First published in 1922, "One of Ours" is Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize winning story of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native at the turn of the 20th century. Claude is a young man who finds himself conflicted by the constraints of his overly pious mother and the demands that his father's farm places on his education and life. While attending Temple College, a Christian university, Claude befriends Julius Erlich, whose free-thinking family begins to change his perception of the world and his place in it. Abruptly Claude is ...
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First published in 1922, "One of Ours" is Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize winning story of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native at the turn of the 20th century. Claude is a young man who finds himself conflicted by the constraints of his overly pious mother and the demands that his father's farm places on his education and life. While attending Temple College, a Christian university, Claude befriends Julius Erlich, whose free-thinking family begins to change his perception of the world and his place in it. Abruptly Claude is called away from his education to help his father expand his farming operation. Soon he finds himself married to Enid Royce, a childhood friend. The disappointment of domesticated life and commitments to his family's farm leave Claude with a terrible sense of entrapment in a life of drudgery. When war breaks out in Europe, Claude sees an opportunity to escape and enlists in the U.S. Army. Willa Cather's "One of Ours" is a captivating tale of a changing American frontier at the beginning of the 20th century and the plight of one young man to deal with it. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
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I rarely venture into to the classics but I had this strange urge to try to read a Pulitzer Prize winner. This is the one I picked up. I have never read a Willa Cather novel before. I can now say that I would have no problem picking up one of her books again. I really enjoyed this novel. It can't say it was an exciting novel (so if you're into twist and turns this is not for you) but a plain story on how events affected the main character's decision to join the army in the midst of WWI. There is less about the war as one expects from the synopsis and more about the character's home life and relationships in Nebraska. Cather's writing is very straightforward and not flowery (which I greatly appreciate).
vincenzo
Jun 8, 2007
1 of ours
Great book. you can't go wrong tih cather's writing. Poignant novel. A real tear-jerker!
