I just finished this classic by Willa Cather. When we were on a family vacation this summer, it was on the shelf at the lodge so I picked it up and read the first chapter....I was intrigued but kept forgetting to pick it up at the library.
I am sure there are hundreds of reviews out there, all much better than mine. So I'll keep it simple. The writing was vivid. I was there, as she wove the scene around me. The words were elegant, drawing me in more than the story.
I've never been able to read and enjoy classics the way I feel I should. This story was different and it pulled me in through the sheer beauty of the prose.
This was one of my favorite passages:
"She lent herself to immemorial human attitudes which we recognize by instinct as universal and true. I had not been mistaken. She was a battered woman now, not a lovely girl; but she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that somehow revealed the meaning in common things."
Beautiful, isn't it?
Yes. Very beautiful. I know I have read this book, but I think it was in high school. What I like best about books is how you can read the same thing at a different point in your life and it is a completely different book. I'd like to pick this one up again!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I think this especially resonated with me because all of the other books I was reading at the time were more technical - the speech therapy article, a book on feeding and a book on Christian faith. So the beauty really stood out!
ReplyDelete