I just, this very minute, finished O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. I was unprepared for how affecting that book would be. And, I never in my life have wanted to own land like I do right now!
O Pioneers! is a tale of a pioneering family in the country of Nebraska in the early nineteen hundreds. Alexandra Bergson is the oldest sibling in the Bergson family, and from an early age, catches the dream, the hope that her father has for this unbroken, wild land. While surrounded by failing farms and despondent immigrant farmers, Alexandra, with her younger brothers, is left to hope for and work this land they called the Divide. Alexandra is an inspiringly strong character, leading and raising her brothers, basically foregoing her own girlhood. She has great faith in her father's memory, always looking to the painting of him hung in her and her brother's home as she makes decisions that she hopes are correct, even years and years after his death. She is devoted to the land and her family and bravely continues to give her all, risking mistakes and critisim from friends, neighbors, and even some of her own brothers. "We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it--for a little while."
It is a beautiful statement on the difficulty and imperfection of life, the work gets us through, and the role that the natural things of our world take part in our lives.
Interestingly, Willa Cather actually moved to the Nebraska country with her family as a young girl with much the same goal in taming the Divide. The descriptions of the open land in the story are testaments to how well Cather knew her land. Whether she loved or hated it, the feelings run deep.
This was a great story, that I was glad to be exposed to. I hope to live my life of some of the dignified strength that Alexandra continued on in hers!
Now I just need some fields to frolic through...
