Thank for this post - "My Antonia" is one book I've read over the past few years that has really stuck with me. It is so achingly beautiful. I second the recommendation to read it!
Great post. The Plains have a majasty and grandure that has to be felt. They are the heart of the continent. They are subtle. The lack the obvious visual appeal of the mountains or the drama of the sea coast, but they will grow on you. I recall watching a sunset in northeast New Mexico nearly 50 years ago. It was a glorious scene of clouds and distant buttes with the colors painting all the sparse landscape before us. We were on a school bus full of high school kids heading to Mexico. I made a remark about how beautiful it was. One of the other teachers, fresh from New York, looked at me like I was crazy. "It's so desolate and empty" she said. Wonderous desolation takes a while to appreciate I guess. The beauty of the land, the red grasses, were lost on her.
I think most landscapes are beautiful but certainly not in the same way. Subtlety can be the hardest to appreciate perhaps. (I'm glad you enjoyed the post!)
I have long been a fan of Cather, too. Such amazing depictions of people and place. She reminds me of another wonderful writer, who wrote in a similar vein, Mildred Walker. She's probably best known for Winter Wheat and The Curlew's Cry. All her books are good.
Winter Wheat is on my shelf...will have to add it to my to-be-read list. I've wanted to read Cather's Song of the Lark since I visited Walnut Canyon in 2019 and hadn't gotten around to it. I'm glad I finally dug into her work.
I love that book. Recently, the Atlantic put out their list of Great American Novels and DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHIBISHOP by Cather was on there. I want to read that next.
That's another one I've got to get to! I thought the Atlantic's list was eclectic and helpful in that many were not books I knew. If only I could live forever and only read!
Thank for this post - "My Antonia" is one book I've read over the past few years that has really stuck with me. It is so achingly beautiful. I second the recommendation to read it!
I love Willa Cather's writing. I have four of her books, and started wondering how many I don't have. LOTS! I better get to remedying that.
Great post. The Plains have a majasty and grandure that has to be felt. They are the heart of the continent. They are subtle. The lack the obvious visual appeal of the mountains or the drama of the sea coast, but they will grow on you. I recall watching a sunset in northeast New Mexico nearly 50 years ago. It was a glorious scene of clouds and distant buttes with the colors painting all the sparse landscape before us. We were on a school bus full of high school kids heading to Mexico. I made a remark about how beautiful it was. One of the other teachers, fresh from New York, looked at me like I was crazy. "It's so desolate and empty" she said. Wonderous desolation takes a while to appreciate I guess. The beauty of the land, the red grasses, were lost on her.
I think most landscapes are beautiful but certainly not in the same way. Subtlety can be the hardest to appreciate perhaps. (I'm glad you enjoyed the post!)
I have long been a fan of Cather, too. Such amazing depictions of people and place. She reminds me of another wonderful writer, who wrote in a similar vein, Mildred Walker. She's probably best known for Winter Wheat and The Curlew's Cry. All her books are good.
Winter Wheat is on my shelf...will have to add it to my to-be-read list. I've wanted to read Cather's Song of the Lark since I visited Walnut Canyon in 2019 and hadn't gotten around to it. I'm glad I finally dug into her work.
I love that book. Recently, the Atlantic put out their list of Great American Novels and DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHIBISHOP by Cather was on there. I want to read that next.
That's another one I've got to get to! I thought the Atlantic's list was eclectic and helpful in that many were not books I knew. If only I could live forever and only read!