Take a photo of a barcode or cover
zoefcampion 's review for:
O Pioneers!
by Willa Cather
O’Pioneers, by Willa Cather, tells the story of a woman who has a lot of faith in the prairies of Nebraska, called the Divide. The book begins with John Bergson, who is dying, telling his children that he has entrusted his land to his oldest daughter, Alexandra. The father dies, and Alexandra is able to bring the farm through drought and depression. Alexandra’s childhood friend, Carl Linstrum, and his family move away during this time. The story resumes again 16 years later, where Alexandra has the most prosperous farm in the area. Her brothers, Oscar and Lou, are both married and own their own farms. Carl returns to the Divide to visit. Lou and Oscar are upset by the relationship between Alexandra and Carl and drive him out of the Divide. Meanwhile, Emil, Alexandra’s youngest brother, recently graduated from the State University, leaves for Mexico. He has to leave because he is beginning to fall in love with Marie Shabata, who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. When Emil returns, his close friend Amedee dies. At the service he realizes that he must say goodbye to Marie again and goes to find her. He finds her in her orchard, and lies down next to her. Marie’s husband, Frank, finds them like this and shoots them both dead. A few months after the murders, Alexandra is able to overcome her grief enough to visit Frank in prison. She is exhausted with life at this point. She returns, and finds that Carl has returned to the Divide. Carl and Alexandra, happy to be together again, decide to get married. The theme of O'Pioneers is that land has a lot of power.
I really enjoyed O’Pioneers. It was a very beautiful book and I really liked the character Alexandra. She was a very empowering person and she always tried to do the right thing. The story itself was very sad, mainly because of the deaths of Marie and Emil. Throughout the book Marie is such a happy person, but as the book nears her death it is very sad to see her give up as she gets more worn down from her marriage. In the book, the Divide itself seems to be just as prominent a character, because it rules most of the way Alexandra lives. Alexandra and the land have a very unique relationship because she seems to listen to it and try to understand it, while Lou and Oscar just seem to see it as a profit maker. O’Pioneers is an AP book, which makes sense because there are a lot of themes that are important to the plot of the story, and it can be hard to understand all of them. I recommend O’Pioneers to someone who likes to read about life on the prairie and the hardships farmers at the turn of the century endured.
I really enjoyed O’Pioneers. It was a very beautiful book and I really liked the character Alexandra. She was a very empowering person and she always tried to do the right thing. The story itself was very sad, mainly because of the deaths of Marie and Emil. Throughout the book Marie is such a happy person, but as the book nears her death it is very sad to see her give up as she gets more worn down from her marriage. In the book, the Divide itself seems to be just as prominent a character, because it rules most of the way Alexandra lives. Alexandra and the land have a very unique relationship because she seems to listen to it and try to understand it, while Lou and Oscar just seem to see it as a profit maker. O’Pioneers is an AP book, which makes sense because there are a lot of themes that are important to the plot of the story, and it can be hard to understand all of them. I recommend O’Pioneers to someone who likes to read about life on the prairie and the hardships farmers at the turn of the century endured.