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medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very nice
I read this for my book club and really, really enjoyed it. I might not have picked it up on my own but I'm glad we chose this book. It was short and easy to read. I loved the characters and the stories inner-twining. For such a short book the character and plot development was magnificent!
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Vaguely: Little House on the Prairie, but sped up with a super depressing ending.
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
One of my dreams is to live on a farm one day and this book captures what I would imagine my life being like....but not in modern times. Alexandra has to learn about farming all on her own and stand up to her brothers about what is right for their future there.
3.5/5
Gorgeously sparse, gentle, and profoundly beautiful, O'Pioneers! is a miniature epic distilled down to its very essence. This is the first of her Great Plains Trilogy which doesn’t appear to be linked in any way aside from the setting of the Nebraskan prairie landscape. O’Pioneers follows the pitfalls and small pleasures of a frontier family burdened with tragedies and unrequited love, against the backdrop of an expansive, bucolic, ever-changing landscape. The pulsing heart of this story is Alexandra, an intelligent and resourceful woman, who is thrust at a tender age to take responsibility for her family and fulfill her father’s dying wish to not, under any circumstance, abandon his land. In mere 170 pages, Cather presents a sweeping view of frontier life with nuance and depth, framing it around Alexandra’s life. My only niggle was that I wished it was longer or more fully rounded to allow the story to grow more in certain parts.
This is my second brush with Cather’s work, having read My Antonia (the third book of the Great Plains Trilogy). I intend to continue on with the second novel, The Song of the Lark later this year and perhaps re-read My Antonia, completing the circle. If you don’t mind slightly plotless novels with deep reverence and understanding of its landscape and the way it shapes the lives of the people who inhabit it, you most certainly would enjoy Willa Cather’s work.
Gorgeously sparse, gentle, and profoundly beautiful, O'Pioneers! is a miniature epic distilled down to its very essence. This is the first of her Great Plains Trilogy which doesn’t appear to be linked in any way aside from the setting of the Nebraskan prairie landscape. O’Pioneers follows the pitfalls and small pleasures of a frontier family burdened with tragedies and unrequited love, against the backdrop of an expansive, bucolic, ever-changing landscape. The pulsing heart of this story is Alexandra, an intelligent and resourceful woman, who is thrust at a tender age to take responsibility for her family and fulfill her father’s dying wish to not, under any circumstance, abandon his land. In mere 170 pages, Cather presents a sweeping view of frontier life with nuance and depth, framing it around Alexandra’s life. My only niggle was that I wished it was longer or more fully rounded to allow the story to grow more in certain parts.
This is my second brush with Cather’s work, having read My Antonia (the third book of the Great Plains Trilogy). I intend to continue on with the second novel, The Song of the Lark later this year and perhaps re-read My Antonia, completing the circle. If you don’t mind slightly plotless novels with deep reverence and understanding of its landscape and the way it shapes the lives of the people who inhabit it, you most certainly would enjoy Willa Cather’s work.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No