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The novels O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia made
Willa Cather's reputation and, though published separately, are
now studied together as Willa Cather’s Great Plains
Trilogy. These three novels, set in Nebraska and Colorado, cemented
Cather’s reputation in the early 1920s as a writer who exalted
the lives of ordinary people. Together, these novels portray the
magnificent prairie landscape and the indomitable spirit of the men
and women who inhabited, and adapted, to its harsh beauty: My
Ántonia: The intertwined stories of Jim Burden, an orphan from
Virginia, and the elder daughter in a family of Czech immigrants,
Ántonia Shimerda, who are each brought to Nebraska as children. O
Pioneers!: The Bergsons move from Sweden and struggle to carve out
a living on their Nebraska homestead. The eldest daughter,
Alexandra, inherits the farm when her father dies, and devotes her
life to its success even as other immigrant families leave the
prairie, defeated. The Song of the Lark: Thea Kronborg grows up in
a small Colorado town, next to the railroad that connects her to a
wider world, a world she will conquer with her glorious voice
and strength of will.
In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic
Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills
and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in
custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour
spreads his faith in the only way he knows—gently, all the while
contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes
openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these
events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a
place where time itself seems suspended.
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My Ántonia (Paperback)
Willa Cather
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R254
R206
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The spirited daughter of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia must adapt
to a hard existence on the desolate prairies of the Midwest.
Enduring childhood poverty, teenage seduction, and family tragedy,
she eventually becomes a wife and mother on a Nebraska farm. A
fictional record of how women helped forge the communities that
formed a nation, My Ántonia is also a hauntingly eloquent
celebration of the strength, courage, and spirit of America’s
early pioneers.
The Burglar's Christmas was originally published near the beginning
of Willa Cather's writing career in 1896 under the pseudonym of
Elizabeth L. Seymour. The story follows William Crawford on the
cold streets of Chicago as he contemplates the multiple failures
plaguing his life, including his time at college and careers in
journalism, real estate, and performing. Distraught, he tries one
more role: thief. Attempting to burgle a residence and caught in
the act by the lady of the house, William must come to terms with
the choices that led him to that moment. Cather provides a
heartwarming short story of redemption and love at Christmas, a
timely reminder that kindness is in everyone, just waiting to be
uncovered.
'He drew a long sigh of rich content. The old life, with all its
bitterness and useless antagonism and flimsy sophistries, its brief
delights that were always tinged with fear and distrust and
unfaith, that whole miserable, futile, swindled world of Bohemia
seemed immeasurably distant and far away, like a dream that is over
and done.' First published in 1896, The Burglar's Christmas is a
short story by the great American writer Willa Cather. Set in
Chicago on a cold Christmas Eve, the down-and-out Crawford learns
the value of forgiveness. (Part of Renard's Christmas Card Classics
series, 25% of the RRP of each book sold goes to Three Peas, a
small refugee charity. This year, instead of a Christmas card, why
not send a book?)
"The time will come when she will be ranked above Hemingway." --Leon Edel
In this powerful portrait of the self-making of an artist, Willa Cather created one of her most extraordinary heroines. Thea Kronborg, a minister's daughter in a provincial Colorado town, seems destined from childhood for a place in the wider world. But as her path to the world stage leads her ever farther from the humble town she can't forget and from the man she can't afford to love, Thea learns that her exceptional musical talent and fierce ambition are not enough.
It is in the solitude of a tiny rock chamber high in the side of an Arizona cliff--"a cleft in the heart of the world"--that Thea comes face to face with her own dreams and desires, stripped clean by the haunting purity of the ruined cliff dwellings and inspired by the whisperings of their ancient dust. Here she finds the courage to seize her future and to use her gifts to catch "the shining, elusive element that is life itself--life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." In prose as shimmering and piercingly true as the light in a desert canyon, Cather takes us into the heart of a woman coming to know her deepest self.
Includes the unabridged text of Cather's classic novel plus a
complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough
understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive
guide includes chapter-by-chapter summaries, explanations and
discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, author
biography, analytical paper topics, list of characters,
bibliography, and more.
This Norton Critical Edition brings to life-through Cather's words,
and through the words and images of others-the uniquely American
frontier experience. In inscribing a copy of O Pioneers! for a
childhood friend, Cather wrote, "In this one I hit the home
pasture..." "Contexts and Backgrounds" includes a rich selection of
autobiographical and biographical remembrances (including three
interviews with Cather), literary contexts (by Cather and her
contemporaries, Henry James and Sarah Orne Jewett), and writings on
the American West (including selected letters that paint a picture
of one family's life on the Nebraska prairie). "Criticism" provides
seven contemporary reviews and eight modern critical
interpretations by David Stouck, John J. Murphy, C. Susan
Wiesenthal, Marilee Lindemann, Melissa Ryan, Guy Reynolds, and
Sharon O'Brien.
Set in the Nebraska landscape in a community evocative of Cather's
own (Red Cloud), My Antonia tells the story of Antonia Shimerda, a
Bohemian immigrant, and Jim Burden, who like Cather was uprooted
from Virginia to the Nebraska prairie. Antonia and Jim, like many
of the other characters in this 1918 novel, are based on Cather's
childhood friends. This Norton Critical Edition is based on the
first published edition of the novel. It is accompanied by
explanatory footnotes, key illustrations, an introduction that
gives readers a historical overview of both author and novel, and a
note on the text. "Contexts and Backgrounds" is a rich collection
of materials organized around the novel's central themes:
"Autobiographical and Biographical Writings," "Letters," and
"Americanization and Immigration." Willa Cather, Edith Lewis,
Latrobe Carroll, Rose C. Feld, Guy Reynolds, Woodrow Wilson, Peter
Roberts, Horace M. Kallen, Sarka B. Hrbkova, and Rose Rosicky,
among others, are included. "Criticism" spans a century of
scholarship on Willa Cather and My Antonia, from contemporary
reviews by Henry Walcott Boynton, H. L. Mencken, and Elia W.
Peattie, among others, to recent critical assessments by Terence
Martin, Blanche Gelfant, Jean Schwind, Richard H. Millington, Susan
Rosowski, Mike Fischer, Janis Stout, Marilee Lindemann, and Linda
Joyce Brown. A Chronology of Cather's life and work and a Selected
Bibliography are also included.
The characteristic themes of Cather's mature work are already
present in her debut novella, an evocation of a tragic love
triangle.
Bartley Alexander, renowned engineer of bridges, is a man with a
past who "looked as a tamer of rivers ought to look." Discovered by
his mentor "sowing wild oats in London," he returned to America and
the commission that made his name. Now, married to his wife of ten
years, a chance encounter with actress Hilda Burgoyne, an almost
forgotten love from his past, prompts a doomed attempt to recapture
the boundlessness of his youth.
***
This is a Hybrid Book.
Melville House HybridBooks combine print and digital media into an
enhanced reading experience by including with each title additional
curated material called Illuminations -- maps, photographs,
illustrations, and further writing about the author and the book.
The Melville House Illuminations are free with the purchase of any
title in the HybridBook series, no matter the format.
Purchasers of the print version can obtain the Illuminations for a
given title simply by scanning the QR code found in the back of
each book, or by following the url also given in the back of the
print book, then downloading the Illumination in whatever format
works best for you.
Purchasers of the digital version receive the appropriate
Illuminations automatically as part of the ebook edition.
'Quite simply a masterpiece ... I am completely bowled over by it;
by the power of its writing, by the vividness of its scene painting
and by the stories it tells' A. N. Wilson 'Where there is great
love there are always miracles' Two French priests have been sent
to New Mexico to reawaken the faith. There, they must contend with
unforgiving landscapes, danger, rebellion and loneliness. But
through their many years together they are sustained by faith,
friendship and the awe-inspiring majesty that surrounds them. A
work of great simplicity and sublime beauty, Willa Cather's
acclaimed novel asks, what is a life well lived? Death Comes for
the Archbishop is a masterpiece by the author of O Pioneers! and
the great novelist of American frontier life. 'Its whole effect
works slowly and mysteriously ... a major, and rare, artistic
achievement' A. S. Byatt
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My Antonia (Paperback)
Willa Cather
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R308
R259
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Cather’s portrait of a remembered American girlhood on the Nebraskan prairie at the end of the nineteenth century alternates between insightful lyricism and naturalistic description, as she explores the rich relationship of Ántonia and the narrator, Jim Burden.
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One of Ours (Paperback)
Willa Cather; Introduction by Rebecca Onion
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R444
R380
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Willa Cather's best known novel; a narrative that recounts a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert.
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My Antonia (Paperback)
Willa Cather; Edited by Janet Sharistanian
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R299
R249
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'As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the
water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie
the colour of wine-stains...And there was so much motion in it; the
whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.' My Antonia (1918)
depicts the pioneering period of European settlement on the
tall-grass prairie of the American midwest, with its beautiful yet
terrifying landscape, rich ethnic mix of immigrants and native-born
Americans, and communities who share life's joys and sorrows. Jim
Burden recounts his memories of Antonia Shimerda, whose family
settle in Nebraska from Bohemia. Together they share childhoods
spent in a new world. Jim leaves the prairie for college and a
career in the east, while Antonia devotes herself to her large
family and productive farm. Her story is that of the land itself, a
moving portrait of endurance and strength. Described on publication
as 'one of the best [novels] that any American has ever done', My
Antonia paradoxically took Cather out of the rank of provincial
novelists as the same time that it celebrated the provinces, and
mythologized a period of American history that had to be lost
before its value could be understood. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over
100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest
range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume
reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most
accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including
expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to
clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and
much more.
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O Pioneers! (Paperback)
Willa Cather
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R274
R229
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The first of Cather’s renowned prairie novels, O Pioneers! established a new voice in American literature—turning the stories of ordinary Midwesterners and immigrants into authentic literary characters.
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My Antonia (Paperback)
Willa Cather
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R380
R257
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Born in a small Colorado town, Thea Kronborg's aspirations to be a
famed musician makes it difficult for her to fit in. With the
reputation of being different and strange, Thea has a challenging
time getting along with her siblings and peers, though her mother
and Aunt are supportive of her dreams. When Thea's piano instructor
is run out of town over a scandal, Thea takes over his business at
age fifteen. She is also forced by her father to play the organ at
their church because he believes this new devotion to a job would
make her less pious. Despite her new jobs and outlet for her
musical ability, Thea feels unsatisfied in Colorado, but when
tragedy strikes, she finally gets an opportunity to chase her
dreams. After the death of a local conductor that had been enamored
by her, Thea inherits enough money to pursue a formal music
education in Chicago. During her piano training, and with the help
of some of her Chicago friends and mentors, Thea realizes that she
has an impressive singing voice. After feeling inspired by a visit
to the orchestra, Thea decides to pursue a career as an opera
singer. With a new dream and drive, Thea struggles to achieve her
goals without compromising her values and independence. Willa
Cather's The Song of the Lark breaks the conventions of its time
with the depiction of an independent woman protagonist with
aspirations outside of the home. Cather also challenged the typical
depiction of small-town country life by presenting realities such
as the common uniformity and intolerance sometimes expressed within
rural communities. The Song of the Lark remains to be a fascinating
look into 19th century rural life, with an unadulterated view on
the journey of an artist. This edition of The Song of the Lark by
Willa Cather is accommodating to a contemporary audience with a
modern font and stunning new cover design.
With seven short stories, The Troll Garden is a comprehensive
exploration of American artists, and the trials they face. In
Flavia and Her Artists, a young woman named Imogen goes to visit
her friend Flavia, who is a patron of artists. Joining Flavia's
group of artists, Imogen becomes immersed in the drama and gossip
of the group. As Imogen witnesses the animosity of the group
steadily grow, she realizes that it stems from Flavia's own
insecurities and arrogance. The Sculptor's Funeral depicts the
funeral of a successful sculptor, Harvey Marrick. When his body is
returned to his hometown for his burial, there is a mix of emotions
from his family and old acquaintances. Only Jim Lavid, Harvey's old
friend, truly mourns the death. However, Jim must wrestle with both
grief and jealousy when he considers that Harvey was able to leave
their small town, something Jim himself never could. With a similar
tone, A Death in the Desert follows a man as he wrestles with his
identity. Sharing a strong physical resemblance to his prodigy
brother, Everett Hilgarde feels haunted by his brother's shadow,
robbing him of his sense of self. As the last story in the
collection, Paul's Case creates an echo that stays in the reader's
mind long after the tale is finished. When Paul, a young boy who
has trouble fitting in, steals money from his father, he decides to
run away to New York, pretending to be rich and fulfilling the life
he'd always wanted. The Troll Garden by Willa Cather explores the
melancholy tales of tortured artists without dwelling on the
sorrow, instead focusing on the relatable instances and decisions
that lead to such predicaments. Though first published one-hundred
and fifteen years ago in 1905, Cather explores ever-present issues
of identity, failure, and dreams that have remained to be relevant
to a current audience. As her debut work of fiction, The Troll
Garden marks a capstone in Willa Cather's prolific career. Now
presented in an easy-to-read font and with a striking new cover
design, this edition of Willa Cather's The Troll Garden is modern
and relevant to a contemporary audience.
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My Antonia (Hardcover)
Willa Cather; Introduction by Bridget Bennett; Illustrated by W T Benda
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R265
R207
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Set in rural Nebraska, Willa Cather’s My ntonia is both the intricate
story of a powerful friendship and a brilliant portrayal of the lives
of rural pioneers in the late-nineteenth century.
Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning,
clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon
markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any
book lover. This edition has an afterword by Bridget Bennett and
original illustrations by W. T. Benda.
ntonia and her family are from Bohemia and they must endure real
hardship and loss to establish a new home in America. But ntonia is
never broken by adversity, and her strength and love of life stays with
her childhood friend Jim for years to come, even as he leaves home to
study and pursue his career. Told through Jim’s eyes, My ntonia is a
rich and beautiful novel about childhood and growing up, different
cultures and the lure of home.
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O Pioneers! (Hardcover)
Willa Cather; Introduction by Elaine Showalter
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R349
R287
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The novel that first made Willa Cather famous--a powerfully mythic
tale of the American frontier told through the life of one
extraordinary woman--in a handsome hardcover volume.
No other work of fiction so vividly evokes the harsh beauty and
epic sweep of the Nebraska prairies that Cather knew and loved. The
heroine of "O Pioneers , "Alexandra Bergson, is a young Swedish
immigrant at the turn of the twentieth century who inherits her
father's windblasted land and, through years of hard work, turns it
into a prosperous farm. Fiercely independent, Alexandra sacrifices
love and companionship in her passionate devotion to the land,
until tragedy strikes and brings with it the chance for a new life.
One of our most beloved classics, one of the great heroines of
American literature.
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My Antonia (Paperback)
Willa Cather; Contributions by Mint Editions
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R283
R257
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After the death of his parents, Jim Burden is sent to live with his
grandparents in Nebraska, where he meets his first and most
prominent love, Antonia Shimera. As pioneers in Nebraska, the
Shimera family expected hardships, but none as devastating as a
death in the family. Narrated by Jim Burden, an orphan living with
his grandparents next door to the Shimera's, My Antonia follows the
coming of age and life of Jim and Antonia, the eldest daughter in
the Shimera family. Starting when Jim and Antonia were young kids,
the Burdens and the Shimera's live as neighbors in the plains of
19th century Nebraska. While the weather was often harsh and the
untamed land made it difficult to yield crops, the Shimera family
worked hard to maintain a content life. However, when a tragic
death strikes the Shimera family, they fall into poverty despite
the aid Jim's grandparents try to offer. As her family's farm
fails, Antonia has to quit school to help out with manual labor.
Antonia gets a job as a town girl, helping care for children and
households in order to support her family. Meanwhile, Jim moves
into town as well for higher education, and is able to reconnect
with Antonia, though she does not have as much leisure time as he
does. As they both grow into adulthood, Jim witnesses the Shimera's
and Antonia to make difficult choices and somber sacrifices,
contrasting their hardships to his own comfortable life. My Antonia
earned commercial and critical acclaim soon after its publication,
and has inspired film and stage adaptations since. With themes of
feminism, insight on lower class Americans, and the use of deep
metaphors, Willa Cather's My Antonia is a classic gem worthy of
even more recognition. Now redesigned with an eye-catching cover
and printed in an easy-to-read font, this edition of Willa Cather's
My Antonia restores the classic novel to create an engaging
experience for modern audiences.
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