O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather

I must admit I have mixed feelings about this short book, widely considered to be a classic piece of American literature.  My mixed feelings come from a variety of sources, including a background in a mostly German farming family (albeit one in Western Pennsylvania and not Nebraska), a profound understanding of the sense of loneliness that envelops the main character, who appears to be a representation of the author’s loneliness herself as a successful woman trying to make it in the world, and from the way that the novel is itself literary fiction of a kind that seems to actively enjoy frustrating a reader who wants plot, as the novel gives plenty of context and setting and reflection but not much in the way of plot.  If you are aware of what is going on, you can appreciate it for what it is.  This is not an enjoyable piece of literature to read, necessarily, but it is a worthwhile piece of literature and it deals with serious issues and an often-neglected area of the country as far as literature is concerned, and these reasons are sufficient to enjoy this particular example of literary fiction, which is surprisingly the first novel of the author’s that I have gotten around to yet, although (likely) not the last.

This short novel is divided into five parts and centers around the figure of Alexandra Bergson, a fiercely independent woman who inherits a farm from her father and seeks to increase her holdings and live a life of honorable and consistent hard labor among her mostly Scandinavian and Bohemian neighbors.  In many ways she reminds me of my own German grandmother, a tough but small woman who had a shrewd mind for business and was an intensely hard worker on a lonely family farm.  Meanwhile, while Alexandra is working hard over the course of various lonely years–and they are lonely, as the whole time she has but one potential love interest whose desires to experience and profit in the larger world lead him to leave Nebraska without marrying the strong-willed but locally-minded Alexandra.  Her younger brothers, nowhere near as hard-working or successful, grouse about their share of the inheritance, and her best friend turns out to be somewhat of a floozy, which leads  to a shocking double-murder and to an act of Alexandra of mercy in going to the jailed husband.  Short on plot but long on thought-provoking context about the desire of young people to escape rural America even in the late 19th and early 20th century (a trend that has only continued since then), this book was the first classic novel by the author.

In reading this book it is easy to see why it was praised.  Literary fiction in general tends to view rural America as a place that most people want to escape from, something that has been consistent for at least the last century as far as novels are concerned.  Cather’s view of rural Nebraska is far from entirely negative, as her Alexandra is a clear-headed and hard-working woman who is appealing and a sympathetic character, for a no-nonsense farming woman who lives in such a way as to avoid drama and stay at peace in a somewhat quarrelsome and divided local world.  The author clearly knows what she is writing about–she has a keen eye for understanding what it is like to be a financially successful but emotionally isolated individual who is respected but not frequently loved.  The author is clearly aiming for literary fiction here and not best-seller fiction, where books ends with weddings and where noble women are rewarded with wealthy and dashing husbands.  This book has more of a realistic feel to it, a bit more drab in its coloring and more gloomy in its outlook, which suits the material well.