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Summary: FRONTEER LIFE'S NEW VIEW
Review: Willa Cather's 'My Antonia' depicts family life during the late 1890's. We often hear of the struggles families had moving to a new nation at this time. However, this story provides a different theme with the views of people already living in the area, helping immigrants adapt. A Bohemian family moves to Nebraska, where families gladly reach out to help despite the Bohemian family's ironically unfriend attitude. The plot grows as a particular American family and the Bohemian family try to get along despite different opinions, customs, and beliefs. The Bohemian father states (regarding his young daughter), "Te-e-ach, te-e-ach my An-tonia." This very symbolic statement shows the desire both families have to learn from each other. I recomend this book to anyone that has had an interest in the 'Little House on the Prarie' series, for 'My Antonia' depicts fronteer life very well in a perspective we don't always think of.
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Summary: Smokemon's Thought
Review: umm, its ok. *smoke*. Come see me on counter-strike at "The SaLaD BowL" low gravity server. The Smokemon cult is growing and we need u. We have 21 members already and we have a vedetta against the LGO cult. If u know them and u dont like them come to the server listed above and remember that Smokemon Rulz. Oh yeah, the book is good and i recommend it so go get it.
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Summary: A moving portrait of our nation's roots and the open plains
Review: When I went to write the review of Cather's work, I was surprised to find that most of the reviews were written by high school students who were required to read the book. The strengths of "My Antonia", in my opinion, would not be obvious to most teenagers. Taken at face value, as a fictional story of the struggles of Bohemian immigrants to the mid-west, the story has merits which probably underlie its popularity among secondary teachers. However, that is not what makes this book special. Simply put, both the characters and setting of this novel are beautiful. Cather clearly loved the land she was writing about, and her passion for the farm country of her youth flowed through her writings. Her narrator, Jim, reveals the life of the immigrant Antonia, his childhood friend. Though most of the book is about their childhood together, it is written from Jim's view as an adult. This is tremendously important, as Jim's observations are clearly bear a mark of maturity that would be out-of-place if the book were written from the point-of-view of a child. Perhaps this is what many teenagers miss. Few of them have experienced the profound bittersweet feelings adults have when looking back upon their youth. These emotions were entwined through the novel from beginning to end, forming a scaffold upon which the story was told. To miss them is to miss everything that makes this novel great, rather than just historical fiction.
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Summary: Innocence
Review: Griselda Salinas 2nd Pd Mrs. Casserly My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is one of the few books that I find most intriging, full of love, friendship, emotion, and most of all full of innocence.It takes place on the life of a pioneer woman, Antonia. She is a hardworking daughter of an immigrant Bohemian family, I would describe her as a king,ambitious, courageous, perserving, and hardworking woman. Ms. Cather gives a picture of the early settlers in Nebraska, which apparently is her homestate and the story is almost a resemblance of her life in Red Cloud, her hometown. The story is told through the memories in the manuscript of Jim Burden, a childhood friend of Antonia. Jim and Antonia, go through dfferent circumstances, arrive in Nebraska as young children, and grow up as best friends. Antonia who is an immigrant from Bohemia , an Irish background, grows up in an unpleasant, poor place with her family who learns to cope with the the country's low living standards till later when she becomes prosperous and owns a piece of actual land. Both Jim and Antonia become situated in the same town of Black Hawk as they reach young adulthood. Antonia goes off with Larry Donovan, intending to marry him. Instead, she becomes pregnant and he deserts her. While this misconception occurs Jim studies law at Harvard. Twenty years later he visits Black Hawk and finds Antonia well-adjusted on a farm with a husband and twelve children. Jim is glad that his bond with Antonia still exists and is very grateful for his childhood memories with her. It is just one of his expressions that most intrigues me the most, that even though she is older than he is he still considers her the same beautiful girl who he first fell in love with. When he visits her he takes a long look at her and says, "Antonia still had the fire of life." Antonia, although a made up character catches the readers attention by her innocence at first hand. When young she learns to speak English by the help of Jim's Christian family while helping around in the house. During her womanhood years she relates to other people as a maid, servant, babysitter, jobs that even though low pay they suited her character, strong-will. When Larry enters her life she is unfairly treated when she gave true love and compasion in return. However, although she suffers throughout the story the ending is a rather pleasant on her part, she marries a man who loves her and has a family as she always wanted. If I was to choose themes for this book I would say: 'With hard work and perseverance, one can achieve happiness and success, especially durng the hard times in life.' AND 'There is no limit to the power of the human spirit.' Ms Cather is very descriptive, something that is needed for the reader to follow along. Very optimistic in the sense that she writes things that readers can relate to. She also takes life's common situations and shows how they can help overcome problems. However, the most admired fact about her writing is that it is in plain style; clear and pleasant to read.
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Summary: Hated it.
Review: I had to read this in High School. Of course, when you write a paper on it you can't say it bored the hell out of you, even if it did. Cather spends a lot of time talking about sod houses, immigrants to the midwest(Nebraska?). Kitchen sink details of some dull as ditchwater lives. The people of the plains should rebuke this book. The only people who read this are high school teachers and their poor students. Don't waste your time.
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Summary: Hard Workers
Review: "My Antonia" is a grouping of farmers who struggle with bad weather, poor crops, and low income. Among them are women who work hard as men. Antonia is an example of this. Along the way, people come and go, relationships unfold, and the chief characters grow old. I would describe the story as being episodic. I liked the book for the one reason of it having positivity. The characters are strong enough to take on challenges without giving in or falling to defeat. Many of them enjoy hard labour because it is rewarding, honest, and good for the soul. Cather had all the positivity of faith in humanity which twentieth century literature does not have. In other words, Cather is not a defeatist like Sartre, Greene, or Hemmingway. Consider Colin Wilson's "The Age of Defeat," from which I am borrowing.
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Summary: Engaging and Poignant
Review: Upon completion I find it difficult to understand how so many readers feel this novel to be sparse in plot and storyline. Frequently, My Antonia is praised for its sweeping descriptions and grand landscape and these are truly as remarkable as innumerable critics and readers have claimed. However, the story also has a delightful pace and races (almost too quickly) from one portion of Jim Burden's life to another. While the tone of the narrative is indeed nostalgic, Cather is not overly sentimental. The emotions of the past are exposed, but they are not languished in. Each is credited with its unique contribution to Jim and Antonia's characters, but all are considered with no more than the limited significance due to each of life's ephemeral moments. My Antonia is a wonderful coming of age story for the narrator, the nation, and the reader.
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Summary: Developing themes
Review: No, this is not an 'action-packed' novel to astound readers, but it offers an intelligent look at the strength and vision of a pioneer women and the friendship of two, culturally and socially opposites. The characters in the novel are described in great detail; their personalities were fashioned such a way that the reader receives a true sense of each character. The book was published at a time when women characters were expected to find happiness only in love or marriage. 'My Antonia' gives us a forceful heroine who is independent and strong of mind and body. The use of plot, characters, setting, and perspective open readers eyes to a period in time that most people today can't imagine. The novel invites readers to feel the pain, hardships, joy, and satisfaction of the frontier characters. In 'My Antonia,' Cather successfully develops believable characters and an intriguing story of prairie life. While your reading this novel, look for the theme of friendship. This significant theme can bring your comprehension a little deeper. Willa Cather develops the friendship beautifully throughout the book. Jim and Antonia symbolize what every friendship should include. I believe my thoughts about the book are changed when Jim Burden returns and finally reveals the hidden emotions that he had for Antonia. I had to read this book for English class and ended up enjoying it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a great book that isn't hard to understand. As an English student, I was sick of reading difficult books. My Antonia can be enjoyed on many levels.
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Summary: An Immigrants View of My Antonia
Review: Will Cather's, My Antonia, was a very different immigrant story. We all know that people migrate from their home town to supposedly a better place. In her book Cather writes of a family coming from Bohemia to Nebraska. This family is given the impression that Nebraska is a better place to live in, where there is more freedom and much to eat. This is not true in this story or any other real life story of immigrants. This family, as others, suffers the changes of being in a different and strange place. Cather explains in detail their sufferings, their losses and their victories. Cathers descriptions of the country life are breathtaking. She tells how the immigrant settlers adventurously farm the prairie lands. She tells how this family is ignorant and how they bloom with thier struggles. And she tells of their isolation from culture. Will Cather's great storytelling style is characterized by an ingenous pragmatism and avoidance of sentimentality. My Antonia is considered to be the author's masterpiece. I agree because it is an excellent story about a pioneer woman who has earned a distinguished place in American fiction. On my scale, My Antonia, by Will Cather, is a perfect 10 because it is superb writing about a strong willed, courageous woman.
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Summary: Not what it appears
Review: This tape arrived and is unabridged. In addition it must be played on a stereo cassette player;one does not know this until one opens the cassette which cannot be returned after it is opened, buyer beware!
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