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A review by stevelawler
My Antonia by Willa Cather
3.0
I found passages in this book breathtaking - typically those that describe the midwestern prairie around Black Hawk, Nebraska, where it is set. Other bits (particularly those that describe the small town attitudes of the residents there), were frustratingly familiar from my own experiences growing up in rural Iowa.
I was surprised that the Ántonia of the title didn't play a more central role in the action of the book, rather than as a sort of muse to its narrator, Jim. He often recounts the intensity of his (platonic?) feelings for her, though there are several moments when his actions fail to bear these out. Also, though Jim seems to look fondly on Black Hawk's judgmental townsfolk, he devotes many pages to describing the successful careers of two of his friends - young women who were initially disparaged by them.
Cather uses a complicated framing device, wherein the novel's true narrator (unnamed) claims she is more or less transcribing the recollections of her friend Jim about their mutual friend, Ántonia. So, perhaps Jim is not the only unreliable narrator here.
Overall, I found much to reflect on in My Ántonia, even though I did not fall in love with the book as I had hoped.
I was surprised that the Ántonia of the title didn't play a more central role in the action of the book, rather than as a sort of muse to its narrator, Jim. He often recounts the intensity of his (platonic?) feelings for her, though there are several moments when his actions fail to bear these out. Also, though Jim seems to look fondly on Black Hawk's judgmental townsfolk, he devotes many pages to describing the successful careers of two of his friends - young women who were initially disparaged by them.
Cather uses a complicated framing device, wherein the novel's true narrator (unnamed) claims she is more or less transcribing the recollections of her friend Jim about their mutual friend, Ántonia. So, perhaps Jim is not the only unreliable narrator here.
Overall, I found much to reflect on in My Ántonia, even though I did not fall in love with the book as I had hoped.