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    My Antonia
    My Antonia
    My Antonia
    Audiobook7 hours

    My Antonia

    Written by Willa Cather

    Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    After the death of his parents, Jim Burden is sent to live with his grandparents on the Nebraska plains. By chance, on that same train is Antonia, a bright-eyed girl who will become his neighbor and lifelong friend. Her family has emigrated from Bohemia to start a new life farming but soon lose their money and must work hard just to survive. Through it all, Antonia retains her natural pride and free spirit.

    Jim's grandparents have a large and tidy farm. They are kind to him, but conventional. Later, Jim becomes a scholar and Antonia becomes a "hired girl" in town. She blossoms in the new freedom that town life offers. Jim can only taste this life vicariously through her recounting of town gossip and of the "dance tent." Antonia's strong will, spirit, and honesty allow her to thrive in the midst of hardship.

    In My Antonia, Willa Cather paints a rich picture of life on the prairie at the beginning of the twentieth century and depicts some of the many cultures that came to compose the United States.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 21, 2008
    ISBN9781400178452
    Author

    Willa Cather

    Willa Cather (1873-1947) was born in Virginia and raised on the Nebraska prairie. She worked as a newspaper writer, teacher, and managing editor of McClure's magazine. In addition to My Ántonia, her books include O Pioneers! (1913) and The Professor's House. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for One of Ours.

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    Reviews for My Antonia

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      What a lovely story of life on the midwestern prairie in a place and time not far removed from my own family. The life was hard, but the joy of being alive and human and a part of it something bigger than oneself was pervasive, particularly as it pertained to Antonia, she of the overwhelming life force. The story was somewhat slow to start as we got to know the characters and watched them growing up, but the payoff was more than worth it, seeing Antonia and Jim both finding themselves and forging their fates.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I was forced to read this book for class, and trust me "forced" is the right word. There is no way I would have read this book had I not been held responsible for knowing what it was about. The writing is inarguably beautiful at times, but there was no distinct plot, very limited characterization, and overall, I think the story could have been told in a better way. I do not have any plans to reread this anytime soon.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      It is a daunting task to find anything fresh to say about a book that is justifiably regarded as a classic, so I will keep this one fairly short. Willa Cather moved with her family from New England to rural Nebraska as a child, at a time when new farmland there was still being pioneered, so this tale of the state's development and specifically the experiences of the first generation immigrant farming families from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia that settled it, is inevitably coloured by her own experiences. She distances herself cleverly by making her narrator Jim Burden a man of her own age who for quite a large part of the book retains some distance from its heroine Ántonia, but who was also her childhood friend and neighbour.The story is beautifully paced and contains nothing superfluous. Cather's Nebraska is vividly realised and her attitudes to her characters and particularly those who fall foul of conventional moral judgments seem very modern for a book first published in 1918. For the most part she avoids sentimentality too, except perhaps a little in the final chapter, which seems forgiveable. It was also interesting to read a story that is so positive about immigration at a time when there is so much paranoia about it in popular political culture.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of several immigrant families in the plains of Nebraska in the late 19th century, as seen through the eyes of Jim Burden, an orphan who goes to live with his grandparents. A plot never really developed at all, but Willa Cather's breathtaking descriptions of the prairie and the people who live on it are worth reading over and over again.
    • 4/5
      For Cather, My Antonia was very much based on real life experience. She had a friend as a young girl, who was an immigrant hired girl, and she visited her when they were both adults and her friend was married with a large family, similar to Jim's visit to Antonia. Although, Cather was successful at that time, she felt the loss deeply of a relationship that had recently ended with Isabelle McClung, the love of her life, who became engaged to a concert violinist. She returned to her home town, Red Cloud Nebraska for 3 months to mourn the loss. It seems that Antonia and Jim's relationship mirrors Cather's feelings of failure in her personal life, but success in her professional life. Jim recognizes Antonia's contentment with her place in her life, and ultimately feels that sense of fulfillment, by the end of the book, after visiting with her.Many parts of the book are based on truth, such as the story of the wolves and many of the people who played a part in My Antonia, were people Cather knew, the Harlings were really the Miners, neighbors of the Cathers. There was that feeling, to me, that Cather was trying to impart something that struck a chord deep within her, and I think that is because she was basing so much of the story on experiencs that she had and people she knew. The story of the Cutter suicide which seems so innocuous at that point in the story was based on a loan shark Cather knew of who was cruel to his wife, throughout their marriage and finally shot her and killed himself. Just as in life it would have seemed so random and strange, it was when plunked into the story during Jim's visit. Cather's skill lay in bringing the story to light at just the right time, for the fascination of Antonia's children and the entertainment of Jim, who later checks on the facts of the story with another lawyer. I loved the last line, by Jim "Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past."
    • 5/5
      This book was interesting. The way the characters act, and the way they aren't what you would expect made it that more interesting to read. Taking place in a small Nebraska town, it teaches us that no matter where you come from or the kind of life you live you can be tolerante and accepting. It was very exciting to read, but I felt that every now and then, it was predictable. But about half way through the story, things stray away from predictable, and become anything but. It was much better to read the second half for me. I would recomend this book to you, but don't put it down because of the first half. Read on and find an amazing novel that is well thought and beautiful.
    • 4/5
      The narrator was very pleasant. The story was like taking a long stroll on a country road listening to stories of the old days. The writing is vivid and descriptive making the job of the reader quite easy to immerse oneself in the setting. It was an easy story to stop and start and continue to follow everything. An overall pleasant experience.
    • 5/5
      Just a beautiful and moving story. A tribute to the human spirit. I do not care if this is not the type of book men should enjoy - I thought it was great. Very well written. How will I ever forget the story of the sleigh ride and the wolves?
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Cather conveyed beautifully the landscapes and heartaches that made up the story.
    • 4/5
      Jim's Antonia. / Copper-red prairie: Toooh-neeey, / My Antonia.Cather's imagery of the prairie is unsurpassed. She not only conveys the appearance, but makes you feel the presence; spring, for instance: "There were none of the signs of spring for which I used to watch in Virginia . . . There was only--spring itself; the throb of it, the light restlessness, the vital essence of it everywhere; in the sky, in the swift clouds, in the pale sunshine, and in the warm, high wind--rising suddenly, sinking suddenly, impulsive and playful like a big puppy that pawed you and then lay down to be petted. If I had been tossed down blindfold on that red prairie, I should have known that it was spring."Her characters are never as noble as the land.Antonia to Jim Burden is a childhood vignette, a sister figure, a romantic kiss rebuffed. He is called away to manhood, but never takes root in his marriage or in his career. He revisits his childhood when he at last visits Antonia on her farm, sleeping in her barn, not in her house, anticipating the happiness of sharing the childhood of her sons until they grow up.Antonia Shimerda perhaps could have made a life with Jim, but she thought first of him as a callow youngster. Later, she recognized his calling and would not see him trapped on the farm, perhaps leading to the same conclusion as Mr. Shimerda's. She herself was trapped--her father's suicide foreclosed an education and the uplifted hopes of the second-generation immigrant. She was recalled to the first generation, worked the family farm in a man's role. Only her children would see a better future. She did what she had to in order to survive--not to the extreme of Peter of the wolves, but she also was made of such stern, but vulnerable, stuff.Antonia made a comfortable life for herself on her own farm--a little island of Bohemia, with a Bohemian husband and nearly a dozen children who spoke only Bohemian at home. Not noble, not heroic, but real, and the best possible given the circumstances. Not a place that Jim could help build, but one where he would always be a welcome guest.
    • 5/5
      Having never read any of Willa Cather’s books in my teenage years – Cather was not required reading in the Canadian school system during my days – it is only recently that I have come to experience, and appreciate, her wonderful stories and the sparse, clear quality of her writing. I have a love for stories that depict the harsh realities of 19th century (and early 20th century) prairie life. While told from the point of view of Jim, the story is very much a pastoral expression about forging friendships and strong women. While some novels of this nature tend to merely communicate a place and time – like a picture - Cather’s story is a sentimental story, a wistful longing to revisit fond memories. How can one have fond memories of a harsh prairie winter, of the wretched scrabble for survival for newly immigrated families and confining feeling of certain social strictures? For Cather, even those harsh realities cannot hold back the beauty that can reside in an individual filled with kindness, optimism, strength, determination, and the full potential of life. Some may feel that Cather has not adequately focused on those harsh realities, but to expect that would be to miss what I believe to be the point of Cather’s story: to give readers a story of courage and endurance set against the expansive prairie sky.
    • 5/5
      I was so very much in love with this book when I read it in high school.
    • 3/5
      This is the first book that I've read by Willa Cather and to be honest I was expecting an awful lot more. I really can't see why this book has attained its classic status: clearly a lot of people love it but I struggled to see the attraction and might not even have finished it (unusual for me) if it hadn't been so short. The description of the landscapes of the Nebraskan prairie in the first part of the novel was the only area where the book lived up to expectations, but this was completely overshadowed by the weak  characterisation and absence of any plot. The story revolves around a young orphan Jim Berden who, on his parents' death, is sent to live on his grandparents' farm in rural Nebraska. On the same train that brings Jim to Nebraska are also some Bohemian immigrants, the Shimedas, who have purchased the neighbouring farm. As the Shimedas struggle through their first winter, Jim develops a friendship with their daughter Antonia, only a couple of years older than him. Despite the title of [My Antonia] the book follows rather the course of Jim's life: but as he moves with his grandparents into the town of Black Rock and later into the city to pursue a college career, his interest in Antonia continues. Antonia is clearly meant to represent an archetypal pioneer woman struggling with hardship and yet holding her family together through thick and thin. Perhaps this was the problem for me: it is much more difficult to care about an archetype than a living and breathing human being and so I didn't feel at all bound up in the fate of Antonia, or in that of any of the other characters of the book for that matter. There is far too much telling rather than showing, with the reader routinely being brought up to date with each character's history in a few paragraphs, which increases the effect of everyone seeming rather distant and unreal. And there isn't much plot, just a young man's fairly uneventful journey into adulthood: I can cope without plot if the rest of the book makes up for it, but here it did not.I feel rather guilty giving such a low rating to such a highly regarded book, but in all honestly from a personal perspective I can't give it any more. So two and a half stars only.
    • 5/5
      My Antonia is one of those comforting books for me. I return to it again and again, and love it every time I read it. It has certainly profoundly influenced the way I think about life. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but perhaps, Antonia stirs my soul and awakens that part of me passed down from my own Bohemian grandmothers. I love Antonia's strength, her zest for living, and the way she never shies away from hard work. For me, Antonia captures the very essence of being an American and even more, she stands as the quintessential woman: full of love, strength, and happiness despite the hard times life may throw at her. I love the fact that she finds joy in being a mother and is surrounded by many adoring children. Although she rejoices in the success of her friends, for her, life is meaningful, not because of money or worldly success, but because of the love of her family and what they have built together. That is very much the vision I have for my life. When I grow old, I may not be ambitious, rich, or beautiful, but I hope like Antonia to be happy and surrounded by a large, loving family. 
    • 4/5
      Nostalgia. Nicely done.
    • 4/5
      "I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep."
    • 5/5
      Lovely. Cather weaves a beautiful and unforgettable story.
    • 5/5
      There are parts in this book that just make your heart swell up -- I got lost in the vivid descriptions of the land, became caught up in the narrator's passionate account of the title character, and grew a little sad that the world in this book no longer exists.
    • 4/5
      My Antonia I give the book My Antonia a 7 out of 10. I thought the book was very interesting. I liked how the book started with both Antonia and Jim’s life as children and as the book went on, they got older. liked how Jim and Antonia were best friends and they kind of liked each other.
    • 2/5
      This book was okay. For me, it was easy to miss details, and at times difficult to follow the storyline. I didn’t get much out of it that I could apply or compare to my own life, and it could be dull at times. The story is about a girl that moves to America from Bohemia, and meets a boy that teaches her and falls in love with her. It is sort of a childhood romance, because she moves on once she grows up and their relationship evolves into more of a friendship. This was not my favorite type of book, so I give it an overall 5 out of 10.
    • 4/5
      My Antonia by Willa Cather was well recommended to me a number of times. The last book of Cather’s Prairie Trilogy, I read the first 2 books in order to make sense of the last. So it’s taken me a number of years to finally read this book about growing up on the farms and in a small Nebraska town during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The writing is simple and beautiful. the author’s love of the wide open spaces people by hardy Europeans shines in her every word. She has a wonderful ability to tell the stories of her characters in a comical yet compassionate way. We are in for more enjoyable adventures once Jim and his grandparents left the farm and moved to the city of Black Hawk. We quickly pass through his education and learn third hand what becomes of Antonia and others. It winds up rather quickly with a bit of sentimentality.
    • 3/5
      My Antonia was very boring and I would rate it a 3 out of 5. I liked learning about the prarie life but its only interesting to a certain point. I could relate this book to Laura Ingalls Wilder books but those are better and more interesting. Antonia seemed really funny and I could just picture a little girl with bright eyes ready to take on the world. I liked reading about Jim being sweet to all the girls, like Lena she was very sassy.
    • 4/5
      When Jim Burden is orphaned he goes to live with his grandparents. At the same time Antonia and her immigrant family move in next door. Thus begins a friendship which remains special even though "life" treats them differently.A compassionate reminiscence which clearly captures a bygone era.
    • 4/5
      At its heart, My Antonia is an immigrant novel, but not the kind of immigrant novel you would find written today. Jim's Antonia certainly epitomizes the immigrant dream. Seen through Jim's perspective only, that dream is romanticized tremendously. The dream of making a home in a new country, of starting over from scratch, of finding a modicum of success. If not for yourself, then for your children. It is a novel that also pays homage to the beauty of the Nebraskan prairie.

      My family is Pennsylvania Dutch, and my ancestors got their start in America back in the late 1700s and early 1800s as immigrant farmers in rural Pennsylvania. While reading My Antonia, I couldn't help but make comparisons to my own ancestors - whom I know very little about - but who I have always imagined to homestead and farm in much the same way as the characters in this book.
    • 1/5
      Worst book I've read in like forever. It was so dull nothing really happened in this book. I would have much rather read The little house on the prairie, this book is not to much different but things are going on through out the book.
    • 5/5
      I reread this novel after fifteen years and I was amazed how much better it became in the interval! Seriously, though, this book lacks a traditional plot; however, this book manages to be powerfully nostalgic without ever being maudlin. Perhaps a person needs to be older to appreciate it.
    • 5/5
      Jim Burden, now a successful lawyer in New York, reflects back on his childhood growing up in Nebraska where he befriends Antonia, a recent immigrant girl from Bohemia. Although they come from different circumstances, their shared life on the farm as kids forms a bond that lasts a lifetime.
    • 2/5
      During "My Antonia" by Willa Cather, I never really understood the point of the book. Yes, it shows grief and happiness, but the only part I understood is how it took Jim so long to get over Antonia because he really loved her, and how he was always there for her when she needed him, like a good friend. In the end, I guess the I saw how Jim wanted to be like a brother for her, if nothing else, because he realized he couldn't change her decision.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful story. Beatifully written.
    • 3/5
      Similar to Little House on the Prairie but intended for adults, I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this. I will admit I didn't read the first two books in the Great Plains trilogy, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book and I thought it read well as a stand alone. My Antonia is am old mans recollection of a girl from his youth. For some reason he never could get Antonia out of his mind and his childhood was drastically shaped by her. Antonia was an immigrant girl several years his junior who moved to the plains the same time he did. He taught her to read and speak English and she taught him what to value in a girl. Their story gets a little more complicated as he ages and even goes through some rough patches but they always respected each other even when they moved apart and led vastly different lives. The ending though... not quite what I anticipated. Also, I'm still unsure if I liked the narrator, I have a lot of feelings about this book and I need to discuss it with my book club to suss it out ;)