Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

2 reviews

shellydav's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this with a solid understanding of the literary period in which this was written, the prevailing themes, and Cather's other work (as well as the work of Faulkner, Fitzgerald, and to some degree, Hemingway). This reminded me a lot of The Great Gatsby. We see Mrs. Forrester-- the lost lady--and the other characters through the eyes of Niel in a way that is a lot like Nick sees Gatsby, and watches his demise. 

If you read that in school and learned about the themes of past and present, old money and new money, and the American Dream, you will enjoy the parallels.

I have only read two other Cather books, a long time ago. I am glad I picked this up. It reminded me of why I loved Modernist fiction.
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jedore's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Well, then, my philosophy is that what you think of and plan for day by day, in spite of yourself, so to speak —you will get. You will get it more or less. That is, unless you are one of those people who get nothing in this world. I have lived too much in mining works and construction camps not to know that.”

What a strange little book. Another one I added to my list over 20 years ago…I’m pretty sure just because I had watched a Willa Cather movie and wanted more of her. 

On the surface, this would seem to be a story I would have wanted to read about a strong woman in a time where it was extremely challenging to be strong. Nope. In fact, the center of the story, the wife of a railroad engineer, was quite annoying and unlikeable. And, the story wasn’t even told from her perspective, but from that of a young man who admires her while growing up. (And he becomes as disgusted with her as I did.)

The characters weren’t developed enough for this story to really get meaty and interesting, either from a historical or emotional perspective. And, it’s not really an older classic that stands the test of time as much as others. There are so many others that do out there that I would hesitate to recommend this one to anyone other than those particularly interested in the railroad expansion throughout the U.S., and even then I would caution them that this aspect of the story is pretty glossed over.

This is one of those books that might be better appreciated if discussed in detail by a lit professor. 
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