Thursday, October 22, 2009

Life in Nebraska

My tutorial just read Willa Cather's My Antonia. It's the third time I have read that book, and I am still not a big fan. The first time I read it was for the Academic Decathlon in high school; then I reread it a few years back just to see if it was actually better than I remembered it being; and now a third time. It's nice in a sort of adult version of the Little House on the Prairie books way. Cather is adept at creating a microcosmic world. My favorite book of hers is Death Comes for the Archbishop.

The tutorial discussion was interesting. Everyone thought the scenes of life in Nebraska were wonderfully appealing and yet nobody would actually want to live such a life. I have run into this general phenomenon a lot--there is something very appealing about a simple rural life, and yet few people can stand the thought of actually living such a life.

One unrelated note--one of our cats is named Willa. I have long insisted that all pets must have names with some sort of literary connection. My family just wants names which sound normal. So Willa made it as a normal name with the literary pedigree of Willa Cather.

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