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A review by bittersweet_symphony
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
4.0
I feel somewhat betrayed other people didn't tell me how wonderful My Antonia is. Granted, it can be a little slow in parts, but it captures a sense of place, community, and simplicity that I find incredibly appealing—virtues largely lost on us twenty-first-century North Americans.
First-person narrations driven by recollective viewpoints can slip into the overly nostalgic or romantic, but I didn't find this to be the case. It has a realness to it that allows the straightforwardness of the agrarian lifestyle to breathe. Life is challenging but not due to unnecessary complications and modern distractions. Existence is strenuous in many of the satisfying ways for many of the novel's characters.
I'm tempted to read the first 2 of the trilogy, but I understand My Antonia is the best of the three. Alternatively, I may jump back into some of Wendell Berry's fiction.
First-person narrations driven by recollective viewpoints can slip into the overly nostalgic or romantic, but I didn't find this to be the case. It has a realness to it that allows the straightforwardness of the agrarian lifestyle to breathe. Life is challenging but not due to unnecessary complications and modern distractions. Existence is strenuous in many of the satisfying ways for many of the novel's characters.
I'm tempted to read the first 2 of the trilogy, but I understand My Antonia is the best of the three. Alternatively, I may jump back into some of Wendell Berry's fiction.