O Pioneers! Audiobook

" I preferred Giants in the Earth over this book, but still interesting. "

" The writing is as methodical as her main character. As a Scandinavian-American, I thought she equated my ethnicity with shallow and boring. Not so! In general, though, I still enjoyed the book. "

" Oh Willa Cather and your old world weirdos! Great stuff! "

" A book that should be taught with the likes of Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises and McTeague and The Rise of Silas Lapham and Huckleberry Finn. Truly wonderful piece of American Literature. "

" good character development, just too slow in development.This would have been a better short story. "

" I was surprised by this book. I bought it in a small rural bookstore in Red Cloud, Nebraska, Willa Cather's home town. I was expecting a rather dry historical read, and instead found a rather sweet old fashioned romance set in the early days of Nebraska. It was an interesting depiction of pioneer life, but really much more about life than about the heroic struggles we're used to reading. It was charming. "

" I loved this book. It was so beautifully written that even when tragedy strikes, I was strangley affected, but not overcome with remorse. It was an excellent look at prairie life and sacrificing for the betterment of another person. "

" (English version 1913) a little boring.Alexandra inherits the family farmland and devotes her life to the land. She likes Carl her childhood friend and get marry with him at her 40th.The other romantic relationship that involves her younger brother to a young married girl Marie Shibata ends in the tragical death of both. "

" When you start reading an author's works with their very best book, somehow everything else they've written seems to fall short. "

" Willa Cather has captured the pioneer spirit and the heart-wrenching struggles of settling the Great Plains of the United States during the 19th century. This is a great book. I can't believe it has taken be so long to read my first Cather book. "

" this story takes a while to get going. i almost stopped. but, it is an interesting journey through the early days of our country. it is another affirmation of the strength of women and how one woman made such a difference in a world generally run by men. i am always impressed at the hardships and struggles of those pioneers. it was a "good read." "

" A great American classic about a time and place that I enjoy. Oh to be a pioneer back in the early 1900's. I loved the characters and the writing style. I cannot believe that I have never read anything by Willa Cather before now. Good book. "

" How have I missed this wonderful story. It is a true masterpiece! "

" A truly good story. I only have one complaint: it should have been longer. I felt that there were some characters and relationships that were fascinating and could have been further expanded upon/developed. And I was just a bit bothered by the skip from poor to wealthy...that part of the story is really the American Dream and it was literally skipped over. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Cather knows how to pick a setting, and I find her writing to have a perfect balance of dialogue/interaction and beautiful picture painting. "

" This is a wonderful work of art, marred only by an ending that is not worthy of everything that came before it (Cather was still a green novelist when she wrote this, of course). Her descriptions of the land are wonderful, the characters are engaging, the episodic relation of daily life on the farms of Nebraska in the 1880s-1900 is beautifully described. This is one of those books that I love: a novel that, while reading, I have absolutely no idea where the plot is heading. This is justly revered. "

" I thought that this was a decent book. It illustrates the way that pioneers lived in Nebraska. But, the book turned out to be more of a love story then expected. Still a decent book. "

" I liked this one better than The Song of the Lark. Perhaps it was because I liked the characters better. I could relate more to their struggles than those of the tortured musical genius of Song of the Lark. My favorite quote from the book: "I think that when friends marry, they are safe." "

" Enjoyable. it offers a good historical snapshot. "

" Classic. It has a great sense of place and time. "

" Great story of a woman making her way in the world. "

" I've read this book before, and I've always liked it, although in reality not much happens in it. It's really easy to sum up, yet it's a great story of the pioneer spirit, especially when that pioneer is a woman who takes the risks her older brothers complain to her about. It ends rather sadly and desperately, with only a bright spark of hope in the end, but well worth the read. "

" So far, this is an amazing book ... filled with details and for a classic, it reads really well. "

" every single word is perfect. "

" This is probably my 6th time through this book and the first time I listened to it via audiobook. Wonderful as always.. there are some great lines in the book that were so much fun to hear via audio! "

" I just love the way that Willa Cather writes. You can feel the lonliness of the fields. I like how the women are full characters, but I kind of don't like how the men/boys in her books are all wimps! "

" Cather was simply brilliant at painting a picture of Nebraska as the country became tamed and the people that tamed it. "

" Superb read with powerful prose not to be forgotten. Evokes time and place, texture of the culture, and fascinating characters. "

" I preferred this book to My Antonia. All the picture of Nebraska with a love triangle and murder thrown in. I had to remind myself when this book was written. You don't find a female protagonist like Alexandra too often in books of this time. "

" I love Cather's style of writing. She captures the spirit of the Nebraska Plains in her novels that are set in that region of the U.S. I also love how she explores the different nationalities of immigrants that helped to make their society function. "

" Inspired to read this by Twenty Five Books That Shaped America. "

" O Pioneers! is a sweet and breezy confection. It's an easy read, with a bit of melodrama. However, I'm not sure why it's considered a classic. Although it's ostensibly about a quintessential American literary subject, "the land," the romantic plot overtakes the book. I would like to have seen how Alexandra overcomes her problems. Instead, the book flashes forward several years at a time. We don't get a strong enough sense of her struggle. "

" This was the first Willa Cather novel I read. I loved the characters in the book. It was written a long time ago but the plot didn't seem dated. The daily life of the pioneers was detailed and fascinating. I love how she described the landscape with vivid colors of the tall grass and planted fields. "

" Not my favorite of Willa Cather's books, as I found it very predictable. An interesting look into life on the Nebraska plains at the turn of the century, however. "

" Always great to read a classic, and this one isn't too daunting to get through either. "

" I admired Antonia, and I admire Cather as a writer. I feel the book ends has a bit of a despairing ending - everyone is unhappy, no one reaches their dreams, and many people die or live in misery. It's just a discouraging way to look at life. I prefer others of Cather's books to this one. "

" a story of prudence, forgiveness, survival. not a lot of depth, no passion. not compelling. full of judgments of the "bohemian" character vs the "norwegian" character. "

" every single word is perfect. "

" I liked this novel, but not as much as My Antonia. Can't really put my finger on it, but it just didn't have the same poetic quality maybe. It was tragic though, and I love a good tragic story. "

" hmmmm...didn't particularly care for this book. I felt that it had a negative tone throughout. blah. "

" One of my all-time favorites... "

" Fan-freaking-tastic. I don't even have time to sit down and write a proper review because I'm too busy downloading the rest of Willa Cather's canon to my Kindle. "

" The two most intense aspects of the book for me: (1) Alexandra's "babies" are her bountiful lands and (2) the mulberry tree that witnessed the passionate responses of Emil, Marie, and Frank. Absolute must read! "

" I loved this classic. It was like a grown up Little House on the Prairie. "

" The book was okay, but definitely not as good as My Antonia (or at least as good as I remember it to be, since it was over 10 years ago). "

" I would give this 3.5 stars if I could . . . Cather depresses me, and I sort of feel like I'm getting a set of instructions for each character. Still, I'll remember the characters and the land. "

" I just reread this after going to Nebraska for a few days. What a wonderful book. It was great reading it right after spending a few days surrounded by the type of landscape described in the book. "

" The pathos and desperation is depressing, but you keep reading it. According to my grandfather, a true depiction of the horrors of Europeans going west. This is not Little House on the Prairie. "

" Pretty boring, until the very end. "

" I love Willa Cather. I like novels with strong, admirable women as the main character. "

" Fell in love with American literature when I was 13 because of this book. "

" This author has such a beautiful style. You feel so connected to the characters, one of which is the land. Her connectivity between characters draws you in. Also loved My Antonia by the same author. "

" This was a nice story about the beginning of the settlement of the plains. The story of Alexandra Bergson and her trials of running a farm in early 1900s Nebraska. There is a little love story mixed in, too. "

" I snivelled like a baby and, uh-uh, I ain't ashamed. "

" So good. I love prairie writing. "

" Cather often sums up a story in a few paragraphs when I would need pages to say the same. Alexandra is a remarkable character driven by the full force of Cather's sensationally poetic prose. I'm still mulling over the ending... "

" There are so many reasons to like Cather. She creates strong, obtainable (women) characters and places them squarely upon the land that must be tamed. I confess I am a farm boy, and wonder if city folk can obtain the same pleasure. I believe Cather makes it possible. "

" I enjoyed "My Antonia" more, but this was still an enjoyable read that captured the open loneliness of the prairie. The ending felt a little sensationalist. I decided to forgive Willa Cather because her prose is so beautiful. "

" I didn't enjoy O Pioneers as much as I enjoyed Cather's later novel "My Antonia". "

" I liked this one, but enjoyed My Antonia more. It is a short enjoyable read. "

" So brutal and celebratory at the same time. I liked this one because things don't turn out how you want them to. That's life. I also love the land as character. This is one of my favorites. "

" I was really excited to read this book since I love Pioneer Non-Fiction, but I was really disappointed with it. The story was not exciting to me and I was easily bored throughout the whole book. "

" Lost in Hawaii somewhere. O what a Pioneer I was that month. No one died in my version though. Thankgoodness. "

" My Antonia is one of my favorite books so I wanted to read this one. I enjoyed it almost as much. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere so maybe I related to it a bit more than others might but I truly enjoyed this book. "

" A beautifully well-crafted story, in every regard. The only thing I found myself wishing for from time to time was more ... more scenes, more details, more time on the Divide. But I know it wouldn't have been so beautiful if it hadn't been so sparse. "

" This was another book I had to read for school. It was very interesting, and I did like it, but I probably wouldn't have read it if my teacher hadn't made us read it. "

" If you live on the Prarie Willa Cather is a must read... "

" A quiet introspective book about life in an turn-of the century family, 1800s to 1900 turn of the century. Cather seems to write these gentle stories with a quick hook at the end. Reminds one of Sara Orne Jewett. "

" the story takes of with such wonder but tails off by turning slightly nihilistic. regardless, it remains engaging throughout. my admiration for Alexandra and Emil did dull a bit toward the end, however. "

" I was surprised by how interesting this book was. I had a preconceived notion of it being entirely boring due to its place (the freaking prairie) but I stand corrected! "

" Her descriptive writing is so beautiful, I could read her happily even if there was no plot. "

" One of my favorite writers ever and one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Seriously, read this book if you love beauty and especially if you understand the beauty of the Midwest/farmland. "

" I just reread this after going to Nebraska for a few days. What a wonderful book. It was great reading it right after spending a few days surrounded by the type of landscape described in the book. "

" I really am never disappointed with Cather. The landscape itself is a solid character that warms my bones. "

" A simple account of difficult lives on the American frontier, Cather's book is so much more than its 200 pages. It tells the story of a woman hard enough to survive every hardship the rugged land threw her way and the vulnerability hidden within her rough exterior. Beautiful book! "

" Classic Cather. You feel and taste her stories. "

" My favorite of all the Willa Cather I've read. "

" This is my first Cather book, yes it is and I adored it. Wow, terrific! "

" I liked this book a lot after accidentally judging it by "My Antonia" which i didn't like . This has a little house on the prairie feel. It is an extremely simple story and the characters are easy to read about and contemporary. "

" Good story, although not what I expected. A true feminist piece of work. Alexandra, you go girl! "

" This book was written a hundred years ago! Interesting to see such a strong female character in that time period. You did see her obstacles that would be laughed at now in women's roles. I have a few other of her books that I am looking forward to reading! "

" An interesting book with feminist themes printed in a time when feminism was not an accepted mainstream ideology. Willa Cather was definitely before her time and I appreciate her for it! "

" I'm surprised this was not covered in my high school required reading. This novel was insightful to the plains immigrant life. The story is powerful and the characters draw you into their life and struggles. "

" I bought this from Second Show in Hudson for a quarter. It was good. "

" a lovely book; a gripper even "

" Wonderful book, characters and story-telling about the days during the settlement of the great plains. Loved it. "

" The writing was a little slow for me, especially for the first half of the book but the characters grew on me as did the story. The author is very descriptive in her writing painting lovely landscapes of words. I liked it I just didn't love it. "

" I didn't like it, just couldn't get into it. The book took me forever to read. "

" A beautiful pioneer narrative. Gorgeous writing. "

" an equal to My Antonia. "

" an equal to My Antonia. "

" Rich characterizations, timeless themes. Beautifully written and inspiring - loved it. "

" Rich characterizations, timeless themes. Beautifully written and inspiring - loved it. "

" Rich characterizations, timeless themes. Beautifully written and inspiring - loved it. "

" Rich characterizations, timeless themes. Beautifully written and inspiring - loved it. "

" Enjoyable, but not a must read. "

" Enjoyable, but not a must read. "

" Enjoyable, but not a must read. "

" Enjoyable, but not a must read. "

" Willa Cather is rocking my world this semester! "

" Willa Cather is rocking my world this semester! "

" Willa Cather is rocking my world this semester! "

" Willa Cather is rocking my world this semester! "

" One of my most favorite books........ "

" One of my most favorite books........ "

" One of my most favorite books........ "

" One of my most favorite books........ "

" It tells a small story and makes me want to work in the dirt. "

" It tells a small story and makes me want to work in the dirt. "

" It tells a small story and makes me want to work in the dirt. "

" It tells a small story and makes me want to work in the dirt. "

" Would be four stars if not for the end. "

" Would be four stars if not for the end. "

" Would be four stars if not for the end. "

" Would be four stars if not for the end. "

" Although Alexandra was a little too good to be true, I loved the descriptions on the plains and farming life. "

" Although Alexandra was a little too good to be true, I loved the descriptions on the plains and farming life. "

" Although Alexandra was a little too good to be true, I loved the descriptions on the plains and farming life. "

" Although Alexandra was a little too good to be true, I loved the descriptions on the plains and farming life. "

" A great book, but sometimes painful to read. But a beautifully thorough sense of these women of the plains like my grandmother and, less so, my mother who learned to survive in unforgiving worlds. Outstanding. "

" A great book, but sometimes painful to read. But a beautifully thorough sense of these women of the plains like my grandmother and, less so, my mother who learned to survive in unforgiving worlds. Outstanding. "

" A great book, but sometimes painful to read. But a beautifully thorough sense of these women of the plains like my grandmother and, less so, my mother who learned to survive in unforgiving worlds. Outstanding. "

" A great book, but sometimes painful to read. But a beautifully thorough sense of these women of the plains like my grandmother and, less so, my mother who learned to survive in unforgiving worlds. Outstanding. "

" Lovely little book. First Willa Cather I have read. "

" I do love no nonsense strong women and Alexandra Bergson is my kind of woman! "

" Lovely little book. First Willa Cather I have read. "

" I do love no nonsense strong women and Alexandra Bergson is my kind of woman! "

" Lovely little book. First Willa Cather I have read. "

" I do love no nonsense strong women and Alexandra Bergson is my kind of woman! "

" Lovely little book. First Willa Cather I have read. "

" I do love no nonsense strong women and Alexandra Bergson is my kind of woman! "