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A review by alisonraereed
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

3.0

This was by far the longest of Cather's works I've read, and I prefer her more succinct novels. But there is a lot of fabulous writing in this book. Mainly, it portrays what it takes to become a true artist - natural talent, friends that are willing to sacrifice and endless drive to meet personal standards. The main character, Thea Kronberg, is first a pianist and then an opera singer. I enjoyed the coziness of the first half which chronicled her childhood from 12 to her late teens. I was a little dismayed when she steels herself to become great that this was going to be another "sacrifice goodness for artistic achievement" tale but it was so much more than that. Thea did give up a lot of the qualities I liked about her, but she gained others and by the end, I was proud of how she had turned out, as were the people who truly loved her. Not being an artist, I wouldn't have made the choices she did, but for someone determined to be an artist at all costs, Thea Kronberg went about it the right way.

Cather's writing style is different than My Antonia and O Pioneers! It's not the tight poetry those other works are but it's an episodic following of Thea's growth. Some scenes feel like perfect film scenes, for instance when Fred is playing the piano and Landry is listening and chatting in between. The dialogue is so natural and at ease that many parts feel as though we are with Cather observing the lives of these people in their natural habitat.

All in all, as with all of Cather's works, I find this a very different, fresh book unencumbered by predictability.