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Title: A Lost Lady (Vintage Classics) by Willa Cather ISBN: 0-679-72887-2 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 16 June, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.47 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: a lost lady
Comment: A novel of retrospection, A Lost Lady (1923) tells of events several decades earlier, when the rapid growth of the railroads was both expanding - and ending - the western frontier. But that is the larger, the national, backdrop against which more intimate dramas are played out, dramas that have to do with youth and age and beauty, and with adultry, sadism, and the growth of a young man, Niel Herbert. Niel idolizes Captain Forrester's young wife, Marion, and in this he is not alone. All who visit the Forrester's home find Marion's warmth and vitality captivating. In Cather's imagination, Mrs Forrester embodies the natural energy of the west itself: ageless and utterly unselfconscious of its own vibrant beauty. So, too, the Captain stands for all that once was the best in America but is now being lost in a greedy bid for money and land; the Captain is a man of conscience - strong, honorable, solid as a mountain. Their home, Sweet Water, is a kind of Eden on the prairie, and even the willow stakes he planted to mark his property lines come to bloom.
Over time, as Niel matures, his "lady" too ages. And when the Captain dies, she falls on bad times, hurt rather than aided by advice from her lawyer. Her fall however is as much moral as it is financial - or at least it is in Niel's eyes. He notes that she has begun to use cosmetics and sherry. He finds her voice too loud, her laughter too forced. Niel loses his lady- or perhaps he gives her up.
There is a kind of poignancy to this brief novel, and a unity that is as pleasing as the story itself. It is, on the one hand, the story of the West's golden youth and fading future. On the other hand, it is the story of a young man's growth and an aging woman's refusal to live as others would prefer.
Rating: 4
Summary: Sad, solemn tale of a woman's (and nature's) loss
Comment: The story of a beautiful woman in the declining frontier town of Sweet Water is told by a studious young man who adores her from afar in this wistful, melancholy novel by Willa Cather. Niel Herbert is a sensitive, but substantial young man who makes the acquaintance of Captain and Mrs. Forrester, the town's leading citizens. Captain Forrester had been a railroad man - a builder, one could almost say a conqueror, who had originally chosen this out-of-the-way Midwestern train stop to make his home. His wife Marian, 25 years his junior, is the woman every man in town desires, and whom every woman in town envies. A native of California, she has grace, beauty, and youthful energy. She respects her husband's money and power and social position, but we don't often get the impression that she loves him. Instead, her head has been turned by a smarmy young gold-digger.
In a story that is more about characters than about action, motivations often start out hazy, and only gradually come into focus. It quickly becomes obvious that Niel is in love with Mrs. Forrester, and that Ivy Peters (the underhanded lawyer Marian hires) is an ugly sadistic snake. Less clear is the nature of the relationship between the Captain and his wife, which seems founded more on mutual admiration than on love. And ever present through the novel are the geographic, social and economic realities of the declining frontier town, which had once been rich and abundant with promise, but which has become choked with a citizenry that has neither the unforced elegance of Mrs. Forrester, nor the strength and vision of her husband. The Captain shows his strong social conscience by supporting the bank, even when it takes a toll on his own solvency. Compare this with his wife's willingness to allow Ivy any latitude in getting her what she wants, regardless of who suffers. Cather shows parallels between the decline of the social order and the destruction (exploitation) of America's natural beauty and resources, and lays the blame not only on those small-minded, shortsighted individuals who sacrificed things that were good and true for their own immediate personal gratification, but also on those who saw it happening and failed to stop it. Mrs. Forrester can always move to another frontier, or find herself another rich husband, but who will repair the dust bowls that she leaves behind?
This novel is a quick and easy read, and while there are intimations of sexual encounters, none are portrayed so graphically that modern teens would be likely to be shocked, although most will find the story a little too dry for their tastes. Many adults will probably feel the same way. There is no real humor in this book, and little that could be called uplifting, either, so while this book makes powerful statements about society, the roles of women, and the need to protect our natural environment, it should only be recommended to those who are devotees of serious literature.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Lost Frontier
Comment: First Cather book I've read. I was impressed, frankly and I think I'll read more.
Set in the 1880's/90's in Nebraska, this book chronicles the relationship of a young boy/man and the wife of a wealthy local luminary. As the boy turns into a man, his early admiration for the lady turns into contempt. Is this about a human relationship or rather a metaphor for the rise and decline of the plains economy in the aftermath of the railroad? Maybe both.
One interesting aspect about this book, and, I suppose, all of Cather's work, is that she is writing about a period some twenty or thirty years prior to the era when she was writing. I thought that was pretty cool. She seems like an early example of the "New Yorker" style fiction writer.
Good stuff.
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Title: My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics) by Willa Cather ISBN: 0679731792 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 31 October, 1990 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Professor's House (Vintage Classic) by Willa Cather ISBN: 0679731806 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 31 October, 1990 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather, Doris Grumbach ISBN: 0395345308 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 10 May, 1983 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: My Antonia by Willa Cather ISBN: 039575514X Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 21 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) by Willa Cather ISBN: 0679728899 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 16 June, 1990 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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