It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
I still have a 1936 printing of the book but have yet to read it ~ with my diminishing eyesight, I better get started soon!
ReplyDeleteI think it is best to look for a buyer. Probably fetch a pretty handsome sum if it is a first printing,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.veryfinebooks.com/Mitchell_Gone_With_the_Wind_Signed_First_Edition_p/sfe400.htm
$7,500! Wow ~ too bad mine is from the third printing that year, is not signed, and has cracks on the books cover. It probably would fetch a few samolians - I'll check with ebay or something like them ...
ReplyDeleteFunny,I haven't heard samolians used since high school in 74.I see a few posts vanished from the previous heading when Google had issues the other night.
ReplyDelete