Perhaps Willa Cather's most autobiographical work, The Song of the Lark charts the story of a young woman's awakening as an artist against the back...
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Aug 07, 2007
Anne
rated it: 
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, 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, More...
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Dec 30, 2008
Mackay
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This was the first Cather I read, and I adored it. Maybe the adult me wouldn't, but the child me did. Maybe it didn't hurt that my mother listened to the Met on the radio every Saturday (though not Wagner, not then...distinctly out of favor)- but I believed every word of this book of a Nebraska girl who grows up to be a famous Wagnerian soprano.
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Mar 04, 2008
Abigail
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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
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Mar 31, 2009
Melanie
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Why did I select this book? I'd never read Cather, and I knew that the plot included opera. Well, now I have, and it does.
The plot - the trajectory of a young girl's life from small-town Colorado to international acclaim as a Wagnerian diva - is almost incidental. The huge Colorado landscape will, one knows, transmute itself into the vistas of Valhalla. The landscape itself will be as much a character as any human being, and will be given a voice more eloquent and true than any human More...
The plot - the trajectory of a young girl's life from small-town Colorado to international acclaim as a Wagnerian diva - is almost incidental. The huge Colorado landscape will, one knows, transmute itself into the vistas of Valhalla. The landscape itself will be as much a character as any human being, and will be given a voice more eloquent and true than any human More...
Dec 07, 2011
Joanmom
rated it:
This was on a list of books with music themes, and remembering how much I had enjoyed other Cather novels (especially Death Comes for the Archbishop), I sought it out at my local library. Such good fortune - it was in an anthology that included biographic information, so I gained some insight into Cather's influences. Not only was she a voracious reader, but she met and was friends with many contemporary writers, publishers, and musicians. Now, I am not schooled in literature, and was recently s
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Oct 22, 2011
Dianne
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I'm having trouble deciding what I want to say about this book. When I don't like books I want to forget about them and move on as quickly as possible. I fell in love with Willa Cather's writing when I read My Antonia last year but this one didn't charm me in the same way. The writing is good, but it's missing.....I don't know, something. Maybe it's just a lack of likable characters.
The main character is Thea Kronberg, a girl growing up in Moonstone, Colorado. She takes music lessons, More...
The main character is Thea Kronberg, a girl growing up in Moonstone, Colorado. She takes music lessons, More...
Aug 28, 2011
ShaLisa
rated it:
This is a hard book to review. I felt like there were two parts - the first half and the second half and that each part suggested different ideas and themes. The first half, which I liked so much more, was about a curious and intelligent girl growing up honest and interested. She had flare and she seemed to care a great deal about people, the real person and not their circumstance. She was talented, yes, very much so, but she worked hard practicing four hours a day and she cared about her in
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Jul 08, 2011
David
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This was Cather's second novel, much longer than the first; I loved the first two-thirds of it, but after that was disappointed. It's a portrait of an artist, a most unusual artist, who grew up in a small town with a preacher father and was never exposed to art except for the singing in the church. But she had an artistic temperament and real ability, and one thing after another led her to eventually become a famous opera singer. The stories of Thea when she was young, and during the time whe
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Apr 15, 2010
Mimi
rated it:
This book . . . well, it's the third Cather novel I have read, and I think I like it the least. That said, you can see I still gave it three stars, because just because I like it the least, does not mean that it is not a good novel and well written.
The book follows the life of Thea Kronborg, a Swedish-American who grows up in a small town in Colorado and ends up studying voice in Germany and becoming a famous opera star.
My main complaint is that the beginning of the book was More...
The book follows the life of Thea Kronborg, a Swedish-American who grows up in a small town in Colorado and ends up studying voice in Germany and becoming a famous opera star.
My main complaint is that the beginning of the book was More...
Feb 27, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Cather is one of my very favorite authors, but this book was tedious to read at times.
The thing that impressed me the most from this reading was the depiction of different relationships. I admired Thea and Doctor Archie’s life-long friendship. She says to him, “There are a great many ways of caring for people. It’s not, after all, a simple state, like measles or tonsillitis.”
There is the contrast of Doctor Archie’s marriage with that of Thea’s parents. “If wiving w More...
The thing that impressed me the most from this reading was the depiction of different relationships. I admired Thea and Doctor Archie’s life-long friendship. She says to him, “There are a great many ways of caring for people. It’s not, after all, a simple state, like measles or tonsillitis.”
There is the contrast of Doctor Archie’s marriage with that of Thea’s parents. “If wiving w More...
Nov 17, 2007
Heidi
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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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Jun 18, 2007
Patricia
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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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Jul 29, 2011
Tatasoutsidevoice
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I don't have very many books on my "to buy/own" list; this one definitely makes the cut.
Descriptive, painful, poignant, moving, insightful - Cather is an extremely talented writer and I look forward to reading more of her work.
Two quotes that really hit home with me:
"He knew that he was still hunting for something. He knew that this was an unbecoming and ungrateful state of mind, and he reproached himself for it. But he could not help wondering why it was that l More...
Descriptive, painful, poignant, moving, insightful - Cather is an extremely talented writer and I look forward to reading more of her work.
Two quotes that really hit home with me:
"He knew that he was still hunting for something. He knew that this was an unbecoming and ungrateful state of mind, and he reproached himself for it. But he could not help wondering why it was that l More...
Jun 28, 2011
Diane
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I did not enjoy this book although I kept slogging through to the end, some 600-plus long pages. It is the story of an early nineteenth century girl from the Amerian mid-west who becomes a famous opera singer. I understand that this novel is considered a significant work of literature but I think Cather could have used a good editor among other things. Description heavy and repetitious. Cather uses such strange turns of phrase that I kept wondering if English was her first language. Has the
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Jan 15, 2008
Summer
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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."
Dec 27, 2011
Jerzy
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Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark" is an often brilliant, reflective, fierce story that gets deep inside the heart and mind of a rare artist who has deep wells of passion and spirit and frightening, confusing vulnerability. But, it's also a big disappointment. For 300 pages it is absolutely compelling with a stunning, singular heroine at its center, one for whom I deeply cared. The childhood development of this fierce artist, her move to Chicago (where there are some of the best, mo
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Feb 06, 2011
Dhara
rated it:
Cather’s The Song of the Lark is an exquisite novel documenting the journey of a young artist, Thea Kronborg. She is gifted child whose pioneer Swedish parents’ encourage her to take music lessons. Her first music teacher Professor Wunsch discovers her talent. Although her aptitude in the piano is exception, her voice is a mark of genius. Even as a young girl, she impresses many people in a small town, Moonstone, Colorado. Her chief admirers are Ray Kenndy ( a railroad engineer) and Dr Archie, a
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Dec 16, 2009
Andrea
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so of course, people think "willa cather? really?" yes! really! if you want a super cool book about a woman who puts her career as an artist before her family...this is it! This is my favorite installment of the prairie trilogy...all I have to say is Soil, soul, and society.
Sep 14, 2009
Jean
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Since I have read My Antonia several times and Willa Cather is a Nebraska author, I have always meant to read more of her work. Charity nudged me to tackle this one. Definitely an American novel, the very land infuses Thea with the desire to live her life on her own terms and reach for her dream of perfection in herself and her art. It made me stop and reflect that I have always had a certain pride in my own mediocrity. It's really the only thing I'm very good at:) This novel makes me rethi
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Dec 16, 2009
Spring
rated it:
"The clamour about her drowned the voice within herself."
"Nothing is far and nothing is near, if one desires. The world is little, people are little, human life is little. There is only one big thing--desire. And before it, when it is big, all is little."
"Nothing is far and nothing is near, if one desires. The world is little, people are little, human life is little. There is only one big thing--desire. And before it, when it is big, all is little."
Jul 13, 2007
Gwen
rated it:
So this is my favorite from Cather. I won't enter all her books, but check out The Professor's House and My Mortal Enemy if you get hooked. Surprisingly I didn't like Death Comes for the Archbishop (her prizewinner) as well as these others.
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Dec 30, 2010
Melanie
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The strength of this work is the character development of the protagonist. The novel spans a couple of decades, and through that time one experiences how Thea grows up and matures into a woman.
Incidentally, I found it interesting that Cather included a number of passages in German (and fun that I could understand them!).
If you decide to listen to the audiobook, be advised that the back cover contains a typo for the spelling of the lead character's last name. I'm pretty sure ( More...
Incidentally, I found it interesting that Cather included a number of passages in German (and fun that I could understand them!).
If you decide to listen to the audiobook, be advised that the back cover contains a typo for the spelling of the lead character's last name. I'm pretty sure ( More...
Jul 07, 2011
Ruth-Ann
rated it:
Relatively engrossing for such a long book, and the sense of place Cather conveys is well worth reading, but the characters weren't always enjoyable. Thea is constantly portrayed as being somehow fundamentally different from most other human beings because she is an artist, or an artist in the making. Cather lays it on so thick sometimes I was reminded of Ayn Rand - Thea is John Galt, and everyone else is sub-human. The way Thea and Fred's relationship gets wrapped up is mystifying - the last ti
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Oct 19, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
not my favorite Cather. a little snobbish about talent. which bothered me.
but beautiful sense of place as always. very beautiful sense of frontier town, and native american ruins as private space, childhood refuge. Reminds me of places of my childhood, mental space of childhood/adolescence in nature.
story of a girl coming into her vocation and fallowing it as an artist. a singer. the fallowing the thread. the treading over snow drifts of hard work to fallow it. into the hard ci More...
but beautiful sense of place as always. very beautiful sense of frontier town, and native american ruins as private space, childhood refuge. Reminds me of places of my childhood, mental space of childhood/adolescence in nature.
story of a girl coming into her vocation and fallowing it as an artist. a singer. the fallowing the thread. the treading over snow drifts of hard work to fallow it. into the hard ci More...
Jan 17, 2012
Nancy
rated it:
Obviously really liked this one.
Thea Kronborg from a little town in Colorado starts out to be a pianist, but along the way finds her voice is her talent. Her voice takes her to the stage in New York. How she gets there and what it takes and gives is the center of this story.
Quotes: "..there is such a thing as creative hate! A contempt that drives you through fire, makes you risk everything and lose everything, makes you a long sight better than you ever knew you could be. More...
Thea Kronborg from a little town in Colorado starts out to be a pianist, but along the way finds her voice is her talent. Her voice takes her to the stage in New York. How she gets there and what it takes and gives is the center of this story.
Quotes: "..there is such a thing as creative hate! A contempt that drives you through fire, makes you risk everything and lose everything, makes you a long sight better than you ever knew you could be. More...
Jan 08, 2009
Melanie
rated it:
One of my favorite books of all time. This is a story of a young girl growing up in middle American in the early 20th century. She starts taking piano lessons from a fabulous teacher who sadly has a alcohol problem and lives in her little town. She goes on to study and ends up becoming a famous opera singer.
Maybe it's the singer in me, but I fell in love with this simple story. This is a book I've probably read about 10 times over the years, and will continue to pick it up at leas More...
Maybe it's the singer in me, but I fell in love with this simple story. This is a book I've probably read about 10 times over the years, and will continue to pick it up at leas More...
Aug 04, 2011
Hunter
rated it:
Thea Kronberg, this man loves you. Oh, and Willa is my woman, by the way. As a homosexual man, I can say with some conviction that Willa Cather is my favorite lesbian writer. I know, I know, most people prefer Gertrude Stein for her "rose is a rose is a..." but not me. This book, although I do feel she could have cut 50 pages, has some of the most beautiful philosophical lines that Cather ever penned and her story of the young and gifted Thea Kronberg is as good a story of an artist's
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Mar 01, 2011
Laurel
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This book has some beautiful scenes, such as when Thea goes West for the summer to stay with Ottenberg's friends. The relationships she develops as a child with the doctor, Spanish Johnny and her troubled piano teacher are complex and thoughtful. However, the book moves very slowly and as Thea grows I like her less and less. I know that wasn't the author's intention, but she becomes self-consumed, and a lot less interesting. I enjoyed the first half of the book and the lyrical prose throughout,
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Jan 31, 2012
Heather
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I didn't like this nearly as much as _O Pioneers!_. What I did like it for was it's lengthy evocations of the West. It made me miss home. The most interesting part was reading about Thea's childhood in Colorado, her family, her musical training and influences, the people around her. It was less interesting once she left home and became obsessed with her music. I started speculating about what mental illness or just compulsion she might have to make her distance herself from other people and conc
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Aug 07, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
I love Willa Cather and have thoroughly enjoyed many of her other books, but this one just sort of fizzled for me. There are many beautiful passages -- descriptions of place, landscapes, and experiences that are just not to be missed, but something just didn't click for me and Thea. I also really dislike the plot device of telling the story in retrospect -- the next chapter tells you what has happened during the passage of time from the chapter before and if you miss a sentence, you miss some
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