My Ántonia

By Willa Cather

'The best thing I've done is My Antonia,' recalled Willa Cather. 'I feel I've made a contribution to American letters with that book.' Set against the vast Nebraska prairie, Cather's elegiac novel features one of the most winning heroines in American fiction—Antonia Shimerda—a young woman whose strength and passion epitomize the triumphant vitality of this country's pioneers.

'If, as is often said, every novelist is born to write one thing, then the one thing that Willa Cather was born to write was first fully realized in My Antonia,' observed Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner. 'The prose is. . .flexible, evocative; the structure at once free and intricately articulated; the characters stretch into symbolic suggestiveness as naturally as trees cast shadows in the long light of a prairie evening; the theme is the fully exposed, complexly understood theme of the American orphan or exile, struggling to find a place between an Old World left behind and a New World not yet created. . . . No writer ever posed that essential aspect of the American experience more warmly, with more nostalgic lyricism, or with a surer understanding of what it means.'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9780679641216

Willa Cather

Willa Cather (1873-1947) was an award-winning American author. As she wrote her numerous novels, Cather worked as both an editor and a high school English teacher. She gained recognition for her novels about American frontier life, particularly her Great Plains trilogy. Most of her works, including the Great Plains Trilogy, were dedicated to her suspected lover, Isabelle McClung, who Cather herself claimed to have been the biggest advocate of her work. Cather is both a Pulitzer Prize winner and has received a gold medal from the Institute of Arts and Letters for her fiction.

Reviews for My Ántonia

[thebooknerd · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I would not consider this a great piece of literature. Cather is doubtlessly a skilled writer, and some of her prose is nothing short of poetic. However, the story itself is bland, the characters are largely uninteresting, and the pace drags along with lots of "is something going to happen soon?". So my verdict is to skip this one.

[djupstrom · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

For me...another example of an American Classic that is a big snoozer.

[mrs9stansbury · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book brought me back to my love of the frontier that I enjoyed so as a girl. I recall reading every Laura Ingalls Wider book inadoration of the characters and the quiet determination one must ahve to live a life ont he land. I still look up to people who work all day and find joy in the small moments of life. I'd forgotten what a life of ease I truly enjoy. This book doesn't radiate hardship but it shares hardshiup with a dignified narration that opens your eyes to a life few of us will ever know. I can see parallels between the immigrants working the land at the turn of the 20th century and the migrant immigrants today that enter the USA. I recommend this book highly and suggest you read in bite size pieces to digest slowly the rich characters and story Willa Cather has woven together.

[insatiableb · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was expecting more from this one. Considering it's a "classic" and all...*Sigh* Oh well.It's a little about some so-so characters and a lot about life on the Nebraska plains in the early 20th century. The writing was descriptive and captivating at times but the story just didn't get me. Maybe that's why I put it down 2 times and read other books in between. And this is not a long book, people.So, I think the thing I liked most about the book was the title and the author's name. If I had another baby I might name her Willa (but I don't think I will...). So all the pleasure to be had from this book can come from a glance at the cover. :(

[albinorhino_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was forced to read this book for class, and trust me "forced" is the right word. There is no way I would have read this book had I not been held responsible for knowing what it was about. The writing is inarguably beautiful at times, but there was no distinct plot, very limited characterization, and overall, I think the story could have been told in a better way. I do not have any plans to reread this anytime soon.

[griff_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is something about Willa Cather books that bring me a sense of peace - and make me aware of a connection with the people and land around me that I usually take for granted. My Antonia is another quiet book that speaks powerfully. It is a pioneer story that tells the story of Antonia, a young Bohemian girl whose family has moved from Europe to a rural area in the Midwest, and others who were in one way or another connected to Antonia during the course of her life. The changing nature of that aspect of the American experience is captured in the stories told of youth, adolescence, and maturity. Antonia's impact on the narrator is significant, as is his impact on her. One of my favorite passages, one that describes the powerful nature of their connection, is similar to another facvorite Cather passage in Death Comes for the Archbishop. After two decades apart, Jim Burden, the narrator, returns to see Antonia and her large family. "Before I could sit down in the chair she offered me, the miracle happened; one of those quieter moments that clutch the heart, and take more courage than the noisy, excited passages in life. Antonia came in and stood before me..." As we learn what has become of the characters we have met, many of whom have had circuitous routes to their current station in life (or death), Jim looks back realizing he and Antonia may have missed out on many things. He also realizes that the early days they shared were precious then - and precious still. The intervening years saw each following very different paths, but, in the end, those paths crossed and were joyous because of those memories, not sadly tainted with regret.

[rampaginglibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Widely regarded to be one of Cather's best works, this is a truly beautiful, lyrical novel. It is almost perfect (then again Cather can do almost no wrong in my book). Should be on everyone's Must read before i die list

[libraryscat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent social commentary - I loved this book. I thought the television movie was a good representation of the book.

[sadiebooks_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

i read this in high school for a class. i wasn't that impressed

[stubbyfingers_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a lush and vivid story. I never really thought of Nebraska as being beautiful until reading this. I was enthralled when reading about Jim and Ántonia's arrival in Nebraska, and I loved reading how they ended up as adults, but some of the sections in the middle slowed down for me. Even so, those sections were better than most other books.The one question I had was this: who wrote the introduction? The whole story is supposedly a narrative written my Jim Burden, but who was it who met him on the train that summer and encouraged him to write it in the first place? Who was it that took his story and published it? Was it one of the characters we met in the story? Was it one of the children in Black Hawk?

[apartmentcarpet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of several immigrant families in the plains of Nebraska in the late 19th century, as seen through the eyes of Jim Burden, an orphan who goes to live with his grandparents. A plot never really developed at all, but Willa Cather's breathtaking descriptions of the prairie and the people who live on it are worth reading over and over again.

[lisalouhoo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There could be no better arguement for writing what you know than Willa Cather's My Antoinia. A casual traveler, or researcher could never evoke such powerful imagery of place, people and time. Cathers passion for and love of the wild and hard country that she was transported to at an early age stands off of the pages with bracingly strong imagery. Her representation of the strong and determined imigrants who fought, through much hardship, to subdue the prairie, is beyond realistic. These were the people she knew and admired. And yet she paints them with all of their faults fully in view. One of the powers of her works is that you cannot find yourself saying, "How could someone do something like that?" Because you know. She is able to show human nature so well, but with a kindness and understanding which exonerates in many cases, or at least shows pity. This book is the most autobiographic of Cather's works. She had many of the same experiences as her male narator, Jim. She too came from Virginia to Nebraska as a child to live with her grandparents, she too went to school in Lincoln, and ended up far from her prairie home. It is hard for me to separate Jim and Willa, and I don't think that it is really possible to. Jim is the key through which she was able to return to her past without actually writing a memoir. Even the main character and focus of the book, Antonia, was based on a friend from Willa's life. To have such a strong, spirited, definate person in a work of literature, I think that they almost have to be based off of a person, or people. It is hard to believe that someone could live as fully on the pages of a book who had not lived in real life. Antonia is a delightfully vibrant child, life deals harshly with her again and again, starting with the death of her father when she is a child. Though changed, and hardened on the outside to do what it takes, her heart is never hardened, and her spirit never quelled. There are those in the story who lament the loss of what she could have been, that her potential was short changed because of the events of her life. The last paragraph in the book even says, "this had been the road of destiny; had taken us to those early accidents of fortune which predetermined for us all that we can ever be." Which the author must believe to be true. And yet the picture that is painted of Antonia at the end of the book - her many children, her farm, her worn and battered frame - show us that Antonia has just the life she has desired, and even if life took her down a different path than those she could have had, in the end she is what she is meant to be. "She is a rich mine of life, like the founders of the early races."(p.194)

[irinipasi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't expect to like Willa Cather's works, as I don't really enjoy the "old west" type of genre. But she was stronly recommended to me, so I picked up My Antonia. I ended up really enjoying the book- Cather is very good at telling one of those epic, generational stories. And reading about a younger middle America wasn't so bad either- in fact, I actually enjoyed it.

[neverlistless · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book for a bookclub at work (we're creating our own "Finer Things Club", like from The Office). I was a bit apprehensive, but that was totally undeserved. This was a wonderful story about life on the Plains of Nebraska. If you loved the Little House on the Prairie series, then I think you'd love this book as well.The story is told through Jim, who befriends Antonia when they are young. The both have hard lives and take completely different paths as they grow, but that never changes the love and the admiration that they have for each other and all of their memories together. This is truly a touching, heart warming story and I would definitely recommend it.

[joye_22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are parts in this book that just make your heart swell up -- I got lost in the vivid descriptions of the land, became caught up in the narrator's passionate account of the title character, and grew a little sad that the world in this book no longer exists.

[aluvalibri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the first books I bought when I moved to this country, and still one of my most cherished

[binniebee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting book first published back in 1918 or so. It really gives you a feel for the rough life people lived back then.

[ironwoodbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I reread this novel after fifteen years and I was amazed how much better it became in the interval! Seriously, though, this book lacks a traditional plot; however, this book manages to be powerfully nostalgic without ever being maudlin. Perhaps a person needs to be older to appreciate it.

[missmaya_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've seen this on the bookshelves forever, but finally picked it up. Apparently, I'm in a Little House phase right now - I found it a fast read and very enjoyable, if not terribly memorable.

[brose72 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just a beautiful and moving story. A tribute to the human spirit. I do not care if this is not the type of book men should enjoy - I thought it was great. Very well written. How will I ever forget the story of the sleigh ride and the wolves?

[dee_kohler_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best, One cold spring day I was looking for an adventure, Cather provided it for me. Cold wind swept prarie. wonderful

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great historical fiction and examination of what it was to settle prairie towns. The characters are well rounded, even though the narrator is male the female characters are the stars. Seeing them rise from dirt poverty to self determined adulthood was a joy. I can't say I was delighted with the way Antonia herself turned out, but the character stayed true.

[stampercat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it interesting to read of what life was like in Nebraska during the Nineteenth Century. It was harder than I could imagine and seeing it through the eyes of of a 10 year old boy as he grows up was very creative. I found myself underlining and saving quotes from the book as Ms Cather has a unique way of saying things. Her descriptions are marvelous. For instance here is a description of the prairie:"I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had got over the edge of it, and were outside man’s jurisdiction…..this was the complete dome of heaven, all there was of it."And another toward the end of the book as he reminisces about their childhood:"As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and girl ran along beside me, as our shadows used to do, laughing and whispering to each other in the grass."This is a story that I will not soon forget and I will enjoy going back and reading the quotes I have saved from it.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely. Cather weaves a beautiful and unforgettable story.

[pickwick817 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was and enjoyable read. I'm interested in learing more about the author. She obviously has firsthand experience in the pioneering west, plus hints at worldly knowledge later in the book. My copy of the book was used, and had notes from someones class throughout the text. This added interest to what was already a very good book.

[evansjoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm still reading this, but so far, it's beautiful. Cather's descriptive passages are dizzying and textured--I feel as if I were there. I was a little put off at first by the way the stories were constructed (they seem to cut off without ending satisfactorily), but that aspect of the book has become charming.

[bkwurm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful book which gently encompasses an entire region, era, and melting pot of people, while telling a story of love and friendship at the same time. It's not flashy, but this is a classic for a reason. Cather's writing is subtle, but it's close to perfection.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story of Antonia Shimerda,a Bohemian emigrant,and Jim Burden,an American boy who befrends her. Beginning in their childhood when Jim teaches her to speak English and and one day when they are out together Jim manages to kill a huge snake which they both bring home in triumph. We follow them through their growing-up and into adult-hood and meet their many friends and members of their family.This is a story of ordinary people told in an extraordinary way. Once read it will never be forgotten.This is one of the few books of which one can truly say 'I am sorry this is finished'.

[bonbonsandreveries · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[paperbackpirate · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautifully written story told from a man named Jim's point of view as he reflects on his life, starting at age ten when he moved to Nebraska to live with his grandparents after his mom and dad die within a year of each other. The story takes place in the late 1800s when people in the Midwest were pioneers living off the land. Ántonia is a neighbor girl a little older than Jim whose family has immigrated from Bohemia and are struggling at every turn (not unlike immigrants today).Although Ms. Cather mastered creating imagery with words, I felt the story lacked real problem/solution plot. It is a snapshot of Jim's growth from boy to man with Ántonia a symbol of America itself, as she creates life from soil and labors to survive in this land of opportunity.