O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (novel #244)

But the great fact was the land itself, which seemed to overwhelm the little beginnings of human society that struggled in its sombre wastes.

Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!, published in 1913, is the first book of Cather’s Great Plains Trilogy: O Pioneers! Song of the Lark, My Ántonia. O Pioneers! tells of the Bergson family, Swedish immigrants to the Nebraska frontier. The story focuses on Alexandra, the only daughter, who, at her father’s death and by his wishes, becomes the business head of the family farm. The Bergsons, like others around them, are struggling to make ends meet, and there is mounting pressure to sell out and move back east.

 

Alexandra’s father is determined not merely to take a living from the land, but to love it and prosper.

 

John Bergson had the Old-World belief that land, in itself is desirable. But this land was an enigma. It was like a horse that no one knows how to break to harness, that runs wild and kicks things to pieces. He had an idea that no one understood how to farm it properly, and this he often discussed with Alexandra.

 

Alexandra inherits the vision from her father, and when he is unable to realize it in his lifetime, he wisely chooses Alexandra to see it through.

 

She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the sun. under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future stirring.

 

It is a sweet tale, though not fast-paced nor thrilling. There are sometimes gaps of many years in the narrative. Contextual clues make it clear they were filled with slow, determined struggle, resilience, sacrifice, and human drama.

 

In addition to man, or in this case, woman, versus nature, there is indeed human drama. Alexandra is often at odds with her two oldest brothers, though they acquiesce for the most part. They seem to understand, but never acknowledge, that she is the brains of the operation. And there are two love stories: Alexandra and a family friend, and her youngest brother and his childhood friend. Circumstances don’t allow much of a chance for either.

 

Cather does an expert job of creating empathy for Alexandra. Remarkable since this reader at least has little pioneer spirit, nor any sense of connection to the land, which is Alexandra’s defining trait. She is a completely likable heroine in a story with few villains.

 

I did live in Nebraska a century after Cather, who moved there when she was nine. I lived in a modern city, and she grew up on the plains, so I defer to her portrayal of frontier life.

 

My rating 4 of 5 stars

 

For its timeless portrayal of American frontier life, for its themes of pioneer courage and vision, sacrifice, family, community, and love.

 

This is the second novel by Cather that I’ve read. The other being Death Comes for the Archbishop. I enjoyed both and will certainly read more by Cather, probably from the Great Plains Trilogy. I understand the trilogy is a new set of characters and non-chronological, so it may be read in any order.

 

This novel satisfies the “Wanderlust” category in the What’s in a Name? 2025 challenge. Titles for this category need to include words or phrases related to wanderlust.

 

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6 Degrees - Fever Pitch to Death Comes for the Archbishop

6 Degrees is a monthly meme hosted by Kate @ Books Are My Favorite and Best.

I first found this meme @ Brona’s Books so she deserves a shout out as well.

I haven’t read the starting book, so I relied upon a synopsis, but the rest are from my own reading experience, and linked to my reviews.

The starting book for March is Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Hmmm – a football (soccer) story, sports fanatics, an underdog team, those were a bit hard, but a coming of age story – Eureka! But honestly, that’s too easy. So, I’m circling back to football – reminds me of Swede Levov, the main character from American Pastoral. Swede was a three-sport hero in High School (yeah, it was American Football, but I’m sticking with it anyway).

It is also the story of the disintegration of the American Dream, which led me to The Grapes of Wrath.  My hero from this tale is Ma Joad - desperately fighting to save her family.

Another heroic mother: Lady Jessica from Dune, mother of the main character, Paul, and mistress to Duke Atreides. Apologies to Brona, this is just where it took me, I wasn’t trying to follow your path :) I wasn't always especially fond of Paul, but I did like Lady Jessica.

Desert – sand – oppressive environment, reminded me of North Africa and the Sahara in The Sheltering Sky.

Desert – send – oppressive environment, now reminded me of The American Southwest, specifically 19^th century New Mexico territory and the two gentle, noble priests, Bishop Latour and Father Vaillant who were NOT overcome by the rugged territory in Death Comes for the Archbishop.

There you have it. From Fever Pitch to Death Comes for the Archbishop. A bit different than where the #6degrees host ended up :)

Three Short Christmas Tales - 2016

According to Saint Matthew, wise men brought gifts to the Christ child in Bethlehem.

Apart from this, much of how we imagine the wise men is based on tradition rather than recorded history. We do not know for instance, that there were three. The number is inferred from their three distinct gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Much less do we know their identities, though tradition has ascribed them to be Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior. These three are often portrayed as African, Oriental, and European – merely tradition. Scripture records only that they were from the east. Etymology of the word “wise men” or magi suggests Persia. Perhaps the greatest inaccuracy in our perception is that they were present at the nativity, the birth of Christ, at all. Contextual clues in Matthew’s gospel suggest the wise men arrived nearly two years after the birth of Christ.

Nonetheless they were wise, for they sought – and found – and worshiped, the Christ.

Last year I read three short Christmas tales. I had no particular reason for three, but now it’s tradition. I’ll say it is in reference to the three gifts of the wise men.

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

The is not really a tale, but merely a record of letters that Tolkien wrote to his children, John, Michael, Christopher, and Priscilla. The letters are from 1920 to 1943.

Posing as Father Christmas, Prof. Tolkien recounts various delights and dilemmas at the North Pole in preparing each year’s deliveries. Father Christmas is assisted, and confounded, by the North Polar Bear, who is well intentioned but somewhat bumbling.

My favorite letter was 1937. Tolkien’s youngest child and only daughter Priscilla was apparently a great reader. Father Christmas said he had thought of sending her “Hobbits” (copies of the book), but he figured she already had plenty of copies. (The Hobbit was published earlier that year.)

There are also charming illustrations throughout, drawn by Father Christmas, or the North Polar Bear, for the children, in reality of course, drawn by Prof. Tolkien.

Father Christmas even recounts wars with the goblins at the North Pole. I think Tolkien, via Father Christmas, was telling the children that war is a reality, that it is serious, but that it is an adult problem and that it would not last forever.

I enjoyed learning about one of my favorite authors through this very personal glimpse of his devotion to his children.

The Burglar’s Christmas by Willa Cather

From the title, and a little knowledge of Cather, you can probably guess the theme of this story.

A poor lost soul, near the end of his rope, resorts to desperate measures – only to find hope, on the Holy Night of Hope.

I won’t describe it further. It is touching and poignant.

Excerpts:

He had demanded great things from the world once: fame and wealth and admiration. Now it was simply bread.

It is a tragic hour, that hour when we are finally driven to reckon with ourselves, when every avenue of mental distraction has been cut off and our own life and all its ineffaceable failures closes about us like the walls of that old torture chamber of the inquisition. Tonight, as this man stood stranded in the streets of the city, his hour came.

From this brilliant city with its glad bustle of Yule-tide he was shut off as completely as though here were a creature of another species.

Have you wandered so far and paid such a bitter price for knowledge and not yet learned that love has nothing to do with pardon or forgiveness, that it only loves, and loves – and loves?

The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

The Cricket on the Hearth is the third of Dickens’ Christmas stories, though probably the second best known, after A Christmas Carol. The Cricket is a novella, third-person narrative of John and Dot Peerybingle, and their perfect little home, that is nearly ruined by a misunderstanding. The Cricket is merely a household – hmm, guest I might say, as it is cherished and welcomed by the occupants. When it chirps, it seems to be a harbinger of comfort and contentment. It also seems to be a good-luck spirit, or faerie that watches over the good fortune of the home. Not fortune of riches, but riches of love and peace.

John, is a carrier (a delivery man of sorts), and loves his sweet young wife Dot, with complete devotion, along with their young baby.

…this lumbering, slow, honest John; this John so heavy but so light of spirit; so rough upon the surface, but so gentle at the core; so dull without, so quick within; so stolid, but so good! Oh Mother Nature, give thy children the true Poetry of Heart that hid itself in this poor Carrier’s breast.

As I’ve mentioned, they reside in the very picture of a happy home. But it is nearly destroyed when John witnesses a compromising exchange between Dot and a young man. Heartbroken, he spends a long pensive night, during which, unknown to him, consciously at least, the Cricket and attending faeries, whisper reassuring thoughts of Dot’s constancy. But they only succeed in convincing John, that there is no fault in Dot. He concludes the fault must be his own, for marrying a younger woman. He determines to set her free, though his heart remains broken.

The reader can never really doubt Dot, though neither can they understand the meaning of the compromising circumstances. In true Dickens fashion, unexpected and joyous revelations set all thing right, and then set other things even better.

It’s a charming little tale. Not quite equal to A Christmas Carol, I think, but still worth a read.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas!

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