The Song of the Lark
by Willa Cather
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This book obviously has special significance to me because the main character is an opera singer, but I think its true strength is in its understanding of what art demands of the artist, and of the process of acquiring mastery: it is exhilarating and terrifying. The protagonist, Thea Kronborg, grows up in small town and learns early that unusual talent is accompanied by extraordinary loneliness and self-sufficiency--and that demanding the best of yourself makes mediocrity and the intellectual an...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
singers, especially
I made the mistake of starting this book just as I was entering a week of intense rehearsal and music-learning. So maybe I didn't focus on it as much as I might have if I had had nothing else to do.
I enjoyed this book, but I had hoped there would be more about actual singing (I'm a vocal performance major and aspiring opera singer myself). Cather does have some amazing insights into the production of the voice, but the book is less about singing than about one particular singer, Thea Kro...more
I enjoyed this book, but I had hoped there would be more about actual singing (I'm a vocal performance major and aspiring opera singer myself). Cather does have some amazing insights into the production of the voice, but the book is less about singing than about one particular singer, Thea Kro...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Literate people
How many times have I expressed my adoration and love for Willa Cather? Her prose is so well-crafted, and her narratives are so sturdy and compelling. This novel was different from the previous Cather novels I read mostly due to context; it wasn't set in the Great Plains, but rather primarily outside of Denver, in a town called Moonstone. As she is so capable of, Cather vividly constructed Moonstone and its townspeople. And Thea, the heroine, was as alive and real as the person sitting next ...more
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Read in January, 2007
After Emma I wanted a break from Austen, but for some reason I was not interested in reading contemporary fiction and wanted to stick with the classics. So I picked up the copy of Song of the Lark, which I had bought over a year ago. I cannot praise this book enough. The characters are brilliantly created; the descriptions, especially of the western landscape, are breath-taking; and the plot moves along as Ms. Cather takes you into the mind of a true artist. This is fiction at its best and t...more
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Read in June, 2008
I wanted to like this much more than I did. On the positive side, the story is compelling; Cather clearly knew enough about opera in general, and the Wagnerian repertoire in particular, to take on this subject matter. (So many novels I read contain embarrassingly uninformed statements about classical music...) The descriptions of landscape are gorgeous throughout the novel, and Cather is very good at describing individual characters' motivations.
On the other hand, Cather's anti-semitism, a...more
On the other hand, Cather's anti-semitism, a...more
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Read in June, 2007
I read this book because I was so impressed with My Antonia. It wound up taking me a couple of months to read because I often became bored with it, particularly when it came to Thea's childhood. I found her adult years much more interesting, but I still didn't really connect to the story. I found the 'love story' between Thea and Fred Ottenburg REALLY frustrating. In my opinion, the whole 'in order to love you, I must set you free' thing has been done much better in other novels. I wish thi...more
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This is, so far, my favorite Willa Cather novel. It resonated particularly stronly with me (as a musician and songwriter) because it's a great portrait of an aspiring "artist," the life story of a creative soul and the sacrifices you often make in choosing to follow your passion. While reading this book, I was touchingly reminded of that self-assuredness I knew in my youth and those many days/nights spent looking up at the sky dreaming, aspiring to be something great. Cather does a ...more
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Read in December, 2007
This book is an excellent explanation of what Art is and why it means so much to artists. It also portrays the hardships involved in reaching your full potential. I'm not sure how much of it I agree with, but there was excellent symbolism that illustrated a point without sounding forced or contrived. Cather's descriptions make Thea's world and experiences seem real. This book leaves vivid impressions. It didn't have a happy, gentle plot, but was uplifting in that it describes something worth liv...more
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I'm curious to dig into more Cather, because of a radio program I heard yesterday. In a sumptuous interview, Robert Hass, past poet laureate, proposed that Willa Cather should be revered as THE great American writer--Faulkner, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, stand aside. Hass specifically mentioned the Song of the Lark as one of her best. I read My Antonia for a college class, and because I read it in order to write a paper, it didn't grip me for the sheer pleasure. I think I'll splurge on Cather this...more
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Read in April, 2008
This book features some characters who are great feminists and standout as pleasingly unconventional for their era (most notably the protagonist and her mother). It is a good story (seemingly quasi-autobiographical about Willa Cather herself). Most of us in my bookclub that read it really enjoyed it.
It made me want to learn more about Willa Cather's life and read more of her stories.
However, it's not so memorable that I'd highly recommend it to people who already have long "to-read&qu
It made me want to learn more about Willa Cather's life and read more of her stories.
However, it's not so memorable that I'd highly recommend it to people who already have long "to-read&qu
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Read in August, 2007
Willa Cather is wonderful at evoking the feeling of the Plains. I can feel the heat of the summer in my face and the cold of the winter on my back when I read her writings. This particular book beautifully captures the struggles of an artist growing up in a society that doesn't understand her talents. I recommend it to all young artists. You won't feel alone anymore.
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Read in July, 2006
My favorite Cather book. Even though a lot of people complain about the last chapter (and granted, it's not the strongest part of the novel), the whole thing is such a believable, inspiring, attentively detailed account of how a girl from the middle of nowhere follows her passion for music throughout years of difficult circumstances and eventually becomes an opera star.
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My Antonia was one of my favorite books for years and years. I have come to love "The Song of the Lark" even more - even though the story has some thin spots, and there are a couple of really jarring bits of prose, I like the picture that this book paints about becoming an artist. I always feel like Willa Cather writes people so sensitively that even the peripheral characters could walk out of the books into their own stories, and this book is a great example of that
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Read in June, 2006
recommends it for:
Hali
This book was an insightful look at the journey of an artist, particularly in a society that did not understand or value art.
While i thought Cather presented a realistic rendering of the sacrifices a woman in that era had to make in order to pursue her passion, the main character often came across as rather heartless and unsympathetic.
On the whole, this book inspired in many ways, and gave me a glimpse into the mind of one of our great writers.
While i thought Cather presented a realistic rendering of the sacrifices a woman in that era had to make in order to pursue her passion, the main character often came across as rather heartless and unsympathetic.
On the whole, this book inspired in many ways, and gave me a glimpse into the mind of one of our great writers.
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recommends it for:
people with big dreams living in small towns, or any constricting environment
This is a gorgeous book, one of my all-time favorites. I've read it twice and taken from it numerous inspiring quotes that guide my life. "But if you decide what it is you want most, you can get it. Not everybody can, but you can. Only, if you want a big dream, you've got to have nerve enough to cut out all that's easy, everything that's to be had cheap."
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I read this on the recommendation of a writing teacher. There are some really beautiful descriptions and moments of prose, but other passages that just sink under from info-dumping. But this novel vibrates with truth that I don't know if I'm fully comfortable with; being an artist requires sacrifice. After reading this, I think he recommended it to me more to show me what the path of an artist is, rather than for any examples of flawless writing.
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Read in January, 2001
This book follows the story of a talented young women's humble beginnings against the backdrop of the western landscape in a small town where she did not seem to belong. A man's bequeath gave her enough money to go east to further her musical training and eventually to the Metropolitan Opera. It is Willa Cather's most autobiographical book and the story of the challenges even the most gifted can encounter as they try to develop those talents.
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Read in June, 2008
I am reading this for my book club. I love Cather's style and how she expresses so perfectly the challenge of living on the prairie and how that is a struggle for artists.
Will update more when I finish the novel.
Just finished the book. Stylistically, I thought it was different than My Antonia. I appreciated the earthy, western anecdotes. Cather describes the process of becoming an artist and what it costs a person.
Will update more when I finish the novel.
Just finished the book. Stylistically, I thought it was different than My Antonia. I appreciated the earthy, western anecdotes. Cather describes the process of becoming an artist and what it costs a person.
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There's a scene in this one in which the main character goes to the caves of New Mexico to "commune" with ancient spirits and restore her own -- even many years after reading this book, that scene has stuck with me for the way it made me feel the deep wonder of the western parts of this country. That's something I think Cather is good at in general -- this book also throws in complicated characters and ambitions to boot.
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Read in May, 2007
This is Cather's most autobiographical book, recasting herself as an opera singer who leaves her small Nebraskan home for the possibilities of the big city. I prefer the first half of the book, focusing on Thea as a child and a young woman, but the later chapters are equally as rich, especially if you like Wagner. The ending is decidedly unromantic, further establishing Cather's position as a modern woman author.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.98 (514 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.95 (435 ratings) number of reviews: 68popular shelves
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"People live through such pain only once. Pain comes again—but it finds a tougher surface. "
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