My Antonia

by Willa Cather
Dakota County Library, audioCDs, 8 hours
read by Patrick Lawlor
genre: Pioneer America fiction

I'm so glad I grabbed this! It's one of those classics that I'd heard of but never read. I had to return it to the library before I finished, so I've got a copy from PRMS to finish the story of Jim Burden and his friendship with Bohemian Antonia. This narrator was fantastic! He brought the characters, the ethnic nuances, and the era to life. I wish I would have shared this one with my dad before it was due. I think he'd really enjoy it. Wonderful, lyrical, beautiful story.

Added 12/7/10:
My Antonia – print version PRMS
I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, but almost wish I’d read the print version. Unfortunately, I have more to do than time to do it right now. I got the book from my library, but want to put it away. I DID find time to read the introductory material, and found it very interesting. I didn’t really know much about Willa Cather earlier. She was quite an intellectual. How interesting that she’s best known for “pioneer” and “prairie” writing.


Added 12/31/2019:
Got the audiobook again (Scott County Library this time). Finally finished it! Took me a while (no driving during knee replacement surgery), but I finally got done. I think I prefer O Pioneer to this, but they're both quite good. It sure took me a long time to find out that I like Willa Cather's writing!

Antonia Shimerda and Jim Burden -friendship, potential romance . . . I was a little surprised at the way their stories turned out. Lena Lingard was a fun character, but I was glad when Jim left for Harvard. Tiny Soderball also surprised me, becoming an enterprising business owner and then a Klondike gold rush gal. The three young women had different personalities and life trajectories, but worked well together.

The part of the story where the "Russians" - Peter and Pavel - had their back story told was really creepy. The wedding party beset by wolves in Russia and them throwing the bride and groom off the sled to save themselves . . . No wonder bad luck followed them to the new world!

Listening to this, I had to remind myself that it is set in the 1880s to early 19teens . . . post Civil War. Beautifully written. Glad I spent the time.