O Pioneers! is a novel by Willa Cather that tells the story of a Swedish immigrant family in Nebraska in the late 19th century. The book follows the Bergsons, a family of farmers, as they struggle to make a life for themselves in the harsh and unforgiving prairie landscape. The main character, Alexandra Bergson, is a strong and independent woman who takes charge of the family farm after her father's death. She faces many challenges, including drought, financial difficulties, and the disapproval of her conservative neighbors ...
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O Pioneers! is a novel by Willa Cather that tells the story of a Swedish immigrant family in Nebraska in the late 19th century. The book follows the Bergsons, a family of farmers, as they struggle to make a life for themselves in the harsh and unforgiving prairie landscape. The main character, Alexandra Bergson, is a strong and independent woman who takes charge of the family farm after her father's death. She faces many challenges, including drought, financial difficulties, and the disapproval of her conservative neighbors. Despite these obstacles, Alexandra perseveres and eventually succeeds in transforming the farm into a prosperous and thriving enterprise. Along the way, she forms close relationships with her brothers, her childhood friend Carl, and other members of the community. O Pioneers! is a powerful and moving portrait of the American West and the people who settled there, and it remains a classic of American literature to this day.A classic by one of William Faulkner's favorite authors.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
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Cather published her second novel, O Pioneers, in 1913 at the age of 40. Together with My Antonia it is the novel for which she is best known. Years after writing the book, Cather wrote of it " Since I wrote this book for myself, I ignored all the situations and accents that were then thought to be necessary."
The book is set on the plains of Nebraska in the late 19th Century as the Prairie is settled be Swedish, Bohemian, and French immigrants trying to eke out a living from what appears to be a harsh, inhospitable land. The heroine of the book is Alexandra Bergson who inherits her father's farm as a young woman, raises his three sons and stays with the farm through the harsh times to become a successful landowner and farmer.
The books speaks of being wedded to the land and to place. In this sense it is an instance of the American dream of a home. It also speaks of a strong woman, not in cliched, late 20th Century terms but with a sense of ambiguity, difficulty and loss.
This is a story as well of thwarted love, of the difficult nature of sexuality, and of human passion. There is also the beginning of what in Cather's works will become an increased sense of religion, Catholicism in particular, as a haven and a solace for the sorrow she finds at the heart of human endeavor. Above all it is a picture of stark life in the Midwest.
There is almost as much blood-letting in this short book as in an Elizabethan tragedy. Cather's picture of American life on the plains, even in her earliest books, is not an easy or simple one. Some readers may quarrel with the seemingly happy ending of the book. I don't think any will deny that Alexandra's happiness is dearly bought or that it is bittersweet.
I tended to shy away from this book in favor of Cather's later novels. I feared that it would be conventional and trite. The stereotyping was mine, however. This is a thoughtful, well written story of immigrant life on the plains and of the sorrow pain, and strength of the American experience.
Robin Friedman
bluelady
Apr 13, 2009
Read the book
Book arrived in excellent condition for being a used book, was so very pleased.
Another wonderful story by Willa Cather my only problem with it wasn't long enough.
Good clean reading.
