Book Review

The latest book I had to read for the college class I'm taking was Willa Cather's My Antonia. The book tells of two children who arrive in late 1800's Nebraska. One is a recently orphaned boy and the other is an immigrant girl from Bohemia named Antonia. The two become friends. The story mainly focuses on Antonia through the eyes of the boy named Jim Burden. It tells of her life as well as the lives of immigrants that settled in Nebraska during that time. Their lives were very hard and the book doesn't try to hide that. It also shows something that was lost as more and more people moved off the land and into the towns and later cities. Jim will become extremely successful as a lawyer and yet he'll be unhappy with his wealth and success. Antonia will ultimately return to the land, get married, work very hard, and raise TEN kids. It would appear it isn't a life guaranteed to bring happiness and yet she does unlike Jim. Cather also shows her ability to paint pictures with words as she describes vividly life in Nebraska during those times.

Overall, the book is a beautiful tale of an incredible and indomitable woman. It also makes the reader wonder what has been lost in our more modern times. Lastly, it tells the important part immigrants played in the expansion of the U.S. and the richness they added to this country. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read of a time past and lost as well as the people who helped this country grow during those times.