I FIRST HEARD OF Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America. I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father and mother within a year, and my Virginia relatives were sending me out to my grandparents, who lived in Nebraska. I travelled in the care of a mountain boy, Jake Marpole, one of the 'hands' on my father's old farm under the Blue Ridge, who was now going West to work for my grandfather. Jake's experience of the world was not much wider than mine. He had ...
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I FIRST HEARD OF Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America. I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father and mother within a year, and my Virginia relatives were sending me out to my grandparents, who lived in Nebraska. I travelled in the care of a mountain boy, Jake Marpole, one of the 'hands' on my father's old farm under the Blue Ridge, who was now going West to work for my grandfather. Jake's experience of the world was not much wider than mine. He had never been in a railway train until the morning when we set out together to try our fortunes in a new world. We went all the way in day-coaches, becoming more sticky and grimy with each stage of the journey. Jake bought everything the newsboys offered him: candy, oranges, brass collar buttons, a watch-charm, and for me a 'Life of Jesse James, ' which I remember as one of the most satisfactory books I have ever read. Beyond Chicago we were under the protection of a friendly passenger conductor, who knew all about the country to which we were going and gave us a great deal of advice in exchange for our confidence. He seemed to us an experienced and worldly man who had been almost everywhere; in his conversation he threw out lightly the names of distant states and cities. He wore the rings and pins and badges of different fraternal orders to which he belonged. Even his cuff-buttons were engraved with hieroglyphics, and he was more inscribed than an Egyptian obelisk. Once when he sat down to chat, he told us that in the immigrant car ahead there was a family from 'across the water' whose destination was the same as ours. - Taken from "My 嚙緯tonia" written by Willa Cather
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I enjoyed Antonia very much. It was recommend by
David McCullough I would recommend lt to anybody.. Loved it.
DT
Bookwit
Apr 2, 2010
My Antonia
So enjoyed this book both for its historical detail re. 19th century life in Nebraska but also for her very fluid style of writing.An excellent but quite short read.
pawkitt
Jul 24, 2008
All time favorite book
I love this book, I just can't say it enough. Willa Cahter writes with such beauty. I felt like I was there when she would describe the parries and the people that lived there. She really has a way of telling a story, you can almost smell and hear what is going on in her books. This is a very good look at what it was like to settle on the parries, she dosen't sugar coat how hard it was to live there. One of the familes even lives in a sod house. What I hard life that must have been. This is a story of a young boy and his journey into a first love. He falls for Antonia, who is from Europe and very difrent from him and the people he has grown up with. I think he is so taken with her beacuse she is so diffrent. This is really a coming of age stroy told with beautiful pros. I will never forget how she describes the sun flowers I felt like I was there.
Dolores
Jan 17, 2008
my antonia
Must have been avant-garde when it was published. An unusual perspective on telling a story.
Johnny2read
Jun 21, 2007
Good Solid Book
This is a book that really gives one the "feel" of the midwest of that specific time. The characters are well-drawn and varied, and the story line keeps the reader interested and not quite sure of what the ending will be.
There is pain, joy, fun, and tragedy all woven into the story, which deals with life on those hard bleak plains of Nebraska many years ago, when life was simple, but hard.
I gave it a three-star rating, because I feel it was not THE MOST exciting book I have ever read, nor did the prose "grab" me, as the prose of some authors has. It is, however, a wholesome read, and gives the reader real insight into the life and times of people who make up such a large part of the USA.
