One of Ours (Vintage Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Uneven
Review: "One Of Ours" starts out so strong, but ends flat. It drags out too long. Her story of farm and small town life are great, but her descriptions of war and Europe at the end seem almost like a separate story. Start Willa Cather by reading "My Antonia" and some of her short stories and then get to "One of Ours". Cather is great, but this is not the place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Uneven
Review: "One Of Ours" starts out so strong, but ends flat. It drags out too long. Her story of farm and small town life are great, but her descriptions of war and Europe at the end seem almost like a separate story. Start Willa Cather by reading "My Antonia" and some of her short stories and then get to "One of Ours". Cather is great, but this is not the place to start.

Rating:
Summary: "I can not fiddle...
Review: ...,but I can make a great city of a small state". Themistocles once said these words that might have been lifted from the thoughts of Claude Wheeler, the central character in Cather's Pulitzer winning novel. Claude is out of place in rural Nebraska, the initial setting of the novel. Only on the battlefields of WWI does he finally come in to his own.

Having read the critical comments of others, I sympathize with some of thier views. Cather did perhaps overreach in this novel. And certainly other of her works deserve more attention (Song of the Lark, My Antonia, Oh Pioneers). But for those of us who would read the technical specs for the muffler of a 73' Pinto if Cather had written them, this book is pure pleasure. Frankly, I can't imagine any of her books deserving less than 5 stars.

I also take exception to comments regarding the weakness of the final chapters. I found Cather's musings on fighting for a cause incredibly stirring. They offered resolution to the soul searching and final triumph of Claude. But the epic scope of this story transcends the mere trials of finding oneself and speak to what it means to be human. No mere "fiddling" indeed.

Rating:
Summary: The book slowly ran out of steam
Review: As this was the first work from Willa Cather that I had ever read, I wasn't sure what to expect. Her description of Nebraska farm life was quite vivid and interesting. I really felt like I could understand the feelings and thoughts of Claude Wheeler. I empathized with his feeling that his life was going nowhere. However, when the book shifted from Nebraska to France during WWI, it lost some of its appeal. There was seemingly no connection between "the two Claudes." I enjoy reading works in which the characters "grow", but the WWI Claude seemed like a totally different, and not as interesting, character. The story and character development that was so engaging in the first part of the book, was no longer there. Overall I think it was a fair work. I would probably like to read some of her works that focus on prairie and farm life.

Rating:
Summary: The book slowly ran out of steam
Review: As this was the first work from Willa Cather that I had ever read, I wasn't sure what to expect. Her description of Nebraska farm life was quite vivid and interesting. I really felt like I could understand the feelings and thoughts of Claude Wheeler. I empathized with his feeling that his life was going nowhere. However, when the book shifted from Nebraska to France during WWI, it lost some of its appeal. There was seemingly no connection between "the two Claudes." I enjoy reading works in which the characters "grow", but the WWI Claude seemed like a totally different, and not as interesting, character. The story and character development that was so engaging in the first part of the book, was no longer there. Overall I think it was a fair work. I would probably like to read some of her works that focus on prairie and farm life.

Rating:
Summary: For this she won a pulitzer?
Review: I found this book to be interesting. I could identify with the hero. Claude Wheeler finds little satisfaction in following his father's farming ways. He wants to find himself, but doesn't know how. The first world war comes along and Claude enlists. The rest, as they say, is history. I think reading about Claude's stuggles helped me to become a better person. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Hurrah for Claude
Review: This is my first Willa Cather book and I was very impressed with her descriptions of the Nebraska lifestyle. Claude was a cornered and ho-hum young man forever destined to live the life others expected of him. Then the war gave new meaning to his life and seemingly a direction. His wife reminded me of Scarlett O'Hara in many ways--her selfishness and use of other people. I was glad to see her go to China so Claude could breathe. The depiction of the trench war was so vivid and was the most exciting part of the book for me. The relationships formed among the soldiers was what life really is about, and Claude finally found significance in his. A purpose! I intend to read more Cather.

Rating:
Summary: Square Pegs and Dragon Slayers in the Nebraskan Plain
Review: This novel represents the heroic struggle of one individual against farming, social ambition, marriage and war.

Although strong and capable, farming is the worst profession imaginable for this red headed hero. Willa Cather shows every respect for the hard honest life of a Nebraskan farmer, but Claude makes a hard honest fiasco of the farming life. This book is the story of a soul. A strong daring soul that needs to wrestle something bigger than itself (even if it loses). Claude begins by trying to manage his father's farm. When he spends a few years at college, he is shown the world of social ambition, but neither of these experiences set his life on the right path. If you are interested in the dynamics of male/female relationships, Claude's marriage provides plenty of food for thought. Willa Cather chose a very interesting backdrop for her hero when she describes the home front of these two very black sheep.

This book may be the most realistic description of middle-west sentiment during the first world war. It describes the emotions of Americans who volunteered to fight for people they had only met via the black and white media of newspapers. The war becomes a sort of crusade, and Claude feels compelled to answer the call. Willa Cather gives a wise description of the issues, and even expresses the sentiments of honest German farmers in Nebraska. Claude's best friend is from the Bohemian old country, and doesn't quite agree with Claude's choices.

This book has received quite a few reserved reviews. I recommend this book without reservations.

Rating:
Summary: The Inevitable End
Review: Though you begin to realize where this story is headed early in the novel, you are not quite prepared for where it takes you. It is heartbreaking, and Willa Cather does not beat you over the head with that. The story begins in Nebraska- this is where Cather exhibits her best writing in the story. Her description of our hero's lament is sincere in its vaguery. His feeling of entrapment spills over to the reader. Ms. Cather loses some of her magic when he goes off to The Great War. While we imagine that his sense of entrapment in Nebraska is lifted, we never really feel the emotional evolution that we expect he is going through. In addition, the first three quarters of the story contain a complicated familial element to which we never return.

In the end, where we knew we were headed, we long a little bit for the entrapment of our hero's Nebraska, but feel a little bit liberated by his new freedom.

Rating:
Summary: The Inevitable End
Review: Though you begin to realize where this story is headed early in the novel, you are not quite prepared for where it takes you. It is heartbreaking, and Willa Cather does not beat you over the head with that. The story begins in Nebraska- this is where Cather exhibits her best writing in the story. Her description of our hero's lament is sincere in its vaguery. His feeling of entrapment spills over to the reader. Ms. Cather loses some of her magic when he goes off to The Great War. While we imagine that his sense of entrapment in Nebraska is lifted, we never really feel the emotional evolution that we expect he is going through. In addition, the first three quarters of the story contain a complicated familial element to which we never return.

In the end, where we knew we were headed, we long a little bit for the entrapment of our hero's Nebraska, but feel a little bit liberated by his new freedom.