It is certainly worth the investment of time to read (or re-read) these classics.F irst published in 1913, and reissued by Hesperus Press in celebration of its centenary, this slim novel features the travails of Alexandra Bergson and her three brothers: Swedish immigrants attempting to maintain a foothold on the windswept prairielands of Nebraska at the turn of the 20th century. I was able to download this volume for free on my Kindle, but it would have been worth buying. Song of the Lark is an excellent portrait of a woman struggling to become an artist and dealing with the price of fame. O Pioneers! shows some much about America - the hard work and determination of immigrants, the longing for a better life, wholesome love versus marriages of convenience, and tragedy.(no spoilers.) If you haven't read it, you must.

In this collection, though, my favorite is O Pioneers! Everyone seems to include The Great Gatsby among the 'great American novels' but no one mentions O Pioneers! in the same company. I'm glad I re-read it because it's beautiful and heartbreaking. I mean, I just didn't care - and frankly, I was not mature enough to appreciate it. I had read My Antonia in school and that was enough to turn me off Willa Cather. This book came highly recommended from a friend. She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.

She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.Īfter graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Wilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.

O pioneers