O Pioneers!

by Willa Cather

Overview

When the Bergson family leaves their home in Sweden to travel to the United States in search of a better life, they, like many immigrants, are awed by the beautiful harshness of their new life in Nebraska. When their father, John Bergson, grows sick and dies, he leaves the farm in the hands of his eldest daughter, Alexandra Bergson. Resourceful and determined, Alexandra devotes her life to her family’s farm, determined to prosper even as her neighbors are overwhelmed by the unremitting demands of pioneer life. But when she falls in love with her childhood friend Carl Linstrum, Alexandra must choose between her duty to the land, and to her heart. A spirited celebration of the immigrants who have shaped the United States, O Pioneers! is a masterpiece by a Pulitzer Prize–winning author.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454954576
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Series:	Signature Editions
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	524,171
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

WILLA CATHER (1873–1947), the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of more than fifteen books, was one of the most distinguished American writers of the early twentieth century.

Date of Birth:

December 7, 1873

Date of Death:

April 27, 1947

Place of Birth:

Winchester, Virginia

Place of Death:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A., University of Nebraska, 1895

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "O Pioneers!"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Willa Cather.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part I The Wild Land 13

Part II Neighboring Fields 71

Part III Winter Memories 159

Part IV The White Mulberry Tree 179

Part V Alexandra 231

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[Kate Reading] delivers the vivid narrative with dulcet tones and magnificent phrasing.... Listeners will enjoy the beauty of her delivery." —-AudioFile

Editorial Reviews

"A direct, human tale of love and struggle and attainment — American in the best sense of the word." — New York Times The New York Times —

From the Publisher

Just as O Pioneers! is set in the high plain between two rivers called the Nebraska Divide, it reflects the imaginative divide in Cather’s work: a belief in social rootedness and a longing for artistic freedom.”

author of A Jury of Her Peers Elaine Showalter

A century after her heyday, the novelist from the Nebraska frontier remains unchallenged as the literary voice of the state. In her classic O Pioneers!, she celebrates the grit and determination of a family of Swedish-American immigrants who battle the elements and isolation to keep their family farm afloat. To modern eyes, Willa Cather’s tacit acceptance of the settler movement that displaced countless Native American tribes is troubling, but the tale serves as a potent reminder that the white families of the Heartland, so often cast as ‘real Americans,’ were once immigrants themselves.”

Huffington Post

A direct human tale of love and struggle and attainment, a tale that is American in the best sense of the word.”

New York Times

Yarman’s reading is one of the best I have heard…Her tempo and modulation are especially noteworthy, adding tremendous emotional impact to the interactions and experiences of the characters.”

Kliatt (audio review)

"The first of the Cather Scholarly Editions sets a high standard of quality. . . . Text and context reveal the splendor of O Pioneers! and enrich both the experience and study of Cather’s extraordinary prose."—Western American Literature

Western American Literature

"This beautifully produced book is a joy to read and demonstrates the real pleasures to be derived from meticulous attention to detail and the highest standards of scholarship."—American Literary Scholarship

American Literary Scholarship

This early novel is now held to be a very critical and pivotal one in the whole development of the novelist, and this new edition provides . . . a fine printing for readers.”—Choice

Choice

This famous novel portraying the lives of Swedish immigrants in turn-of-the-century Nebraska must have sorely challenged narrator Kate Reading. She nails the various accents of her characters and delivers the vivid narrative with dulcet tones and magnificent phrasing. Still, the narration is dull, almost plodding, the result of too much detachment. Whereas the author expresses a deeply intimate knowledge and concern for her folk and their doings, Reading simply doesn’t engage. Her voice is a godlike mask, too lofty to care about the plain, hardworking farmers that populate the book. So while listeners will enjoy the beauty of her delivery, they will have to concentrate a bit harder than usual to find Willa Cather underneath. Y.R. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

MAY 2011 - AudioFile