O, Pioneers!

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think what I like about Cather's novels is their 19th century characters confronting the turn of the century and it's upcoming shift into "modernity." Changes in season that have always existed mirror changes in technology and values. How the characters interpret or confront those changes are really the interesting part in her stories. I also respect that while Cather admires the pioneer people (often, but not always Scandanavian immigrants) none are portrayed as perfect. All her characters are flawed in some way and even the "happy endings" are more accurately described "not as tragic as it could've been." It makes them hard to read because they bring out the pessimist in me & I am relieved at the end that few of the things that I imagine happening really do.

I think that with so many of the characteristics of modernist novels, that these are a good choice for introducing those concepts to high school readers since it does have an overall plot, chapters, punctuation, etc... that make others (Woolf, Joyce, among others) more difficult for teens to approach. That being said, these novels are not for everyone. I think having a Midwestern youth helps me a bit, but isn't necessary for appreciation.

And for my skeptical friends, she does kill several characters during the course of the novel.



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