direct way, and say a great deal about myself. It's through myself that I knew and felt her". In response, the narrator draws attention to the distinction between their male and female perspectives:
I told him that how he knew her and felt her was exactly what I
most wanted to know about Ántonia. He had had opportunities that I, as
a little girl who watched her come and go, had not.
On one level, the narrator is simply trying to reassure Jim that there is nothing wrong with writing about himself in the process of remembering Ántonia, but Cather also seems to be offering an indirect justification for adopting a male persona in her novel. Behind the essentially transparent mask of "Cather" the narrator, Cather the author is asserting that the female perspective of "a little girl" will not do Ántonia justice, because it does not allow her to understand Ántonia as the object of someone's desire. Cather thought of Ántonia as her heroine, yet she gives the reader very little access to Ántonia's inner life, which is only conveyed secondhand through Jim's perspective. By allowing Jim to control the narrative, Cather distances the reader from Ántonia, but it is precisely because Cather wants to imagine a man's feelings for Ántonia that she wrote the novel from a man's point of view.
JSAlex000
Posted June 26, 2010
Since contemporary novels seldom draw me in and retain my interest past the first 60 pages, I sometimes pursue the bookstore for quality classic literature that I have yet to read. Thanks B&N for including Willa Cather's My Antonia in your Classic Series. Although relatively well-educated and well-read, I discovered this novel when browsing in-store. Cather's story-telling style and vivid descriptions transported me to a different time and place while her character development prompted me to continue reading. The quality of the story made it a page-turner and one of the two novels I have enjoyed reading most in the last 10 years.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This dynamic novel does what too many contemporary novels fail to do- it portrays heartbreakingly authentic characters without drowning the reader in nonessential details. This style of writing allows the story to become personal to the reader as he or she subconsciously fills the unexpressed components with his or her own unique thought process. As the principal character discovers his own personal "patria" {home, or rather, home of the heart} the reader cannot help but to reflect upon their own "patria". Perhaps this, out of many other contributing factors, was the most essential element in creating this American masterpiece. With a flawlessly imperfect setting and ruggedly realist situations, Miss Cather's writing simply jumps off the page and captures the very mind, heart, and soul of the reader.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I will read this book over and over, every 5 years or so. The writing style (may I please call it lyrical?) is beautiful, separate and apart from the story-line. And the story-line complements the style. I was never bored. I never felt hurried reading this. I was sorry when I got to the end of the book. It is an experience, a journey, with a satisfactory ending, totally unexpected, but 'just right'. I learned a lot about this time period, but mostly, I fell in love with the characters and the story. And I keep musing about what might come next if the author had kept writing...
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 31, 2006
Willa Cather¿s My Antonia is a timeless masterpiece in literature. The coming of age story of Jim Burden is told in a way that allows the book to withstand the ages of time. The setting, plot, and theme of the story along with other elements give the story a depth, and realness, that few novels achieve. My Antonia tells the story of Jim Burden as he grows up on his grandparents¿ farm in Nebraska around the turn of the century. Embedded in the story line of this novel are many literary themes. The coming of age story with Jim shows how he grows from a boy to a teenager, and finally becomes an adult. The trials that Jims goes through and the lessons he learns in his life show how people have to work hard at life and try their best to become the person they want to be. Another theme of this book is to appreciate the people around you and what you are surrounded by. At times in the novel Jim and Antonia don¿t get along and they dislikes each other. But in the end, Jim realizes that despite their disagreements and differences Jim still needs and values her (as she does him) and wants to stay friends with Antonia. The themes of this novel surround the fact of how the people around individuals shape who they are and who they are going to become in their life. Another part of this book that makes it so amazing is the characters. The characters of this book are so believable and their problems make them easier for you to relate to despite the 100-year time difference in setting. In the beginning, the title character Antonia has just immigrated to Nebraska with her family from Bohemia. Throughout the book, all the hard work Antonia has to do to help support her family after her father¿s death, and the way she almost loses herself in the town life but the finds herself again in the end, gives her a realness and a sense of strength to all readers. Jim Burden, the protagonist of the book, gives the story depth as he struggles with inner conflicts. As Jim is growing up he wants to please his grandparents but he also wants to live life and get away from the small town he has grown up in and their image of him as a little boy. The supporting characters such as Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda (Antonia¿s parents), Jim¿s grandfather, and Lena Lingard, also add to and complete the story by creating conflict and helping the two main characters. The lessons characters learn and the way they grow as people also gives the story a realistic feel because the struggles of Jim and Antonia are problems that people could face in real life. The literary element of setting has given My Antonia a very fitting world. Although it is not obvious exactly when the story takes place it is obvious that the novel is set in Black Hawk, Nebraska, sometime around the beginning of the twentieth century. The fact that this book is set in the country as opposed to the city gives it a much more laid back feel and causes you to focus more on the people and their stories without the distracting hustle and bustle of the city. The lack of great importance or activity in the setting, gives the story over completely to plot and character development. Without having to focus on keeping track of an ever-changing setting it is possible for the reader to focus more on aspects of the story such as Antonia and her family, Jim and his family, and the relationship between the two. Two final literary elements in My Antonia are the point of view and plot. Told in 1st person by Jim Burden, the point of view of this story gives Jim a deepness as you get to look at all of his thought and feelings. This point of view also allows you to look at one of the major conflicts of the plot, Jim vs. his inner self. Jim is trying to find and become the kind of person he wants to be beyond high school and find his own identity. There are other plots of the story as well but this plot wouldn¿t be possible if the book were told from a different point of view. Other plots of the story include the ups and dow
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book is absolutely stunning. Setting is the protagonist of this novel, Willa Cather did not disappoint!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 17, 2010
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After reading this book, I was simply amazed at how timeless it is. There are far too many people who become concerned with "page turners". While a reader should not expect to find that in this book, they should expect to find a character who moves their soul. This book truly captures the essence of what it meant to be an early american settler, and what it still means to be a woman. Cather makes it very easy to relate to Antonia. The only complaint that I have (and I admit it is superficial) is the ending. I would have liked to see it work out differently, but I understand why it ended the way it did. This is one of the few "classics" that celebrates the heritage of America.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 15, 2009
Upon first reading this book I thought it extremely simple and enjoyable. Although the whole concept wasn't profoundly enlightening it was most definitely an interesting book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to escape the heavy complex reads often assigned in colleges. You won't be dissapointed.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.HannahMilgrom
Posted November 16, 2008
I definitely liked this book. It really helped me connect with what it was like to live in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It made me realize that you could meet all types of new people while living your life in the 1800s that you could end up staying extremely close with. I also learned about the type of work you would do if you lived back then, most likely on a farm. Death was also very common. You could become very close with someone, until the next day they could come down with a deadly disease that could kill them that die. The book made me realize that I am very glad to be living in the 21st century and not in the 1800s or even the early 1900s. It would have been very difficult to have lived back then, and this book gave me an idea of what it would have been like if I had lived back then. It gave me a specific example of how people felt about life and their relationships with the people they met along their journeys through life. This book also helped my understand some of our country's history. I would recommend this book to students in high school because I feel it is probably too dry for anyone in college or older, but I think that high school students would be interested in learning about life in the late 1800 and early 1900s. It should also help high school students understand some of America¿s history just like it helped me. Overall, this was a great book and I especially like how it helped me understand life in the 1800s and helped me to appreciate my life now, knowing what it would have been like back in the day, over one hundred years ago.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 3, 2005
A young Jim Burden is sent west in the early 1900's to live with his grandparents. On the train to his new house meets a young girl a couple of years older than he is. Although he doesn't know it, this is the beginning of a long-lasting friendship. After settling into his house on the plains of Nebraska, he ventures out to greet his new neighbor. Antonia Shimerda is her name and her family had immigrated from Bohemia. As Jim grows up he has many experiences with Antonia. When Jim is twelve, he and his family move into the nearby town, Black Hawk. Antonia also goes into town to find work. Because they belong to separate 'classes' they start to separate. As Jim settles down and continues his education, Antonia goes wild and goes to every town dance possible. After a failed marriage and an unwanted baby, Antonia moves back into the country to help her family's farm. Jim, meanwhile, transfers from the Lincoln University to Harvard. Forty years later Jim revisits Antonia to find her happily married and living a farm life full of content. Even though Antonia isn't as successful as Jim she seems to get more out of life. My Antonia is a wonderful piece of literature that shows the true meaning of happiness and the life and times of the early 1900's.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 22, 2011
Love this classic book. I remember reading it for great books in hs and i hae read it many times since......highly recommend!!!
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Posted November 26, 2011
My Ántonia was a decent book. It did a magnificent job of visualization. The words painted a beautiful picture in my mind. Sometimes I got a little frustrated though, because I wanted to keep reading and find out what happens next in the plot, but the author kept going into the detail about the scenery. However, this is the only thing I didn¿t like about the book.
Willa Cather did many things well in this classic. She did a great job of creating an interesting plot while incorporating historical events. I¿ve been learning about immigration in history class and this book helped me put faces to what we are learning. The story was captivating and emotional, while educational. I¿m not a big fan of historical fiction, but this book kept my attention and interest. I also loved how she developed the characters. After finishing the book I felt like I knew them personally.
My Ántonia is perfect for high school students, but college students and adults would also enjoy this book. There were many words throughout the text that I didn¿t know, but I could usually use the context to figure out their meaning. Other than that, the book wasn¿t a hard read. Also, this book relates to what high school students learn in U.S History, so that¿s a perfect time to read it. I would definitely recommend this book to almost anyone, even if they don¿t like historical fiction. My Ántonia is brilliantly written and is very interesting. It uses beautiful language to connect the reader to the characters and the Great Plains, while educating them on what it was like to live out west in the late 1800¿s and the early 1900¿s.
My Antonia by Willa Cather is about the friendship between a boy, Jim, and an immigrant girl, Antonia. Willa Cather's novel deals with issues such as immigration, suicide, prejudice, and unrequited love. My Antonia is a charming coming-of-age story set in the late 19th c. The characters are realistically written. The story is narrated by Jim and is a compilation of memories from his childhood and young adult life.
To be honest, I did not want to read this book-mostly because it is a realist work. I'm not a huge fan of realism-I find it quite depressing. I still wonder why I decided to take a class on American Literature that concentrated on Realist works. I had to read and write a paper on this novel. So, of course, I was dreading it. But it truly surprised me. I did not expect to like it at all. I recommend you read this if you like classic American Literature. Even if you don't, it's still a good read; and by far my favorite of all the books/short stories I had to read for that class.
This was a pleasant read, nice to put yourselves in the farm life of the past in the midwest. Didn't love it, but for the price, it was worth it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Bella-Bonita1996
Posted January 23, 2011
My Antonia by Willa Cather is a story about the life of young Jim Burden. The book is a flashback written by Jim mainly about his life with his old childhood friend, Antonia. His flashback is written in manuscript form and begins with when he first laid eyes on Antonia on a train on their way to Nebraska. The story revolves around the idea of how Jim and Antonia grew up and how they got through their troubles and lives together. Some other main characters in this book are Antonia's family, Jim's grandparents (who he grew up with) and Lena Lingard. Antonia's Bohemian family grow close to Jim and his grandparents on their farms because they were new to this country and knew no one else. Lena Lingard is a character that both Jim and Antonia meet later in their lives and grow very close to. The main conflict in this story is an internal conflict: Character vs. Self. One specific event that leads up to the main conflict is when Jim and Antonia experience a death early in their childhood lives. Another event is when Jim and his grandparents decide to move to a different city; which means not being able to be Antonia's neighbor any more.
I liked this book because it was written in a way in which it holds your attention without giving away too many details. Like, in the introduction chapter you know that the book is going to be written about Antonia, but you don't know exactly how the flashback is going to be written. You expect the book to be like any old re-written story about somebody's childhood but, Willa Cather was able to write a flashback story without making any of the details too confusing. One reason I disliked this book is because the introduction chapter is dialogue between Jim and another person but, it is difficult to find out who the other person really was. This is a way of adding suspense to the story ; it is a very good literary device to use. But, it kind of leaves you questioning the story and it makes you wonder why the story was specifically written. The conflicts that Jim and Antonia experience together give you a sense of friendship and love and make My Antonia a story that you will not soon forget. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading classics because of its themes of adventure, love, and sorrow.
brianasmommy
Posted October 28, 2010
many great stories inside one great story
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2010
This is a great story to provide an introduction to strong women and their struggles in creating a life during the early days of the settlors. It is truly moving and a story every young lady should read...
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Posted March 9, 2010
Willa Cather, who is from Virginia, has a pleasant writing style that pulled me into the story. My heart went out to Antonia's family and the life she led. I really enjoyed this book with the historical setting.
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Posted December 10, 2009
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This book is a wonderful recolection of a man's memories of when he was a boy. This book is filled with great characters which you cant help but like. Willa Cather has a way of which keeps you entertained but doesn't give too much information at once. This novel is filled with love and disapointment. Ihave recommended this book to my friends and would recommed it to anyone who like stories about pioneers.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 13, 2009
OK, so ! read this book for a book report, and I was required to find 4 reviews about my book from reliable sources. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I could not find one other than the one already printed on the front cover of this book. It is a good read, don't get me wrong, but it's a bad book for reports.
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Posted August 22, 2009
This book was not worth it what so ever. The only reason I read it in the first place was for school. Details in a book is good but TOO many details is bad. The main character sometimes describes something way too much, so much that your mind naturally starts to wonder. And when you come back to your senses you're like "What did i just read? Wow that must have been so boring i wasn't even paying attention." If you don't remember it being boring, it must have been reallllllyyyy boring. The characters were dull and there were too many to remember them all. I honestly hate this book with a passion.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: