Welcome from Your Moderator

[ziki]

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KristyR wrote: I'm also beginning to wonder if I read anything in high school or college!

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me, too!

I wonder what I did then . I was doing a lot of sewing, I remember. I read "modern American fiction" and all about French impressionism, those were my passions amd some beatnik poetry.....and the French guys Stendal, Balzac etc teh whole French bunch over there Oui, oui.

ziki

[ziki]

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IlanaSimons wrote:Whatever is felt upon the page without being specifically named there — that, one might say, is created. It is the inexplicable presence of the thing not named, of the overtone divined by the ear but not heard by it, the verbal mood, the emotional aura of the fact or the thing or the deed, that gives high quality to the novel or the drama, as well as to poetry itself."

I'll be really interested to hear if you think she achieves this.

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Absolutely! IMHO: She does. Let's wait what Kristy says.

ziki

[IlanaSimons]

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ziki wrote:

In my case I'd say that the book is very visual and the characters feel real, not constructed after a scheme distributed in a 101 creative writing course. The simplicity of her writing beats it all.

Good comment. Cather said her goal was to write minimalist description that gave the reader free play of imagination.
She said that "the novel, for a long while, has been over-furnished." Even fellow modernist D.H. Lawrence, she said, wrote novels "crowded with [physical] sensations" that give the reader "no less a catalogue than [novels] crowded with furniture."
So: Do you all think that this style gives you room to imagine?

[IlanaSimons]

Hi again---I'm so happy to see you here.
As I was reading the book yesterday, I was thinking there are spots in which Cather is saying, "The reason why there's tension in immigration is that people really do have different values, and these differences--so real--will always produce tension. People can't 'just mesh' if they're honest to their pasts." Cather's a realist, not a romantic, about cultures coming together.
She has this nice line in this book: "There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made."
I read that as saying that America was not predetermined with one set of values, but emerged from the clash of cultures that settled the land.
I'll be interested to hear what you have to say about Cather on the question of foreigners, travelers, and immigration.

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chadadanielleKR wrote:
Hi Ilana,
I am glad to meet you again as a moderator.

I also heard about Willa Cather when I read Sarah Orne Jewett on the old B&N board and was curious to read one of her books.

I have just started reading "My Antonia" whose subject is of one those I like: the beginning of a new life in a foreign country. Since I traveled a lot and tried to settle in different countries, I am always curious to learn about others' experience in the past and the present...

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[IlanaSimons]

That's such beautiful writing, Laurel.
I just posted a question about that wolf chase in the snow. I'll be anxious to hear how it strikes you in this reading.
Ilana

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Laurel wrote:
Hi, I'm Laurel. I remember reading Willa Cather's Song of the Lark when I was a teenager, and then the beautiful short story "Neighbor Rosicky." Both are very striking for their settings and characters. I read My Antonia later, and it left some vivid images in my mind--a train ride through a sea of grass; a wedding party furiously driving troikas through the snow, chased by a pack of ravenous wolves; a big farm house, houses and a park and a dance in town, and then a meager life in the big city. And, of course, Antonia, seen through the eyes of a boy turned man. It will be interesting to see how many of those images will reappear as I reread.

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[KristyR]

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ziki wrote:

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IlanaSimons wrote:Whatever is felt upon the page without being specifically named there — that, one might say, is created. It is the inexplicable presence of the thing not named, of the overtone divined by the ear but not heard by it, the verbal mood, the emotional aura of the fact or the thing or the deed, that gives high quality to the novel or the drama, as well as to poetry itself."

I'll be really interested to hear if you think she achieves this.

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Absolutely! IMHO: She does. Let's wait what Kristy says.

ziki

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Aaagggghhh! Pressure before I even read the first word! J/K

[ziki]

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KristyR wroteressure before I even read the first word! J/K

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No, you might hate the book and that would be OK. I was suspicious of it, I remember.There are no musts in reading and I say beware of opinions unless you ask for them. I will take the backseat, that is great :-) For me these statements and questions work as a confirmation. It took me a lot of reading before I started to trust that I am allowed to think whatever I do about a book. The school did so much damage so I still didn't fully recovered.

ziki

[ziki]

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IlanaSimons wrote: Even fellow modernist D.H. Lawrence, she said, wrote novels "crowded with [physical] sensations" that give the reader "no less a catalogue than [novels] crowded with furniture."
So: Do you all think that this style gives you room to imagine?

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It is really difficult with the abreviations WC sounds kind of tricky and WiCa has other connotations, too. How about WiC fromnow on?

I am not sure that I imagined a lot, I'd say I just saw very clearly what she put in there and I felt safe within the frame. Earthy&dreamy= valuable combo. I actually didn't go beyond the plot in my visualization (when I think of it) but I didn't need to; it was uplifting enough. It is interesting what WiC said about D.H. Lawrence and furniture in novel,would that include Wharton? They were pals. I have unsettled business with Wharton (so far).

ziki

Message Edited by ziki on 04-30-200710:04 AM

[ziki]

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Laurel wrote: a big farm house, houses and a park and a dance in town, and then a meager life in the big city.

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I remember the hole in the earth houses where it all started for some.

ziki

[johanna49]

I wish I remembered the question and answers discussed with My Antonia. I had Young People's Literature over 35 years ago. I do remember that every student choose a different book for each week.

[IlanaSimons]

Ah--I didn't realize the timeline. It'll be interesting to see what you make of it this time around
Ilana

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johanna49 wrote:
I wish I remembered the question and answers discussed with My Antonia. I had Young People's Literature over 35 years ago. I do remember that every student choose a different book for each week.

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[LeftBrainer]

Hello I am a native Nebraskan. My great grandparents, all four families, were homesteaders in Nebraska. We live north and south of Willa Cathers home, but the story of the settlers are similar. I've read this book several times and I'm glad to be reading it again. Talk to you all soon, Nancy

[IlanaSimons]

Terrific--we need your perspective. I really hope you post here
Ilana

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LeftBrainer wrote:
Hello I am a native Nebraskan. My great grandparents, all four families, were homesteaders in Nebraska. We live north and south of Willa Cathers home, but the story of the settlers are similar. I've read this book several times and I'm glad to be reading it again. Talk to you all soon, Nancy

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[ziki]

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IlanaSimons wrote: I really hope you post here.

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Me, too. I have never been to Nebraska myself.
Let's go.

http://www.visitnebraska.org/

I just saw it from the air and it did look like this, very distinct pattern, indeed.
http://mouser.org/gallery/albums/los_alamos/nebraska.jpg


And check this out!

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NB-OverlandTrails.html

ziki

Message Edited by ziki on 05-01-200701:17 PM

[kiakar]

I also read Antonia a few years ago and still remember some of the delights of reading it. The vivid descriptions of the scenic views in the book enhance my love for the story. I too, love some of the memories of the story. The Wolves story was quite horrific and probably the reason I haven't forgotten that. I have read three of Willa Cather's books and someday will read alot more of them. They are quite delightful.

[IlanaSimons]

Thanks for the post, Kiakar.
I hope you can contribute to our discussion this month. I'd like to know what other descriptions (like those vivid wolves) struck you in the book.

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kiakar wrote:
I also read Antonia a few years ago and still remember some of the delights of reading it. The vivid descriptions of the scenic views in the book enhance my love for the story. I too, love some of the memories of the story. The Wolves story was quite horrific and probably the reason I haven't forgotten that. I have read three of Willa Cather's books and someday will read alot more of them. They are quite delightful.

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[LizzieAnn]

Hi Everyone,

I've just finished reading My Antonia for the first time. What a book! It was not only my introduction to this novel, but to Willa Cather herself. I wasn't sure what to expect or even if I would like it, but I did. She made not only the characters come alive, but also the times in which they lived.

[IlanaSimons]

So glad you just read it, LizzieAnn
I'd love to hear your response to any of the early chapters
Ilana

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LizzieAnn wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I've just finished reading My Antonia for the first time. What a book! It was not only my introduction to this novel, but to Willa Cather herself. I wasn't sure what to expect or even if I would like it, but I did. She made not only the characters come alive, but also the times in which they lived.

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[LizzieAnn]

This book is about something that I was aware of due to history lessons. But this story & all its particulars gives me a vivid & detailed view of how life really was. It brought home the difficulties, not only of starting a new life in less-settled locations, but also of the assimiliation & adjustments of the immigrants. Cather illustrates how a new group of Americans developed.

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IlanaSimons wrote:
So glad you just read it, LizzieAnn
I'd love to hear your response to any of the early chapters
Ilana

[kiakar]

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ziki wrote:

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IlanaSimons wrote: I really hope you post here.

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Me, too. I have never been to Nebraska myself.
Let's go.

http://www.visitnebraska.org/

I just saw it from the air and it did look like this, very distinct pattern, indeed.
http://mouser.org/gallery/albums/los_alamos/nebraska.jpg


And check this out!

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NB-OverlandTrails.html

ziki

Message Edited by ziki on 05-01-200701:17 PM

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Thanks Ziki; I enjoyed the picture gallery of Nebraska so much. It is definitely a land of milk and honey, it seems so by the pictures. I went by train from Virginia to Colorado a couple of years ago and loved the many views of Nebraska. The land was so flat, it seemed strange to look beyond and see every little detail of roads,houses and such that hills take away from the whole picture.