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A Lost Lady
To the people of Sweet Water, a fading railroad town on the Western plains, Mrs. Forrester is the resident aristocrat, at once gracious and comfortably remote. To her aging husband she is a treasure whose value increases as his powers fail. To Niel Herbert, who falls in love with her as a boy and becomes her confidant as a man, Mrs. Forrester is by turns steadfast and faithless, dazzling and pathetic: a woman whose charm is intertwined with a terrifying vulnerability.
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1923
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6482 people want to read
About the author
Willa Cather
904 books2,787 followersWilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.
She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.
Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.
She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.
She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.
Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.
She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.
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February 8, 2023
UNA SIGNORA NAUFRAGA COME NOI
Barbara Stanwyck è A Lost Lady nell’omonimo film del 1934.
Indimenticabile il racconto che Truman Capote fa del suo incontro con Willa Cather in “Musica per camaleonti”:
Un giorno di gennaio uscii dalla biblioteca al tramonto e mi trovai sotto una nevicata. La signora con gli occhi azzurri, che indossava un cappotto nero, di ottimo taglio, con il collo di ermellino, era in attesa sul marciapiede. Una mano era levata in aria, per chiamare un taxi, ma non c'era ombra di taxi. Mi guardò, sorrise, e disse: Crede che una tazza di cioccolata gioverebbe?
C'è un Longchamps dietro l'angolo." Lei ordinò una cioccolata calda; io chiesi un martini "molto" secco. Mi chiese, semiseria, "Ma è abbastanza grande?" "Bevo da quando avevo quattordici anni. E fumo, anche." "Non dimostra più di quattordici anni, ora." "Ne compio diciannove a settembre".
Poi le raccontai alcune cose: che ero di New Orleans, che avevo pubblicato diversi racconti, che volevo fare lo scrittore e stavo lavorando a un romanzo.
E lei volle sapere quali scrittori americani mi piacevano. "Hawthorne, Henry James, Emily Dickinson" "No, viventi." Ah, be', uhm, vediamo: molto arduo, dato il fattore rivalità, per un autore contemporaneo, o un potenziale autore, ammetterne di ammirarne un altro. Infine dissi: "Hemingway, non un uomo assolutamente disonesto, un velleitario in tutto. Thomas Wolfe, non tutto quel vomito violetto; e poi, certo, non è vivo. Faulkner, in certe cose: Luce d'agosto. Fitzgerald, in certe cose: Diamond as big as the Ritz, Tenera è la notte. Mi piace molto Willa Cather. Ha letto My mortal Enemy?" Senza un'espressione particolare rispose: "Per la verità l'ho scritto."
L’opera della Cather ebbe una prima versione cinematografica all’epoca del muto, nel 1924.
La signora in questione, Willa Cather, che all’epoca di questo incontro era prossima alla fine del suo cammino, aveva indimenticabili occhi azzurri, dell'azzurro chiaro, vivido, tenero dei cieli sopra le praterie.
Echi di bovarismo, perché ogni donna che cerca di sfuggire alla monotonia del vincolo matrimoniale e della vita di provincia va sempre ricondotta al celebre personaggio flaubertiano; profumi di Henry James ed Edith Wharton, per qualcuno anche nuance di Tolstòj, per me invece la fascinazione da innamorato in erba che il giovane Neil nutre per la signora Forrester rimanda a “The Go-Between” L.P.Hartley; grande scrittrice, apprezzata al suo tempo, meno dopo la sua uscita di scena, adesso riconosciuta ma non ancora celebre, Willa Cather pubblicò questo romanzo breve nel 1923 ambientandolo alla fine del secolo precedente.
I tre protagonisti di un film da me molto amato: “The Go-Between/Messaggero d’amore” di Joseph Losey, 1971.
Prima di tutto, prima del ritratto femminile che giustifica il titolo (e come alcuni lettori hanno fatto notare, più che perduta la signora è sperduta, smarrita, confusa, e soprattutto naufraga della/nella vita), io ho trovato l’affresco di un’epoca giunta alla sua fine, quella dei pionieri, ho letto il tramonto del West, il crepuscolo della Frontiera, l’America che avrebbe potuto essere, la fine di un sogno, e la nascita contemporanea della civiltà moderna già guasta e corrotta, in mano a sfruttatori e lacchè che non hanno conquistato niente né rischiato niente.
Un processo che marcia alla stessa velocità del treno, altro grande protagonista di quest’opera, al punto che le persone e i posti cambiano così in fretta che non rimane niente per cui tornare.
Era la stessa donna indomabile di sempre… – solo che ora, ad ascoltarla, erano rimasti solo i servi di scena. Tutti coloro che avevano condiviso con lei le belle imprese e le occasioni brillanti se ne erano andati.
La costruzione della ferrovia negli Stati Uniti.
Con una scrittura che credo si possa definire cristallina, se con questo termine s’intende discrezione, sapienza, trasparenza, ho letto un racconto di stoicismo, passione trattenuta, delusione, e mal di vivere.
Ho letto soprattutto un inno a quello svago fecondo, una risorsa praticamente inesauribile che è la lettura.
p. 67-68
La libreria alta stretta che si trovava nell’ufficio piccolo, tra la porta e il muro, era tutta stipata di volumi dall’aspetto solenne, rilegati in tela scura e separati dalla biblioteca giuridica: era la collezione quasi completa dei classici Bohn, che il giudice Pommeroy aveva comprato tanto tempo prima, quando ancora studiava all’Università della Virginia. Poi li aveva portati con sé nel West, non perché li leggesse assiduamente, ma perché ai suoi tempi un gentiluomo doveva avere nella sua biblioteca quel genere di libri, proprio come doveva avere un bordeaux in cantina. La serie comprendeva anche le opere di Byron in tre volumi, e l’anno prima, a proposito di una citazione che Neil non aveva riconosciuto, lo zio gli aveva consigliato di leggerle tutte, tranne il Don Giovanni. Quello, aveva commentato il giudice con un sorriso sornione, poteva aspettare. Naturalmente Niel lo lesse per primo, quindi passò a Tom Jones e al Wilhelm Meister, via via fino a Montaigne e alle opere complete di Ovidio. Ma questi ultimi, poi, non li aveva accantonati – vi faceva sempre ritorno dopo altre escursioni. Gli sembrava che questi autori sapessero il fatto loro: se c’era del frivolo nel Don Giovanni, quei signori ne erano del tutto immuni.
Nella raccolta c’erano anche opere filosofiche, ma Niel si limitò a scorrerle. Non provava alcuna curiosità per ciò che gli uomini avevano pensato, ma per ciò che avevano sentito e vissuto il suo appetito era insaziabile. Se qualcuno gli avesse detto che quei libri erano dei classici e rappresentavano la saggezza dei secoli non li avrebbe nemmeno sfogliati, ma il fatto di averli scoperti per conto suo lo avevano portato a condurre una doppia vita, con tutti i suoi colpevoli piaceri. Aveva letto e riletto le Eroidi: gli parvero le più belle storie d’amore che fossero mai state raccontate. Per Neil quei libri non erano invenzioni destinate a far trascorrere il tempo più piacevolmente, ma creature viventi colte nell’atto stesso di vivere – soprese dietro l’ingannevole rigore della forma letteraria. Egli ascoltava le voci del passato, veniva introdotto in quel mondo sconfinato che si era immerso nella vita e aveva sontuosamente peccato, scintillando di tutte le sue luci, molto tempo prima che le piccole città del West fossero anche soltanto concepite. Quelle serate trascorse in estasi assoluta accanto al lume gli slargarono la mente, modificarono le sue idee sulle persone e lo aiutarono a capire con esattezza come desiderava che fossero i suoi rapporti con loro.
L’America delle ferrovie: il treno di Santa Fe (New Mexico) nel 1890.
Barbara Stanwyck è A Lost Lady nell’omonimo film del 1934.
Indimenticabile il racconto che Truman Capote fa del suo incontro con Willa Cather in “Musica per camaleonti”:
Un giorno di gennaio uscii dalla biblioteca al tramonto e mi trovai sotto una nevicata. La signora con gli occhi azzurri, che indossava un cappotto nero, di ottimo taglio, con il collo di ermellino, era in attesa sul marciapiede. Una mano era levata in aria, per chiamare un taxi, ma non c'era ombra di taxi. Mi guardò, sorrise, e disse: Crede che una tazza di cioccolata gioverebbe?
C'è un Longchamps dietro l'angolo." Lei ordinò una cioccolata calda; io chiesi un martini "molto" secco. Mi chiese, semiseria, "Ma è abbastanza grande?" "Bevo da quando avevo quattordici anni. E fumo, anche." "Non dimostra più di quattordici anni, ora." "Ne compio diciannove a settembre".
Poi le raccontai alcune cose: che ero di New Orleans, che avevo pubblicato diversi racconti, che volevo fare lo scrittore e stavo lavorando a un romanzo.
E lei volle sapere quali scrittori americani mi piacevano. "Hawthorne, Henry James, Emily Dickinson" "No, viventi." Ah, be', uhm, vediamo: molto arduo, dato il fattore rivalità, per un autore contemporaneo, o un potenziale autore, ammetterne di ammirarne un altro. Infine dissi: "Hemingway, non un uomo assolutamente disonesto, un velleitario in tutto. Thomas Wolfe, non tutto quel vomito violetto; e poi, certo, non è vivo. Faulkner, in certe cose: Luce d'agosto. Fitzgerald, in certe cose: Diamond as big as the Ritz, Tenera è la notte. Mi piace molto Willa Cather. Ha letto My mortal Enemy?" Senza un'espressione particolare rispose: "Per la verità l'ho scritto."
L’opera della Cather ebbe una prima versione cinematografica all’epoca del muto, nel 1924.
La signora in questione, Willa Cather, che all’epoca di questo incontro era prossima alla fine del suo cammino, aveva indimenticabili occhi azzurri, dell'azzurro chiaro, vivido, tenero dei cieli sopra le praterie.
Echi di bovarismo, perché ogni donna che cerca di sfuggire alla monotonia del vincolo matrimoniale e della vita di provincia va sempre ricondotta al celebre personaggio flaubertiano; profumi di Henry James ed Edith Wharton, per qualcuno anche nuance di Tolstòj, per me invece la fascinazione da innamorato in erba che il giovane Neil nutre per la signora Forrester rimanda a “The Go-Between” L.P.Hartley; grande scrittrice, apprezzata al suo tempo, meno dopo la sua uscita di scena, adesso riconosciuta ma non ancora celebre, Willa Cather pubblicò questo romanzo breve nel 1923 ambientandolo alla fine del secolo precedente.
I tre protagonisti di un film da me molto amato: “The Go-Between/Messaggero d’amore” di Joseph Losey, 1971.
Prima di tutto, prima del ritratto femminile che giustifica il titolo (e come alcuni lettori hanno fatto notare, più che perduta la signora è sperduta, smarrita, confusa, e soprattutto naufraga della/nella vita), io ho trovato l’affresco di un’epoca giunta alla sua fine, quella dei pionieri, ho letto il tramonto del West, il crepuscolo della Frontiera, l’America che avrebbe potuto essere, la fine di un sogno, e la nascita contemporanea della civiltà moderna già guasta e corrotta, in mano a sfruttatori e lacchè che non hanno conquistato niente né rischiato niente.
Un processo che marcia alla stessa velocità del treno, altro grande protagonista di quest’opera, al punto che le persone e i posti cambiano così in fretta che non rimane niente per cui tornare.
Era la stessa donna indomabile di sempre… – solo che ora, ad ascoltarla, erano rimasti solo i servi di scena. Tutti coloro che avevano condiviso con lei le belle imprese e le occasioni brillanti se ne erano andati.
La costruzione della ferrovia negli Stati Uniti.
Con una scrittura che credo si possa definire cristallina, se con questo termine s’intende discrezione, sapienza, trasparenza, ho letto un racconto di stoicismo, passione trattenuta, delusione, e mal di vivere.
Ho letto soprattutto un inno a quello svago fecondo, una risorsa praticamente inesauribile che è la lettura.
p. 67-68
La libreria alta stretta che si trovava nell’ufficio piccolo, tra la porta e il muro, era tutta stipata di volumi dall’aspetto solenne, rilegati in tela scura e separati dalla biblioteca giuridica: era la collezione quasi completa dei classici Bohn, che il giudice Pommeroy aveva comprato tanto tempo prima, quando ancora studiava all’Università della Virginia. Poi li aveva portati con sé nel West, non perché li leggesse assiduamente, ma perché ai suoi tempi un gentiluomo doveva avere nella sua biblioteca quel genere di libri, proprio come doveva avere un bordeaux in cantina. La serie comprendeva anche le opere di Byron in tre volumi, e l’anno prima, a proposito di una citazione che Neil non aveva riconosciuto, lo zio gli aveva consigliato di leggerle tutte, tranne il Don Giovanni. Quello, aveva commentato il giudice con un sorriso sornione, poteva aspettare. Naturalmente Niel lo lesse per primo, quindi passò a Tom Jones e al Wilhelm Meister, via via fino a Montaigne e alle opere complete di Ovidio. Ma questi ultimi, poi, non li aveva accantonati – vi faceva sempre ritorno dopo altre escursioni. Gli sembrava che questi autori sapessero il fatto loro: se c’era del frivolo nel Don Giovanni, quei signori ne erano del tutto immuni.
Nella raccolta c’erano anche opere filosofiche, ma Niel si limitò a scorrerle. Non provava alcuna curiosità per ciò che gli uomini avevano pensato, ma per ciò che avevano sentito e vissuto il suo appetito era insaziabile. Se qualcuno gli avesse detto che quei libri erano dei classici e rappresentavano la saggezza dei secoli non li avrebbe nemmeno sfogliati, ma il fatto di averli scoperti per conto suo lo avevano portato a condurre una doppia vita, con tutti i suoi colpevoli piaceri. Aveva letto e riletto le Eroidi: gli parvero le più belle storie d’amore che fossero mai state raccontate. Per Neil quei libri non erano invenzioni destinate a far trascorrere il tempo più piacevolmente, ma creature viventi colte nell’atto stesso di vivere – soprese dietro l’ingannevole rigore della forma letteraria. Egli ascoltava le voci del passato, veniva introdotto in quel mondo sconfinato che si era immerso nella vita e aveva sontuosamente peccato, scintillando di tutte le sue luci, molto tempo prima che le piccole città del West fossero anche soltanto concepite. Quelle serate trascorse in estasi assoluta accanto al lume gli slargarono la mente, modificarono le sue idee sulle persone e lo aiutarono a capire con esattezza come desiderava che fossero i suoi rapporti con loro.
L’America delle ferrovie: il treno di Santa Fe (New Mexico) nel 1890.
May 19, 2023
addicted to 100 page classics!!!
this one reminded me of school assigned reading, both in a good way (i miss discussing little books with historical context and obvious themes with a group of nerds) and a bad way (wow, this felt like it was written for an audience that could've been formatted like grade ___ and above).
ultimately this complex and short and very simply written and kinda (very) corny but effective!
bottom line: a girl never forgets her first [willa cather].
this one reminded me of school assigned reading, both in a good way (i miss discussing little books with historical context and obvious themes with a group of nerds) and a bad way (wow, this felt like it was written for an audience that could've been formatted like grade ___ and above).
ultimately this complex and short and very simply written and kinda (very) corny but effective!
bottom line: a girl never forgets her first [willa cather].
March 14, 2018
“A lost lady” was a big surprise for me. Hadn’t I known that Cather had written it, I would have never brought up her name. The slow decline of the seductive Mariane Forrester reminded me much more of Edith Wharton’s acerbic style or even of Flaubert’s aesthetic frivolities of his female protagonists.
Narrated in indirect style by Niel Herbert, an impressionable young man besotted with the irresistible charms of Mrs Forrester, the novel provides a tone, a lyric and an ethical vision of life that goes beyond the accurate portrayal of this lost lady.
Cather seems to link the inexorable degeneration of an idealized woman with the extinction of the pioneers’ American dream.
It’s the end of the nineteenth century and a new era has come to the Wild West. The engineers and railroad workers have lost their status to bankers and tradesmen, and women smoke and banter with their husbands, something never seen before.
As young Niel grows up, his poetic, dreamy essence vanishes.
When the mask of romantic infatuation falls down from his face, the true nature of Mrs. Forrester is revealed, history has moved on and a new page is about to be written, leaving all glories of past days as mere postcards, blurred memories of better versions of ourselves.
Quite an enlightening novella, and one that will introduce the reader to a less known facet of this romantic writer.
Narrated in indirect style by Niel Herbert, an impressionable young man besotted with the irresistible charms of Mrs Forrester, the novel provides a tone, a lyric and an ethical vision of life that goes beyond the accurate portrayal of this lost lady.
Cather seems to link the inexorable degeneration of an idealized woman with the extinction of the pioneers’ American dream.
It’s the end of the nineteenth century and a new era has come to the Wild West. The engineers and railroad workers have lost their status to bankers and tradesmen, and women smoke and banter with their husbands, something never seen before.
As young Niel grows up, his poetic, dreamy essence vanishes.
When the mask of romantic infatuation falls down from his face, the true nature of Mrs. Forrester is revealed, history has moved on and a new page is about to be written, leaving all glories of past days as mere postcards, blurred memories of better versions of ourselves.
Quite an enlightening novella, and one that will introduce the reader to a less known facet of this romantic writer.
August 25, 2017
Set in the fictional prairie town of Sweet Water, Nebraska. A Lost Lady is the story of Mrs. Marian Forrester and young Neil Herbert who adores her. The way she takes care of her husband, the stately manner she comports herself, is perfection in the eyes of Neil. But Marian is not perfect, and she begins her downfall in Neil's eyes when he discovers she is having an affair while her husband is away. Later in the story, after her husband has died, Marian has a relationship with the despised Ivy Peters, and her decline is complete for Neil.
Willa Cather always develops memorable characters in her novels, and Marian Forrester is no exception. Marian was Fitzgerald's inspiration for Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. I've read most of Cather's novels and I put A Lost Lady right up there with My Ántonia and One of Ours. She truly was a national treasure, one of the great American writers of the 20th century.
Willa Cather always develops memorable characters in her novels, and Marian Forrester is no exception. Marian was Fitzgerald's inspiration for Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. I've read most of Cather's novels and I put A Lost Lady right up there with My Ántonia and One of Ours. She truly was a national treasure, one of the great American writers of the 20th century.
September 5, 2021
[4+] A multi-layered portrait of a woman in the late 19th century, from the perspective of an affable, traditional young man (Niel) who who becomes disappointed when she falls from her perch as an idealized lady. Thus the title.
But the reader sees more than he does. Cather writes about Marian with breathtaking clarity, somehow allowing us to see her complex desires through Niel's romanticized, narrow lense. This novel is a masterful accomplishment that I have been thinking about since I finished several days ago.
But the reader sees more than he does. Cather writes about Marian with breathtaking clarity, somehow allowing us to see her complex desires through Niel's romanticized, narrow lense. This novel is a masterful accomplishment that I have been thinking about since I finished several days ago.
June 8, 2010
Earlier this year, in the Fall, my family decided to go through all of my grandma's old books. She was a literature professor, so this was a pretty big task. My aunt boxed them all up and brought them in her van to the family reunion. My mom and her two sisters spent an entire morning going through the books, dividing them up like players in a fantasy football draft. I came in later and set a few aside for myself. I was looking at this book, A Lost Lady, when my cousin came in and told me how incredibly boring Willa Cather is. She said she had to read My Antonia for class and just hated it. I decided to give it a whirl anyway. I mean, if my grandma had it, it must have meant at least a little something to her, right?
As it turns out, my cousin is full of crap. I really loved this book. It made me feel nostalgic in a way that I just adore. I think bittersweet is my favorite emotion. It's a coming-of-age story in a way. The young man grows up and has his illusions about Mrs. Forrester (the "lost lady") dashed. At first, he's very angry that she's not who he imagined. But, as time goes by, he accepts her as she is, both in real life and in his mind. It's a story about having the romanticized veil lifted, which can be very painful. But, acceptance of what truly lies underneath is a beautiful thing. Even if it takes some time.
As it turns out, my cousin is full of crap. I really loved this book. It made me feel nostalgic in a way that I just adore. I think bittersweet is my favorite emotion. It's a coming-of-age story in a way. The young man grows up and has his illusions about Mrs. Forrester (the "lost lady") dashed. At first, he's very angry that she's not who he imagined. But, as time goes by, he accepts her as she is, both in real life and in his mind. It's a story about having the romanticized veil lifted, which can be very painful. But, acceptance of what truly lies underneath is a beautiful thing. Even if it takes some time.
February 15, 2025
I struggled and I think mostly failed to figure out how to capture this powerfully compact little book. We're still in Nebraska, "in one of those grey towns along the Burlington railroad, which are so much greyer today than they were then". But Cather's style and perspective are evolving. There is a bitterness to her writing, which is new. She is attacking the zero-principle, zero-ethics destructive evolution of American capitalism. And her prose here has what I think is a new sharpness. But she maintains her deep interest in character and natural surroundings. Her characters are still complex, flawed, limited and yet full and wonderfully surprising. Her lost lady, Marian Forrester, is quite magnificent, really only fallen in the eyes are our viewpoint, that of a young local orphan, Niel Herbert. Niel is raised by his uncle, a local lawyer. He gets lost in books and has a mixture of smalltown principles and scholarly inclination. Through his relationship and observation of Marian he experiences his own kind of gut-wrenching fallen innocence, but he's naive and growing up.
Cather's prose is something else here, whether showing nature as a reflection of the story they surround or capturing Marian's impact. Marian can lighten a room, disarm the serious, and she creates energy in disarray, but she is also not to be underestimated. When pressed to false cheerfulness she "burned through the common-place words like the colour in an opal." Elsewhere in some restrained passion with a visitor, the married Marian "put her hand on the sleeve of his coat; the white fingers clung to the black cloth as bits of paper cling to magnetized iron. Her touch, soft as it was, went through the man, all the feet and inches of him."
It's unfortunate how tied-up or incapable I feel at capturing what is really a terrific little book. When it was published reviews claimed it was her best book up to that point, and that's how I felt having read four of her previous five. It's an evolving author. But I do wonder how this one will hang around, and if I'll retain the same memories and impressions her earlier works have left with me. There is a cost to this compression. In all the other books of hers I've read she paces, counting on her story telling to keep you in the flow. This one, sharp, quick, doesn't have the same room for this, and there is maybe a little loss of the experience of being in the book.
Well, regardless of all that, this is a special book on the changing American ethical landscape, on both a loss of innocence and the nuance of human adaptation. Recommended.
-----------------------------------------------
59. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
published: 1923
format: unpaged ebook from obscure publisher (typically ~150 pages)
acquired: September
read: Nov 2-22
time reading: 3 hr 26 min, 1.5 min/page
rating: 5
(PS: I have no idea why the lady on the cover appears to have a sniper laser point on her head)
Cather's prose is something else here, whether showing nature as a reflection of the story they surround or capturing Marian's impact. Marian can lighten a room, disarm the serious, and she creates energy in disarray, but she is also not to be underestimated. When pressed to false cheerfulness she "burned through the common-place words like the colour in an opal." Elsewhere in some restrained passion with a visitor, the married Marian "put her hand on the sleeve of his coat; the white fingers clung to the black cloth as bits of paper cling to magnetized iron. Her touch, soft as it was, went through the man, all the feet and inches of him."
It's unfortunate how tied-up or incapable I feel at capturing what is really a terrific little book. When it was published reviews claimed it was her best book up to that point, and that's how I felt having read four of her previous five. It's an evolving author. But I do wonder how this one will hang around, and if I'll retain the same memories and impressions her earlier works have left with me. There is a cost to this compression. In all the other books of hers I've read she paces, counting on her story telling to keep you in the flow. This one, sharp, quick, doesn't have the same room for this, and there is maybe a little loss of the experience of being in the book.
Well, regardless of all that, this is a special book on the changing American ethical landscape, on both a loss of innocence and the nuance of human adaptation. Recommended.
-----------------------------------------------
59. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
published: 1923
format: unpaged ebook from obscure publisher (typically ~150 pages)
acquired: September
read: Nov 2-22
time reading: 3 hr 26 min, 1.5 min/page
rating: 5
(PS: I have no idea why the lady on the cover appears to have a sniper laser point on her head)
January 28, 2019
Una novela corta pero muy interesante sobre la complejidad de las personas, el paso del tiempo, el desengaño...
Aunque no es de estas lecturas que te dejan verdadera huella, ha sido una historia que he disfrutado por lo bien que está narrada y los personajes tan realistas que describe.
Muy recomendable :)
Estoy deseando seguir con Willa ♥
Aunque no es de estas lecturas que te dejan verdadera huella, ha sido una historia que he disfrutado por lo bien que está narrada y los personajes tan realistas que describe.
Muy recomendable :)
Estoy deseando seguir con Willa ♥
July 24, 2020
2.5 stars
This is a fairly brief work by Cather; written after the Plains trilogy and before her more reflective later works. It is set in a western town called Sweet Water built on the Transcontinental Railway. It tells the story of Captain Forrester and especially his younger wife Marian. It is mainly told by a young man Niel Herbert. His uncle Judge Pommeroy is the local lawyer. The centre of the book is the character of Marin Forrester who might be described as a socialite somewhat stifled by an older husband and the limited local society. The novel is a study in change and decline.
One of the themes in the novel is the harking back to a better and more noble times. Men like Captain Forrester were amongst the original pioneers of the west:
“One day was like another, and all were glorious: good hunting, plenty of antelope and buffalo, boundless sunny sky, boundless plains of waving grass, long fresh water lagoons yellow with lagoon flowers, where the bison in their periodic migrations stopped to drink and bathe and wallow. “An ideal life for a young man,” the Captain pronounced.”
There is an idealized nostalgia in the novel as new and younger men (like Ivy Peters in the novel) came along and took over from the old pioneers. It is a common trend: the English do it as well. There is a golden age in the past, ruined by the nastiness of the present. In this case, what is missed is the fact that the pioneers had taken land that was already owned and settled by Native American peoples. Whilst Cather looks back with warmth:
"He had seen the end of an ear, the sunset of the pioneer. He had come upon it when already the glory was nearly spent. So in the buffalo times a traveller used to come upon the embers of a hunter's fire on the prairie, after the hunter was up and gone; the coals would be trampled out, but the ground was warm, and the flattened grass where he had slept and where his pony had grazed, told the story."
The reality was very different.
The novel is well written and is really a study of character. Hermione Lee in her introduction identifies three parallel plots. Firstly Captain Forrester’s gradual decline, secondly Marian Forrester’s story with its passion and contradiction and finally the framing story of Niel Herbert. Marian’s story is also clearly a narrative of female sexuality, in this case a pathologized sexuality. This is the point where Niel realises that Mrs Forrester has taken a lover following her husband’s stroke:
“In that instant between stooping to the window-sill and rising, he had lost one of the most beautiful things in his life. Before the dew dried, the morning had been wrecked for him; and all subsequent mornings, he told himself bitterly. This day saw the end of that admiration and loyalty that had been like a bloom on his existence. He could never recapture it. It was gone, like the morning freshness of the flowers.”
Niel is a rather prim and irritating young man, who has a particular view of women and what they should be. Take his recollection of when he first saw Marian Forrester:
“He could remember the very first time he ever saw Mrs Forrester, when he was a little boy. He had been loitering in front of the Episcopal Church one Sunday morning, when a low carriage drove up to the door. Ben Keezer was on the front seat, and on the back seat was a lady, alone, in a black silk dress all puffs and ruffles, and a black hat, carrying a parasol with a carved ivory handle. As the carriage stopped she lifted her dress to alight; out of a swirl of foamy white petticoats she thrust a black, shiny slipper. She stepped lightly to the ground and with a nod to the driver went into the church. The little boy followed her through the open door, saw her enter a pew and kneel. He was proud now that at the first moment he had recognised her as belonging to a different world from any he had ever known.”
There is also an example of racist language in a comment from Judge Pommeroy to Mrs Forrester. He is talking about the contrast between modern business and the pioneers:
“By God Madam, I think I’ve lived too long! In my day the difference a business man and a scoundrel was bigger than the difference between a white man and a n****r”
It isn’t just a casual reference, it’s a comparator.
This is meant to be one of Cather’s better works: I hope not! I understand the nostalgia industry and the portrayal of a decline of mores and standards and some of the characterisation is interesting, but the whole was problematic for me.
This is a fairly brief work by Cather; written after the Plains trilogy and before her more reflective later works. It is set in a western town called Sweet Water built on the Transcontinental Railway. It tells the story of Captain Forrester and especially his younger wife Marian. It is mainly told by a young man Niel Herbert. His uncle Judge Pommeroy is the local lawyer. The centre of the book is the character of Marin Forrester who might be described as a socialite somewhat stifled by an older husband and the limited local society. The novel is a study in change and decline.
One of the themes in the novel is the harking back to a better and more noble times. Men like Captain Forrester were amongst the original pioneers of the west:
“One day was like another, and all were glorious: good hunting, plenty of antelope and buffalo, boundless sunny sky, boundless plains of waving grass, long fresh water lagoons yellow with lagoon flowers, where the bison in their periodic migrations stopped to drink and bathe and wallow. “An ideal life for a young man,” the Captain pronounced.”
There is an idealized nostalgia in the novel as new and younger men (like Ivy Peters in the novel) came along and took over from the old pioneers. It is a common trend: the English do it as well. There is a golden age in the past, ruined by the nastiness of the present. In this case, what is missed is the fact that the pioneers had taken land that was already owned and settled by Native American peoples. Whilst Cather looks back with warmth:
"He had seen the end of an ear, the sunset of the pioneer. He had come upon it when already the glory was nearly spent. So in the buffalo times a traveller used to come upon the embers of a hunter's fire on the prairie, after the hunter was up and gone; the coals would be trampled out, but the ground was warm, and the flattened grass where he had slept and where his pony had grazed, told the story."
The reality was very different.
The novel is well written and is really a study of character. Hermione Lee in her introduction identifies three parallel plots. Firstly Captain Forrester’s gradual decline, secondly Marian Forrester’s story with its passion and contradiction and finally the framing story of Niel Herbert. Marian’s story is also clearly a narrative of female sexuality, in this case a pathologized sexuality. This is the point where Niel realises that Mrs Forrester has taken a lover following her husband’s stroke:
“In that instant between stooping to the window-sill and rising, he had lost one of the most beautiful things in his life. Before the dew dried, the morning had been wrecked for him; and all subsequent mornings, he told himself bitterly. This day saw the end of that admiration and loyalty that had been like a bloom on his existence. He could never recapture it. It was gone, like the morning freshness of the flowers.”
Niel is a rather prim and irritating young man, who has a particular view of women and what they should be. Take his recollection of when he first saw Marian Forrester:
“He could remember the very first time he ever saw Mrs Forrester, when he was a little boy. He had been loitering in front of the Episcopal Church one Sunday morning, when a low carriage drove up to the door. Ben Keezer was on the front seat, and on the back seat was a lady, alone, in a black silk dress all puffs and ruffles, and a black hat, carrying a parasol with a carved ivory handle. As the carriage stopped she lifted her dress to alight; out of a swirl of foamy white petticoats she thrust a black, shiny slipper. She stepped lightly to the ground and with a nod to the driver went into the church. The little boy followed her through the open door, saw her enter a pew and kneel. He was proud now that at the first moment he had recognised her as belonging to a different world from any he had ever known.”
There is also an example of racist language in a comment from Judge Pommeroy to Mrs Forrester. He is talking about the contrast between modern business and the pioneers:
“By God Madam, I think I’ve lived too long! In my day the difference a business man and a scoundrel was bigger than the difference between a white man and a n****r”
It isn’t just a casual reference, it’s a comparator.
This is meant to be one of Cather’s better works: I hope not! I understand the nostalgia industry and the portrayal of a decline of mores and standards and some of the characterisation is interesting, but the whole was problematic for me.
May 18, 2022
“...siempre tenía el poder de sugerir cosas mucho más bellas que ella misma, igual que el perfume de una única flor puede invocar toda la dulzura de la primavera.”
Para ser mi primer acercamiento a la obra de Willa Cather, confirmo que ha sido toda una buena experiencia.
En principio, la trama me pareció simple pero no aburrida y se da tal cual se describe en unas cuatro líneas en la contraportada de esta pequeña novela: Marianne (o Marian) Forrester vive junto a su esposo, un capitán y pionero de la línea de ferrocarril cuyo tren pasa por el pequeño poblado de Sweet Water; es ahí, como a través de los ojos de un joven amigo de ambos, se contará la historia y la vida de nuestra protagonista, quien en un determinado momento será vista por ciertas personas como una dama extraviada.
De entrada, me gustó mucho la prosa de la autora. Sin hacer uso de descripciones tan detalladas, nos sitúa muy bien en la trama de la novela y presenta a cada personaje de manera concisa y con un buen desarrollo. Como dije, la historia de la señora Forrester es vista a través de Niel, un muchacho amigo del matrimonio, aunque el narrador está en tercera persona. Esto en lo particular me gustó.
Lo único malo que le veo, es que el que debiera ser el conflicto principal de la novela tarda en llegar más allá del 50% de la lectura, así que sin más hay que ser pacientes. Por otro lado, lo mejor de la novela: su final. Es un final que me causó nostalgia pero que cierra la historia de Marianne sin dejar cabos sueltos; será difícil de olvidar.
Dicho todo esto, no puedo esperar a leer algo más de Cather, no cabe duda de que pronto se dará la ocasión.
Nota: casi lo olvido, pero este libro tiene una de las escenas de maltrato animal más fuertes que he leído; tanto, que terminé indignado y odiando al perpetrador y con ganas de sacarlo de la historia y golpearlo, no sé. Si son en especial amantes de las aves ir con cuidado.
Para ser mi primer acercamiento a la obra de Willa Cather, confirmo que ha sido toda una buena experiencia.
En principio, la trama me pareció simple pero no aburrida y se da tal cual se describe en unas cuatro líneas en la contraportada de esta pequeña novela: Marianne (o Marian) Forrester vive junto a su esposo, un capitán y pionero de la línea de ferrocarril cuyo tren pasa por el pequeño poblado de Sweet Water; es ahí, como a través de los ojos de un joven amigo de ambos, se contará la historia y la vida de nuestra protagonista, quien en un determinado momento será vista por ciertas personas como una dama extraviada.
De entrada, me gustó mucho la prosa de la autora. Sin hacer uso de descripciones tan detalladas, nos sitúa muy bien en la trama de la novela y presenta a cada personaje de manera concisa y con un buen desarrollo. Como dije, la historia de la señora Forrester es vista a través de Niel, un muchacho amigo del matrimonio, aunque el narrador está en tercera persona. Esto en lo particular me gustó.
Lo único malo que le veo, es que el que debiera ser el conflicto principal de la novela tarda en llegar más allá del 50% de la lectura, así que sin más hay que ser pacientes. Por otro lado, lo mejor de la novela: su final. Es un final que me causó nostalgia pero que cierra la historia de Marianne sin dejar cabos sueltos; será difícil de olvidar.
Dicho todo esto, no puedo esperar a leer algo más de Cather, no cabe duda de que pronto se dará la ocasión.
Nota: casi lo olvido, pero este libro tiene una de las escenas de maltrato animal más fuertes que he leído; tanto, que terminé indignado y odiando al perpetrador y con ganas de sacarlo de la historia y golpearlo, no sé. Si son en especial amantes de las aves ir con cuidado.
March 21, 2023
“Izgubljena dama” (1923.) je moj drugi pročitani roman Vile Kader u životu (pre, otprilike, deceniju sam pročitao “Moju Antoniju”). U genezi američkog romana Kaderova bi pripadala linijskoj pruzi modernosti čija bi lokomotiva bio Henri Džejms – odnegovan stil, brižljivo tretiranje detalja sa tendencijom ka njihovom simbolističkom značenju, odjeci Pejterovog esteticizma i sraslost tačke gledišta sa onim što se posmatra. Radnja ovog romana je smeštena na američki zapad, negde tik nakon što su tzv. pioniri osvojili nepregledne prerije izgradivši železnicu. Glavni junak je Nil Herbert, jedan od onih delikatnih mladih neženja Džejmsovske proze, a zaplet se tiče njegove zaljubljenosti u Marijan Forester, dražesnu suprugu pripadnika više klase pionira. Nil je u nju zaljubljen i ćoravo i idealistički, kako to već biva u prvoj mladosti, sve dok postepeno ne bude otkrivao da Marijan nije ni hodajuća vrlina ni idealna žena skrojena prema idealnim aršinima onog vremena.
Postoji priča da je Kaderin roman uticao na “Velikog Getsbija” koji je izašao dve godine kasnije. Doduše, priča o romantičnom tajkunu na Long Ajlendu je fabularno i strukturalno drugačija od mladalačkog razočarenja u varoši Nebraske, ali oba narativa su čitana kao simbolične pripovesti o propasti američkog sna. Pisalo se da se Ficdžerald stvarajući Dejzi, njenu dražesnost, manipulativnost i kako ona postoji u Getsbijevim očima, ugledao na Kaderinu koncepciju Marijan i stilizaciju njene prirode u Nilovim očima. To donekle stoji, donekle ne. Između ostalog, razlika bi ležala što na kraju, kada Getsbi biva ubijen, više niko ne veruje da je u Dejzi bilo ičega posebno, Nik Karavej je razočaran, čitaoci su ljuti na nju i odmahuju glavom – očaranost je nestala. U “Izgubljenoj dami” je to drugačije. Naravno, nema u njoj ni pucnjava, jurnjave kolima, ali postoji razočaranost u idealizovanu sliku žene. Ali, ma koliko dama “potone” i “izgubi” se izvan predstave onoga što je NIl video u njoj na početku, Marijan ostaje posebna i u očima čitaoca, pa i u očima glavnog junaka. Glavni junak jeste zagledan u svekoliki sumrak – od društva koje je poznavao, sopstvene mladosti, ideala do žene koju je voleo – ali to sunce na zalasku i dalje čuva svoju privlačnost.
Postoji priča da je Kaderin roman uticao na “Velikog Getsbija” koji je izašao dve godine kasnije. Doduše, priča o romantičnom tajkunu na Long Ajlendu je fabularno i strukturalno drugačija od mladalačkog razočarenja u varoši Nebraske, ali oba narativa su čitana kao simbolične pripovesti o propasti američkog sna. Pisalo se da se Ficdžerald stvarajući Dejzi, njenu dražesnost, manipulativnost i kako ona postoji u Getsbijevim očima, ugledao na Kaderinu koncepciju Marijan i stilizaciju njene prirode u Nilovim očima. To donekle stoji, donekle ne. Između ostalog, razlika bi ležala što na kraju, kada Getsbi biva ubijen, više niko ne veruje da je u Dejzi bilo ičega posebno, Nik Karavej je razočaran, čitaoci su ljuti na nju i odmahuju glavom – očaranost je nestala. U “Izgubljenoj dami” je to drugačije. Naravno, nema u njoj ni pucnjava, jurnjave kolima, ali postoji razočaranost u idealizovanu sliku žene. Ali, ma koliko dama “potone” i “izgubi” se izvan predstave onoga što je NIl video u njoj na početku, Marijan ostaje posebna i u očima čitaoca, pa i u očima glavnog junaka. Glavni junak jeste zagledan u svekoliki sumrak – od društva koje je poznavao, sopstvene mladosti, ideala do žene koju je voleo – ali to sunce na zalasku i dalje čuva svoju privlačnost.
February 7, 2016
Four and a half.
The elegant, beautiful Marian Forrester captivates not only her older husband, Captain Forrester, an elderly railroad pioneer, but also everyone she meets. She has energy, spirit and a passionate nature which helps in her move to the small town of Sweet Water, but she is also reckless and vulnerable. Captain Forrester values his wife and basks in her glory. He makes allowances for her behaviour and accepts her with an open heart.
This slim novel is powerful and very moving. Beautifully written with sharp, spare prose which heightens the meaning of the simplest of gestures and the slightest statement. Her characters are complex and hauntingly linger in my mind. Cather writes an unflinching portrait of a woman who is vibrant, contradictory, dangerous and lost.
The elegant, beautiful Marian Forrester captivates not only her older husband, Captain Forrester, an elderly railroad pioneer, but also everyone she meets. She has energy, spirit and a passionate nature which helps in her move to the small town of Sweet Water, but she is also reckless and vulnerable. Captain Forrester values his wife and basks in her glory. He makes allowances for her behaviour and accepts her with an open heart.
This slim novel is powerful and very moving. Beautifully written with sharp, spare prose which heightens the meaning of the simplest of gestures and the slightest statement. Her characters are complex and hauntingly linger in my mind. Cather writes an unflinching portrait of a woman who is vibrant, contradictory, dangerous and lost.
February 7, 2025
La signora perduta del romanzo è Marian, moglie dell’ integerrimo capitano Daniel Forrester un signore alla vecchia maniera che aveva cominciato la sua carriera dopo la guerra di secessione come vetturale di una ditta di spedizioni e successivamente aveva intuito le grandi possibilità di guadagno che si celavano nel progetto di costruzione di una ferrovia nella prateria e così era diventato un uomo ricco, stimato, in grado di realizzare il suo sogno di costruire sopra un colle attraversato da un torrente non distante dal paese Sweet Water, nel bel mezzo della prateria, la casa dei suoi sogni in cui, per dirla con le sue parole, “ …accogliere i miei amici con una moglie come Mrs Forrester che la rendesse attraente ai loro occhi”.
E la signora Forrester, Marian Ormsby, sposa ancora giovanissima, in circostanze romanzesche, il capitano Forrester, vedovo e più grande di lei di una ventina d’anni e si trasferisce con lui nel west, dividendo il loro vivere tra le città di Denver e Colorado Spring in inverno dove i due conducono vita di relazioni sociali dividendosi tra rappresentazioni teatrali, inviti a balli, pranzi e cene, in un lusso discreto mentre in estate si trasferiscono nell’accogliente e fresca casa sul torrente non lontana da Sweet Water finché una brutta caduta da cavallo ed anche un improvviso tracollo finanziario del capitano non costringe la coppia a rinunciare alla vita mondana invernale e a stabilirsi stabilmente nella prateria e continuando lì una vita apparentemente serena per entrambi con gli amici di lui che li vanno a trovare nei weekend.
Ma la protagonista principale del romanzo è lei, l' affascinante signora Marian, Maidy per il marito, descritta in maniera vivida dal giovanissimo Niel Herbert, nipote del Giudice Pommeroy grande amico e socio del capitano
“... Aveva occhi bellissimi, scuri e pieni di luce e un incarnato delizioso, del cristallino candore dei lillà bianchi” ma aldilà dell’avvenenza fisica, quando la si incontrava quello che colpiva immancabilmente di lei era che “...Bastava un cenno del capo, uno sguardo e subito si instaurava un rapporto….in lei c’era qualcosa che faceva presa sulle persone in un lampo: la sua fragilità e la sua grazia, la sua bocca che sapeva dire tante cose senza pronunciare una parola”
Tutti rimangono ammaliati dalla sua grazia, dalla sua gentilezza e amabilità, ospite affettuosa e cordiale, moglie apparentemente innamorata e fedele, pronta ad anticipare ogni necessità e desiderio del marito ormai invalido, amica solidale e partecipe…ma una donna così bella, così giovane e attraente nella solitudine dei giorni e delle notti serba un segreto che prima o poi sarà svelato…
Questo romanzo breve col quale ho iniziato la conoscenza letteraria di Willa Cather, senza essere un capolavoro, risulta un’opera letteraria non priva di grazia ed eleganza, scritta molto bene che regala una lettura spedita e coinvolgente in cui spicca una indimenticabile figura di donna affascinante e incantevole che pur ricordando nella trama le “gesta” dell’indimenticabile eroina del romanzo di Flaubert, ha una sua originalità che la distingue e la rende speciale
.
E la signora Forrester, Marian Ormsby, sposa ancora giovanissima, in circostanze romanzesche, il capitano Forrester, vedovo e più grande di lei di una ventina d’anni e si trasferisce con lui nel west, dividendo il loro vivere tra le città di Denver e Colorado Spring in inverno dove i due conducono vita di relazioni sociali dividendosi tra rappresentazioni teatrali, inviti a balli, pranzi e cene, in un lusso discreto mentre in estate si trasferiscono nell’accogliente e fresca casa sul torrente non lontana da Sweet Water finché una brutta caduta da cavallo ed anche un improvviso tracollo finanziario del capitano non costringe la coppia a rinunciare alla vita mondana invernale e a stabilirsi stabilmente nella prateria e continuando lì una vita apparentemente serena per entrambi con gli amici di lui che li vanno a trovare nei weekend.
Ma la protagonista principale del romanzo è lei, l' affascinante signora Marian, Maidy per il marito, descritta in maniera vivida dal giovanissimo Niel Herbert, nipote del Giudice Pommeroy grande amico e socio del capitano
“... Aveva occhi bellissimi, scuri e pieni di luce e un incarnato delizioso, del cristallino candore dei lillà bianchi” ma aldilà dell’avvenenza fisica, quando la si incontrava quello che colpiva immancabilmente di lei era che “...Bastava un cenno del capo, uno sguardo e subito si instaurava un rapporto….in lei c’era qualcosa che faceva presa sulle persone in un lampo: la sua fragilità e la sua grazia, la sua bocca che sapeva dire tante cose senza pronunciare una parola”
Tutti rimangono ammaliati dalla sua grazia, dalla sua gentilezza e amabilità, ospite affettuosa e cordiale, moglie apparentemente innamorata e fedele, pronta ad anticipare ogni necessità e desiderio del marito ormai invalido, amica solidale e partecipe…ma una donna così bella, così giovane e attraente nella solitudine dei giorni e delle notti serba un segreto che prima o poi sarà svelato…
Questo romanzo breve col quale ho iniziato la conoscenza letteraria di Willa Cather, senza essere un capolavoro, risulta un’opera letteraria non priva di grazia ed eleganza, scritta molto bene che regala una lettura spedita e coinvolgente in cui spicca una indimenticabile figura di donna affascinante e incantevole che pur ricordando nella trama le “gesta” dell’indimenticabile eroina del romanzo di Flaubert, ha una sua originalità che la distingue e la rende speciale
.
September 27, 2017
un personaggio femminile immerso nel fluido dei facili costumi riceve e dà al romanzo una spinta verso l'alto pari al peso della reputazione spostata.
April 26, 2022
A veces sucede, compras un libro de forma impulsiva, sin conocer nada acerca de su contenido ni saber opiniones ajenas, únicamente dejándote llevar por las sensaciones que te transmite su título, la imagen de su portada, el nombre de la autora o la editorial que la publica. Eso es lo que me ha sucedido con «Una dama extraviada» de Willa Cather, publicada en 1923 en la que nos transporta a la población de Sweet Water.
Dentro de un cuadro triste y pobre, habita la señora Forrester, una dama elegante, joven y con una gran riqueza. Esta pasará de ser la mujer más envidiada a ser señalada por sus allegados y demás conocidos, la idealización que tenían de ella se desvanecerá, caerá el velo que descubrirá las falsas apariencias y los deseos insatisfechos de nuestra protagonista.
Seguramente me podría pasar largas horas explicándoos lo que me ha conquistado de esta novela, pero para resultar menos cargante os haré un breve y conciso resumen: Willa tiene un estilo narrativo elegante, pulcro y bello, sabe escoger con precisión las palabras adecuadas para sus exquisitas descripciones, crea unos personajes muy realistas y sus respectivas presentaciones son sumamente interesantes y visuales, sin olvidar ni menospreciar los importantes temas que trata.
No es que crea que esta sea la mejor obra de todos los tiempos, es que con ella sé que he descubierto una escritora que me enamorará por completo, por lo menos, guiándome por la maravillosa calidad narrativa que he hallado en este escrito. Quizá sea una percepción errónea pero qué bonita y agradable es esta sensación.
En definitiva, a pesar de encontrarnos ante una trama simple, no por ello deja con ganas de más (sobre todo si vas sin expectativas de encontrar algo majestuoso), tiene tantas cosas positivas y además nos ofrece un final nostálgico y evocador que no esperaba que me ha dejado totalmente satisfecha (no suelo ser de finales felices y rápidos). Esta ha sido mi primera toma de contacto con Willa pero no la última, por supuesto la veréis mucho más por aquí.
Dentro de un cuadro triste y pobre, habita la señora Forrester, una dama elegante, joven y con una gran riqueza. Esta pasará de ser la mujer más envidiada a ser señalada por sus allegados y demás conocidos, la idealización que tenían de ella se desvanecerá, caerá el velo que descubrirá las falsas apariencias y los deseos insatisfechos de nuestra protagonista.
Seguramente me podría pasar largas horas explicándoos lo que me ha conquistado de esta novela, pero para resultar menos cargante os haré un breve y conciso resumen: Willa tiene un estilo narrativo elegante, pulcro y bello, sabe escoger con precisión las palabras adecuadas para sus exquisitas descripciones, crea unos personajes muy realistas y sus respectivas presentaciones son sumamente interesantes y visuales, sin olvidar ni menospreciar los importantes temas que trata.
No es que crea que esta sea la mejor obra de todos los tiempos, es que con ella sé que he descubierto una escritora que me enamorará por completo, por lo menos, guiándome por la maravillosa calidad narrativa que he hallado en este escrito. Quizá sea una percepción errónea pero qué bonita y agradable es esta sensación.
En definitiva, a pesar de encontrarnos ante una trama simple, no por ello deja con ganas de más (sobre todo si vas sin expectativas de encontrar algo majestuoso), tiene tantas cosas positivas y además nos ofrece un final nostálgico y evocador que no esperaba que me ha dejado totalmente satisfecha (no suelo ser de finales felices y rápidos). Esta ha sido mi primera toma de contacto con Willa pero no la última, por supuesto la veréis mucho más por aquí.
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December 9, 2020
Willa Cather (1873-1947)
It has been some time since I've opened one of "Willa" (Wilella Sibert) Cather's books, but not because my experience with the first two - O Pioneers! and Lucy Gayheart - was in any manner disappointing. On the contrary, I was so pleased with them that I purchased the Library of America's lovely two volume edition of her works. But you all know how one is torn by the siren calls of so many appealing authors, not to mention tossed upon the streaming rocks by life itself.
In any case, after reading her second and penultimate novels a few years ago, I finally opened her sixth: A Lost Lady (1923), published just after her Pulitzer Prize winning One of Ours and likewise commercially very successful.(*) This slim volume is primarily a remarkably vivid and engaging character study of a woman filtered through the eyes of a much younger and never completely comprehending boy/young man/man over the course of "thirty or forty years", who initially worships her, is then increasingly disappointed and finally disgusted by her. This reader, nearly a century after the text's composition, is certain that Cather did not share that disgust, but interposed the more conventionally thinking surrogate to ward the then certain moral outrage off of her own back.(**) And I wonder, from clues she drops here and there, if she didn't see this text as the depiction of a very gifted and vivacious woman trying to "succeed" in the principal manner allowed women in that time: through marriage and society. If Marian had a flaw, it was the degree to which she drew her strength not from within but from the men around her. To her younger worshiper she gave “the sense of tempered steel, a blade that could fence with anyone and never break.” But that was when she was still secure in her husband's love; when he was gone she had to endure a great deal (most of which we are spared because her admirer had written her off) before she - by late and distant report - had re-attained that strength. Rare it was in those days that women succeeded without a male protector. Though Cather herself did manage it, there is no hint of
anything less than complete empathy in her portrayal of Marian.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Clouds Coming Over The Plains
Of additional interest in this text is its portrait of the West in the closing phases of the transition from the pioneer to the mercantile spirit. And here Cather openly wears her nostalgia for the earlier spirit on her sleeve.
(*) A change of taste in the thirties - and the well-known, plain ornery fickleness of readers - declared her work then to be insufficiently contemporary and led to a significant drop in her sales and production, to our loss.
(**) She could also allow his deep emotions to color the narration, a nice touch.
November 19, 2019
Continuing my fanship of Willa C, this slows my stride a little. Niel comes of age, and about time, too. Mrs Forrester needs therapy that she never gets because the Age-Era-Time within which she lives hasn't yet had its coming of age. Everyone has to be someone else's version of what ought to be. . .stuck in the amber of time and social conditioning. The story really rubs me wrong because the characters I'm most hopeful for are cemented in their descriptions, and it almost feels that they are sacrificed to their written descriptions. . . .couldn't they have overcome and risen above? Mrs Forrester is full of want and hypocrisy (which is always relative!), and all the oogling, oughting men and shushing, shoulding women drive the story's end to a simple by-the-way statement of near strangers having spontaneous dinner upon meeting by chance. Didja know? No I didn't hear. . . . Her whole meaning dissolved in a last sip of gin. . . . .
But maybe it really bothers me because I recognize echoes of this now in corners and cracks of society's lurky places. . . .hmm. Judgments and expections of people that are out there . . . hmm.
I love the writing, though. I read through passages and just lay my head on the page. So beautiful. I see it sprawl across my brain as the words are read.
3 stars.
But maybe it really bothers me because I recognize echoes of this now in corners and cracks of society's lurky places. . . .hmm. Judgments and expections of people that are out there . . . hmm.
I love the writing, though. I read through passages and just lay my head on the page. So beautiful. I see it sprawl across my brain as the words are read.
3 stars.
April 27, 2019
Twelve-year-old Neil Herbert is charmed by Mrs Marian Forrester, the wife of the older Captain who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the West. Set in a Nebraska town in the late 19th Century, Neil has his idealized view of the beautiful, gracious Mrs Forrester changed as he discovers some indiscretions. But Mrs Forrester is not the only lost lady. The American pioneering spirit is being replaced by exploitation by the bankers, industrialists, and other capitalists at the turn of the century. The bonds between people and the land, the passing of time, and the symbol of roses also are important in this delightful novella.
November 24, 2016
Willa Cather is the outstanding American writer of the 20thC. An insightful stylist, she penetrates the heart. Her themes : America gradually moves into the "modern world," and Americans painfully come to terms with life.
Niel Herbert gets to know Mrs Forrester when he's 12 and she is in her 20s, married to a much older, kindly gent. He's dazzled. The story criss-crosses their lives and changing America. She suffers setbacks; he grows up and begins to understand the heartbreak of adult lives. As Mr Forrester said, "My philosophy is that what you plan for day by day -- you will get. Unless you are one of the people who get nothing in this world. There are such people." Many years later, in his 30s, Niel learns the fate of his "lost-lady."
Niel Herbert gets to know Mrs Forrester when he's 12 and she is in her 20s, married to a much older, kindly gent. He's dazzled. The story criss-crosses their lives and changing America. She suffers setbacks; he grows up and begins to understand the heartbreak of adult lives. As Mr Forrester said, "My philosophy is that what you plan for day by day -- you will get. Unless you are one of the people who get nothing in this world. There are such people." Many years later, in his 30s, Niel learns the fate of his "lost-lady."
June 4, 2024
Interesantna knjižica o još interesantnijoj ženi, o hrabrosti da se ruše muški ideali i da se živi drugačije od onoga što lažno brižna okolina smatra za adekvatno! 4⭐️ za predivnu Marijan!
August 21, 2025
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. I love Willa Cather's writing. This book felt quite a lot easier to read than others of hers I've read. It's a short novel and more of a "page turner" (though Cather's novels are never really going to be page turners). Despite its brevity, it packs a punch in its characterization, in the beauty of the nature writing, and in Cather's ability to capture a place and an age (in this case the age of the white pioneers who built roads and railroads in the west).
The themes in this novel remind me strongly of The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley, which I just read this summer. Both novels focus on a young boy/young man and his relationship to one male-female couple. With the couples in both books, the woman is particularly beautiful and beguiling. Niel gets off light compared to the young boy in The Go-Between, but the loss of innocence and the too-early knowledge of human fraility and deception is poignant in both novels.
I can see how Cather returns to themes from My Antonia in A Lost Lady. The central relationship in both is between a man and woman and their friendship that seems like it could be more, but never is. There is a certain 'untouchable' quality about both Marian Forrester and Antonia. Both narrators are intuitively aware of the charisma and vulnerability of these women, but can't ultimately help them bear their vulnerabilities.
The title 'A Lost Lady' is a fitting one because it begs many questions. Was Marian always lost or did she become lost? If she became lost, what caused it? Was it preventable or inevitable? Would she consider herself lost or is it only from Niel's perspective? The core marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Forrester is also fascinating. I didn't notice Mr. Forrester as a character much until later in the novel. It seems like that may be intentional on Cather's part because of the shimmering allure of Mrs. Forrester. But appearances are deceiving...
There are two reasons for the half star off and both of those are simply personal preference. First, I don't think I'll love these characters like those in My Antonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and Shadows on the Rock (though the characters in A Lost Lady are certainly memorable). Second, I love when her novels have more religious presence, whether that be characters, themes, or imagery. But even in this novel that doesn't involve religion, I love Cather's writing because it has in itself a sacramental quality: it has beauty and substance and subtlety; it points to something bigger than itself.
The themes in this novel remind me strongly of The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley, which I just read this summer. Both novels focus on a young boy/young man and his relationship to one male-female couple. With the couples in both books, the woman is particularly beautiful and beguiling. Niel gets off light compared to the young boy in The Go-Between, but the loss of innocence and the too-early knowledge of human fraility and deception is poignant in both novels.
I can see how Cather returns to themes from My Antonia in A Lost Lady. The central relationship in both is between a man and woman and their friendship that seems like it could be more, but never is. There is a certain 'untouchable' quality about both Marian Forrester and Antonia. Both narrators are intuitively aware of the charisma and vulnerability of these women, but can't ultimately help them bear their vulnerabilities.
The title 'A Lost Lady' is a fitting one because it begs many questions. Was Marian always lost or did she become lost? If she became lost, what caused it? Was it preventable or inevitable? Would she consider herself lost or is it only from Niel's perspective? The core marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Forrester is also fascinating. I didn't notice Mr. Forrester as a character much until later in the novel. It seems like that may be intentional on Cather's part because of the shimmering allure of Mrs. Forrester. But appearances are deceiving...
There are two reasons for the half star off and both of those are simply personal preference. First, I don't think I'll love these characters like those in My Antonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and Shadows on the Rock (though the characters in A Lost Lady are certainly memorable). Second, I love when her novels have more religious presence, whether that be characters, themes, or imagery. But even in this novel that doesn't involve religion, I love Cather's writing because it has in itself a sacramental quality: it has beauty and substance and subtlety; it points to something bigger than itself.
August 2, 2024
“He came to be very glad that he had known her, and that she had had a hand in breaking him in to life.”
Through the eyes of a young man, Niel Herbert, who has grown to admire and love a married couple living in his town—a couple he has known all his life, Willa Cather paints a picture of the types of people that exist in society. The older husband, Captain Forrester, who served in the Civil War, is a natural leader of men. He is honest, wise, and loyal. His younger wife, Marian Forrester, is beautiful, social, fun loving, and yet seemingly committed to her aging husband, even when his physical health begins to deteriorate and she must care for him.
“She mocked outrageously at the proprieties she observed, and inherited the magic of contradictions.”
The story starts when Niel is a child; he gets hurt and is cared for by Mrs. Forrester. As he ages, so too do the other young people in the town, one of whom is a sociopath (Ivy Peters). Niel’s view of the world is tied strongly to his view of the Forresters. Eventually, the veil is pulled back and the Forrester's reality teaches him the truth about the world.
“In that instant, between stooping to the window-sill and rising, he had lost one of the most beautiful things in his life … He could never recapture it. It was gone, like the morning freshness of the flowers.”
“It was not a moral scruple she had outraged, but an aesthetic ideal.”
This is the second Willa Cather novel that I have read. What stands out to me is just how wonderfully she writes. The sentences and paragraphs are not just memorable, but demand to be reread for their precision, insight, and unembellished beauty. Some examples:
“Out of the saffron east a thin, yellow, wine-like sunshine began to gild the fragrant meadows and the glistening tops of the grove. Niel wondered why he did not often come over like this, to see the day before men and their activities had spoiled it, while the morning was still unsullied, like a gift handed down from the heroic ages.”
“He had seen the end of an era, the sunset of the pioneer. He had come upon it when already its glory was nearly spent. So in the buffalo times a traveler used to come upon the embers of a hunter’s fire on the prairie, after the hunter was up and gone; the coals would be trampled out, but the ground was warm, and the flattened grass where he had slept and where his pony had grazed, told the story.”
“Niel, of course, began with ‘Don Juan.’ Then he read ‘Tom Jones’ and ‘Wilhelm Meister’ and raced on until he came to Montaigne and a complete translation of Ovid … He did not think of these books as something invented to beguile the idle hour, but as living creatures, caught in the very behaviour of living,—surprised behind their misleading severity of form and phrase. He was eavesdropping upon the past being let into the great world that had plunged and glittered and sumptuously sinned long before little Western towns were dreamed of.”
Through the eyes of a young man, Niel Herbert, who has grown to admire and love a married couple living in his town—a couple he has known all his life, Willa Cather paints a picture of the types of people that exist in society. The older husband, Captain Forrester, who served in the Civil War, is a natural leader of men. He is honest, wise, and loyal. His younger wife, Marian Forrester, is beautiful, social, fun loving, and yet seemingly committed to her aging husband, even when his physical health begins to deteriorate and she must care for him.
“She mocked outrageously at the proprieties she observed, and inherited the magic of contradictions.”
The story starts when Niel is a child; he gets hurt and is cared for by Mrs. Forrester. As he ages, so too do the other young people in the town, one of whom is a sociopath (Ivy Peters). Niel’s view of the world is tied strongly to his view of the Forresters. Eventually, the veil is pulled back and the Forrester's reality teaches him the truth about the world.
“In that instant, between stooping to the window-sill and rising, he had lost one of the most beautiful things in his life … He could never recapture it. It was gone, like the morning freshness of the flowers.”
“It was not a moral scruple she had outraged, but an aesthetic ideal.”
This is the second Willa Cather novel that I have read. What stands out to me is just how wonderfully she writes. The sentences and paragraphs are not just memorable, but demand to be reread for their precision, insight, and unembellished beauty. Some examples:
“Out of the saffron east a thin, yellow, wine-like sunshine began to gild the fragrant meadows and the glistening tops of the grove. Niel wondered why he did not often come over like this, to see the day before men and their activities had spoiled it, while the morning was still unsullied, like a gift handed down from the heroic ages.”
“He had seen the end of an era, the sunset of the pioneer. He had come upon it when already its glory was nearly spent. So in the buffalo times a traveler used to come upon the embers of a hunter’s fire on the prairie, after the hunter was up and gone; the coals would be trampled out, but the ground was warm, and the flattened grass where he had slept and where his pony had grazed, told the story.”
“Niel, of course, began with ‘Don Juan.’ Then he read ‘Tom Jones’ and ‘Wilhelm Meister’ and raced on until he came to Montaigne and a complete translation of Ovid … He did not think of these books as something invented to beguile the idle hour, but as living creatures, caught in the very behaviour of living,—surprised behind their misleading severity of form and phrase. He was eavesdropping upon the past being let into the great world that had plunged and glittered and sumptuously sinned long before little Western towns were dreamed of.”
May 31, 2009
A young man grows up worshiping an older, gracious woman but he can't forgive her for choosing a vigorous, full life over his youthful, staid definition propriety. You can feel his angst over his puppy love for her battling the static vision he needs from her. She however, has her own longing to keep living and loving to her fullest ability. They both find a type of peace in the end.
Cather explores how well we can actually know and understand others. As a young woman the aging heroine married a much older man. He comes from another era, from US pioneer times, with it's unique behavior codes for men and women, right and wrong. Even though these codes appear brittle from the outside he as an individual manages to see his wife as a complete person with her strengths and foibles as well as her dreams of what might have been or could be. He honors her with this more complete and intimate understanding of her in a way the heroine worshipping boy can't. The boy grows up and begins to see the gray where before he only saw black and white. Cather always excels at showing the range of human emotions and she does so in such few words and without maudlin emotion.
Cather explores how well we can actually know and understand others. As a young woman the aging heroine married a much older man. He comes from another era, from US pioneer times, with it's unique behavior codes for men and women, right and wrong. Even though these codes appear brittle from the outside he as an individual manages to see his wife as a complete person with her strengths and foibles as well as her dreams of what might have been or could be. He honors her with this more complete and intimate understanding of her in a way the heroine worshipping boy can't. The boy grows up and begins to see the gray where before he only saw black and white. Cather always excels at showing the range of human emotions and she does so in such few words and without maudlin emotion.
October 16, 2022
Homeless On The Range
Written in 1923, "A Lost Lady" is a novel from Willa Cather's (1873 -- 1947) middle period of writing -- between "My Antonia" and "Death Comes to the Archbishop". This may be the least known but best portion of her output.
As does "My Antonia", "A Lost Lady" pictures the American frontier in the middle west and its closing due to urbanization, the demise of the pioneer spirit, and commercialization.
Together with its picture of the changing of the West, the book is a coming of age novel of a special sort and a portrait of a remarkable, because human and flawed, woman.
As with many of Cather's works the story is told by a male narrator, Neil Herbert.
The novel portrays Neil from adolescence as an admirer of, and perhaps infatuated by Marian Forrester, the heroine and the wife of a former railroad magnate now settled on a large farm in South Dakota. Neil matures and leaves to go to school in the East. His idea of Ms. Forrester changes as he learns that there is both more and less to her than the glittering self-assured woman that meets his young eyes.
The book is also the story of Marian herself, of her marriage, her self-assuredness, and her vulnerability. She is independent and a survivor and carries on within herself through harsh times and difficult circumstances, including the change in character of her adopted home in the mid-west.
"A Lost Lady" is a tightly written, thoughtful American novel.
Robin Friedman
Written in 1923, "A Lost Lady" is a novel from Willa Cather's (1873 -- 1947) middle period of writing -- between "My Antonia" and "Death Comes to the Archbishop". This may be the least known but best portion of her output.
As does "My Antonia", "A Lost Lady" pictures the American frontier in the middle west and its closing due to urbanization, the demise of the pioneer spirit, and commercialization.
Together with its picture of the changing of the West, the book is a coming of age novel of a special sort and a portrait of a remarkable, because human and flawed, woman.
As with many of Cather's works the story is told by a male narrator, Neil Herbert.
The novel portrays Neil from adolescence as an admirer of, and perhaps infatuated by Marian Forrester, the heroine and the wife of a former railroad magnate now settled on a large farm in South Dakota. Neil matures and leaves to go to school in the East. His idea of Ms. Forrester changes as he learns that there is both more and less to her than the glittering self-assured woman that meets his young eyes.
The book is also the story of Marian herself, of her marriage, her self-assuredness, and her vulnerability. She is independent and a survivor and carries on within herself through harsh times and difficult circumstances, including the change in character of her adopted home in the mid-west.
"A Lost Lady" is a tightly written, thoughtful American novel.
Robin Friedman
June 5, 2018
Há livros em que me sinto perdida para dizer algo sobre eles. Este por exemplo...
Comprei-o por instinto numa qualquer feira do livro e, provavelmente, morreria sem o ler caso não deparasse, num outro livro, com a referência à genialidade de Willa Cather.
Embora este não seja considerado o seu melhor romance, a sua leitura é um prazer, quer pela escrita - delicada e cativante -, quer pela história que conta: a de Marian Forrester, uma mulher que não renuncia ao amor, mesmo indo contra as convenções da sua época; e quando a fatalidade a atinge inventa forças para lutar contra a adversidade, mantendo sempre a vontade de viver...
Comprei-o por instinto numa qualquer feira do livro e, provavelmente, morreria sem o ler caso não deparasse, num outro livro, com a referência à genialidade de Willa Cather.
Embora este não seja considerado o seu melhor romance, a sua leitura é um prazer, quer pela escrita - delicada e cativante -, quer pela história que conta: a de Marian Forrester, uma mulher que não renuncia ao amor, mesmo indo contra as convenções da sua época; e quando a fatalidade a atinge inventa forças para lutar contra a adversidade, mantendo sempre a vontade de viver...
"Ela conservava ainda a sua natureza indomável, qual actriz a representar o papel de sempre - mas no teatro, para a ouvir, só restavam os maquinistas de cena e os ajudantes."
April 25, 2019
Тази книга се оказа много приятна изненада за мен. Четеше ми се нещо в духа на Едит Уортън и Фицджералд. Не бях чувала за Уила Катър, въпреки че това не е първата й книга, преведена на български. Катър е носител на Пулицър за друг свой роман, който също се надявам да имаме възможност да прочетем.
Първо искам да откроя разкошния превод на Надя Розова. Истинско удоволствие беше четенето на романа и благодарение на красивия и богат език, който е използвала.
Историята ни запознава с изкусителната Мариан Форестър, омъжена за много по-възрастния капитан Форестър, пионер в изграждането на железопътни линии.
Мариан омайва всички мъже, които посещават дома й, всички приятели на мъжа й и влиятелни личности в измисленото американско градче Суийт Уотър, където заедно със съпруга си прекарват летата в къщата на хълма сред красиви тополи и живописни поляни.
Нийл Хърбърт, племенникът на адвоката на семейство Форестър, не остава пощаден от обаянието на Мариан. За него тя е въплъщение на всичко най-чисто и възвишено, възхищава й се на нежността и отдадеността, с която се отнася към възрастния си съпруг.
"Може би не бе намерила повече радост от всеки друг, но винаги бе съумявала да внушава неща, много по-прелестни от самата нея, както уханието на едно-единствено цвете има силата да породи усещане за уханието на пролетта."
Краткият роман на Катър проследява съзряването на младия Нийл, което преминава през осъзнаването за падението на Мариан.
Мариан е момиче, което обича живота, удобствата, лекотата на битието. Изпълнена с неповяхваща младост и жизненост, за мен тя до края на историята си остава просто едно дете, което има нужда да бъда закриляно, обгрижвано и да му се прощава всичко с нежност и снизхождение. (Не откривам в този образ женско коварство и манипулативност. По това Мариан ми напомни малко на Холи Голайтли на Капоти.)
Заедно с дивите рози, които откъсва за Мариан и после изхвърля, Нийл от своя страна сякаш изведнъж пораства и се разделя с идеализирания си образ за нея.
И въпреки всичко обаче Катър е успяла да изгради противоречивия образ на Мариан някак с любов и разбиране. За това усещане допринасят последните думи на Нийл в разговора с познат от детинство, който му разказва за нея и живота й малко преди смъртта й:
" - Значи можем да сме сигурни, че е била добре обгрижена до сетния си час - каза Нийл. - Слава богу!
- Знаех, че ще се почувстваш така - рече Ед Елиот и топлота озари лицето му. - Знаех си!"
Първо искам да откроя разкошния превод на Надя Розова. Истинско удоволствие беше четенето на романа и благодарение на красивия и богат език, който е използвала.
Историята ни запознава с изкусителната Мариан Форестър, омъжена за много по-възрастния капитан Форестър, пионер в изграждането на железопътни линии.
Мариан омайва всички мъже, които посещават дома й, всички приятели на мъжа й и влиятелни личности в измисленото американско градче Суийт Уотър, където заедно със съпруга си прекарват летата в къщата на хълма сред красиви тополи и живописни поляни.
Нийл Хърбърт, племенникът на адвоката на семейство Форестър, не остава пощаден от обаянието на Мариан. За него тя е въплъщение на всичко най-чисто и възвишено, възхищава й се на нежността и отдадеността, с която се отнася към възрастния си съпруг.
"Може би не бе намерила повече радост от всеки друг, но винаги бе съумявала да внушава неща, много по-прелестни от самата нея, както уханието на едно-единствено цвете има силата да породи усещане за уханието на пролетта."
Краткият роман на Катър проследява съзряването на младия Нийл, което преминава през осъзнаването за падението на Мариан.
Мариан е момиче, което обича живота, удобствата, лекотата на битието. Изпълнена с неповяхваща младост и жизненост, за мен тя до края на историята си остава просто едно дете, което има нужда да бъда закриляно, обгрижвано и да му се прощава всичко с нежност и снизхождение. (Не откривам в този образ женско коварство и манипулативност. По това Мариан ми напомни малко на Холи Голайтли на Капоти.)
Заедно с дивите рози, които откъсва за Мариан и после изхвърля, Нийл от своя страна сякаш изведнъж пораства и се разделя с идеализирания си образ за нея.
И въпреки всичко обаче Катър е успяла да изгради противоречивия образ на Мариан някак с любов и разбиране. За това усещане допринасят последните думи на Нийл в разговора с познат от детинство, който му разказва за нея и живота й малко преди смъртта й:
" - Значи можем да сме сигурни, че е била добре обгрижена до сетния си час - каза Нийл. - Слава богу!
- Знаех, че ще се почувстваш така - рече Ед Елиот и топлота озари лицето му. - Знаех си!"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2023
Cather's novella studies how perception changes over time; the beginning, a teenage narrator Niel is enamored with an older married woman. Marian Forrester is cultured and refined, a "lady" in this small Nebraska frontier town. She is fond of Niel, doting on him and regularly engaging him in conversation. Niel leaves the frontier town to study law "back east", and upon his return, he sees his childhood crush differently. He gets glimpses behind the facade at Marian's insecurities, proclivities, and poor judgement.
Another short and thought-provoking novella by Cather, after reading My Mortal Enemy a few weeks ago.
3.5/5*
Another short and thought-provoking novella by Cather, after reading My Mortal Enemy a few weeks ago.
3.5/5*
June 11, 2024
Jul 9, 11am ~~ Review asap. Lots of layers to ponder first.
Jul 13, 1pm ~~ I have read much Willa Cather (pre-GR) but not this 1923 title, so when I saw it show up at Project Gutenberg recently I wanted to read it right away. And now I want to re-read the other Cather titles on my shelves so one of these days I will round them up, make another list, and have a new project!
But meanwhile, back to A Lost Lady. I had not read reviews or blurbs about this book before opening the book, I prefer to dive in without knowing anything about what may be coming up. In this case I expected a simple tale of a woman who wrecked her reputation somehow. But I should have known better. Willa Cather did tell this woman's story, but she also brought in the idea of pioneer days being lost as well. and not merely the calendar years of those days but the spirit of them too.
This is the final paragraph in chapter one. It concerns the Lady:
"Mrs. Forrester was twenty-five years younger than her husband, and she was his second wife. He married her in California and brought her to Sweet Water a bride. They called the place home even then, when they lived there but a few months out of each year. But later, after the Captain's terrible fall with his horse in the mountains, which broke him so that he could no longer build railroads, he and his wife retired to the house on the hill. He grew old there,—and even she, alas! grew older."
And here are a few sentences later on about the lost time period:
"The Old West had been settled by dreamers, great-hearted adventurers who were unpractical to the point of magnificence; a courteous brotherhood, strong in attack but weak in defence, who could conquer but could not hold. Now all the vast territory they had won was to be at the mercy of men like Ivy Peters, who had never dared anything, never risked anything. They would drink up the mirage, dispel the morning freshness, root out the great brooding spirit of freedom, the generous, easy life of the great land-holders. The space, the colour, the princely carelessness of the pioneer they would destroy and cut up into profitable bits, as the match factory splinters the primeval forest."
I've left out the final sentence of that paragraph because it is a bit of a spoiler. But Ivy Peters was one of the group of boys who grew up in Sweet Water. Niel Herbert was another, and he became the main focus of the story: we see what happens to our Lady through Niel's eyes and grow up with him as he struggles with some of life's biggest mysteries, such as how to continue believing when everything you thought was certain and sure is proven false.
I was so entranced by reading Cather again that it was hard to come back out of her world when the story was over. She was so skillful in her work, even in this early novel. There are many layers here, and I want to read it again Someday when I have my Willa Cather project. I'm sure I will notice much more than I did this time around.
Jul 13, 1pm ~~ I have read much Willa Cather (pre-GR) but not this 1923 title, so when I saw it show up at Project Gutenberg recently I wanted to read it right away. And now I want to re-read the other Cather titles on my shelves so one of these days I will round them up, make another list, and have a new project!
But meanwhile, back to A Lost Lady. I had not read reviews or blurbs about this book before opening the book, I prefer to dive in without knowing anything about what may be coming up. In this case I expected a simple tale of a woman who wrecked her reputation somehow. But I should have known better. Willa Cather did tell this woman's story, but she also brought in the idea of pioneer days being lost as well. and not merely the calendar years of those days but the spirit of them too.
This is the final paragraph in chapter one. It concerns the Lady:
"Mrs. Forrester was twenty-five years younger than her husband, and she was his second wife. He married her in California and brought her to Sweet Water a bride. They called the place home even then, when they lived there but a few months out of each year. But later, after the Captain's terrible fall with his horse in the mountains, which broke him so that he could no longer build railroads, he and his wife retired to the house on the hill. He grew old there,—and even she, alas! grew older."
And here are a few sentences later on about the lost time period:
"The Old West had been settled by dreamers, great-hearted adventurers who were unpractical to the point of magnificence; a courteous brotherhood, strong in attack but weak in defence, who could conquer but could not hold. Now all the vast territory they had won was to be at the mercy of men like Ivy Peters, who had never dared anything, never risked anything. They would drink up the mirage, dispel the morning freshness, root out the great brooding spirit of freedom, the generous, easy life of the great land-holders. The space, the colour, the princely carelessness of the pioneer they would destroy and cut up into profitable bits, as the match factory splinters the primeval forest."
I've left out the final sentence of that paragraph because it is a bit of a spoiler. But Ivy Peters was one of the group of boys who grew up in Sweet Water. Niel Herbert was another, and he became the main focus of the story: we see what happens to our Lady through Niel's eyes and grow up with him as he struggles with some of life's biggest mysteries, such as how to continue believing when everything you thought was certain and sure is proven false.
I was so entranced by reading Cather again that it was hard to come back out of her world when the story was over. She was so skillful in her work, even in this early novel. There are many layers here, and I want to read it again Someday when I have my Willa Cather project. I'm sure I will notice much more than I did this time around.
November 6, 2022
Bu kitabı neden bu kadar beğendiğimi anlatmanın bir yolu yok zannedersem. Var olunan yerde nasıl göründüğünü bilmiyor insan. Doğrusu, bunu önemsemek mi yoksa akışına bırakmak mı, kitabı okurken bayağı sorguladım.
İnsanın içinde sakladıkları ile dışına taşanlar hiçbir zaman eşleşmez. Belki de en güzeli kendimiz ve herkes için kaybolup giden bir kadın olmaktır.
“Orada oturuyor saatlerce o nesneyi (güneş saatini) gözlüyor. Nasıl olur da insan zamanın göz göre göre tükenişini izlemekten hoşlanır?”
İnsanın içinde sakladıkları ile dışına taşanlar hiçbir zaman eşleşmez. Belki de en güzeli kendimiz ve herkes için kaybolup giden bir kadın olmaktır.
“Orada oturuyor saatlerce o nesneyi (güneş saatini) gözlüyor. Nasıl olur da insan zamanın göz göre göre tükenişini izlemekten hoşlanır?”
January 30, 2022
От жанра “Midwest”. Това е третият роман за Средния запад, който чета само в рамките на месец. Място сред нищото, където всичко може да се случи, а следите от началата и краховете на всичко американско се отразява в историите на хората, обитаващи дивата сърцевина на Северна Америка. В следговора на “Силата на кучето” Ани Пру споменава авторката Уила Катър и това привлече интереса ми към нея. Много се радвам, че прочетох тази книга.
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