by Willa Sibert Cather
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Product Description
The first of her renowned prairie novels--a story that expresses Cather's conviction that "the history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman." When Alexandra Bergson takes over the family farm after her father's death, she falls under the spell of the rich, forbidding Nebraska prairie.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
The Frontier and the Quintessential American Experience, 2008-10-13
The taming of the frontier is a decidedly American experience. The toils of our forefathers as they struggled to prosper on the stubborn land of the West is an integral part of our history. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather takes this struggle and personifies it in one extraordinary woman, Alexandra Bergson. A Nebraskan, Cather was fascinated with the settling of the frontier, and O Pioneers! is her first great novel on the subject. The story is as much a story of a country as it is a story of Alexandra herself.
The story follows the trails of the Bergson family clan, immigrants from Sweden they sought to work the land of the frontier and forge a new life in America. The land, however, does not yield to them nor anyone else making life hard on the family. The father falls ill and dies, leaving the family in the capable hands of his daughter, Alexandra. Alexandra has an uncanny sense of the land, she knows it can yield its riches to her, and she is willing to work hard to do it. The story follows her rise on the Divide, into the premier farm owner in the region, the road, however, is not without its pot-holes.
What makes O Pioneers! a great novel is how it illustrates the theme that success comes with sacrifice, and that time is finite, and the yearnings of our youth give way to the harsh realities of the real world. In many ways O Pioneers! is the story of unrequited love. Alexandra doesn't have time for herself as she toils to create the greatest homestead on the Divide. Alexandra was willing to sacrifice her time for the good of the clan, but in doing so shuts herself away from her own true feelings towards her childhood friend, Carl. Her brother Emil goes through similar trials, albeit for different reasons. He is restless with the world of his youth, and seeks to break free from the life Alexandra has forged. He fights his own feelings and doesn't realize everything that makes him happy lies right in his backyard.
Willa Cather isn't the most exciting author in the world. O Pioneers! isn't a long novel, but the density of the narrative can become tiresome. She has a great knack for personifying the land, and the relationships of the people on it. She crafts her characters very carefully and the reader definitely connects with them, particularly Alexandra and Emil.
O Pioneers! is an allegory for the nature of the American Dream. These people are the pioneers of the West, they gave up everything they had and gained a new life in America. They loved and lost, and through the work of their hands shaped the face of the West. This book serves as a testament to the struggle of the pioneers, but also to the battle within ourselves to find our own niche in the fabric of society.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
O Fantastic!, 2008-05-25
What a beautifully intricate and poignant story! It is a complex tale of love and land and the relationship of the individual to their environment. Tragic but full of hope and faith, Willa Cather successfully paints a portrait of the American West and the pioneering spirit of its first settlers.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The Perfect Novel, 2008-03-03
O Pioneers! starts with the death of John Bergson, a Swedish immigrant with a keen foresight to the eventual worth of his land in rural Nebraska. The rest of the novel follows the lives of his children, particularly Alexandra Bergson who inherits her father's business sense and foresight. John Bergson's spirit remains present throughout the story, observing from his portrait on the wall the changes that follow the land and his children. It seems to be through his eyes-not through a religious or other moral compass-that Cather presents her story.
I would call O Pioneers! the perfect novel had I not read that her following novels are even better. It is short, but engrossing, and meticulously crafted. Her characterization is reminiscent of George Eliot: there are no good or evil characters. All characters have both good and evil in them, and through their actions good or evil befalls them. It is refreshing to read a story in which the author is not heavy-handed in her judgments or moral ideals. Apparently Cather was criticized during her time for simply describing poor people rather than politicizing their cause. But by staying true to her story, she presents a timeless narrative more moving that any political tirade could be.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A Wonderful Surprise, 2007-12-31
I had no preconceived notions about this book, apart from the reviews here on Amazon, and I was most pleasantly surprised. Willa Cather did such a wonderful job in storytelling, in depicting the time and situation, in descriptions, and above all, in communicating the overall feeling of such a transitional period in history. It was a wonderful intro to a wonderful author, had a great flow; I can't wait to read more.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
O Willa Cather!, 2007-11-28
Beautifully, beautifully written. Makes a faraway time and place understandable, knowable. The American prairie is as complex an ecosystem as a forest and a place to visit through this book.
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