Just Finished - I

Hey guys, it's been entirely too long and frankly, I contemplated letting this section of the blog go. After some renewed interest in Paperback Book Club, I am bringing this up-to-date! The formatting will be new and different. There will still be a monthly selection, stayed tuned as we showcase our end of summer selection later this week. I'm going to try some new bookish topics to discuss, like things I'm reading or reading about. As always, commenting really helps. 

My Antonia - Willa Cather

This was always one of those books that came highly recommended by my college writing teachers. Now that I've actually read it, I'm going to agree that it demonstrates a great deal of good writing. My Antonia is the story of a young boy (written in a surprisingly authentic first-person by a woman) who comes to live in the great plains around the turn of the century. Jim Burden, our narrator, is somewhat preoccupied with his foreign neighbor Antonia, but apparently not enough to actually help her in any real way.

It's sort of like a grown-up version of Little House on the Prairie but with many more disturbing subject matters like sex, suicide and murder. Along the lines of Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, this novel is not exactly the epitome of action-packed but it does make a lot of points about small town, American life. 

The writing is what makes this book worth your time. It took me an embarrassingly long time to finish this rather short book (over two weeks).  It's hard to get excited about reading this book because it's more observational than plot-driven, but still there's such satisfaction in reading high-brow literature. In the best of ways, this book takes a very slow and labored look at nature, conjuring some lovely imagery. Would I read it again? Doubtful, but if you like American historical fiction and harvest themed books, it's worth a read.