1 - Along the way

[CBC]

Use this thread to share any thoughts that come to as you read, or that don't fit into another questions.

[Manuel]

There are several mistakes in the spelling of Spanish names that betray the author's lack of familiarity with Spanish culture.

Salvatore is Italian. In Spanish it's Salvador. Also Ferdinand (Fernando); Eusabio (Eusebio); Baltazar (Baltasar); Fructosa (Fructuosa).

The last one is funny, as fructosa, in Spanish, is the name of a monosaccharide (fructose in English, fruit sugar).

[Manuel]

From Book 1, chapter 2: He was rather terrifying, that old priest, with his big head, violent Spanish face...

How many Spanish faces has Cather seen? I've seen many and don't find them violent, in general.

[Manuel]

From Book 1, chapter 1:

It's obviously impossible that Rome would send a newly named Vicar Apostolic without credentials. This is what Cather asserts, but it didn't happen (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Ba...).

Cather says the credentials had been sent to the previous Bishop of the area (Zubiria, of Durango, who isn't named), and Latour (Lamy) had to travel to Durango to get them. This makes no sense.

In fact, what happened was different: the priests refused to accept his credentials until the current Bishop had given his acceptance. Lamy had to travel to Durango, because Zubiria didn't answer a written request of his acceptance.

[Manuel]

In book 3 (The mass at Ácoma) chapter III (The rock) there is this paragraph: The more Father Latour examined this church, the more he was inclined to think that Fray Ramirez, or some Spanish priest who followed him, was not altogether innocent of worldly ambition, and that they built for their own satisfaction, perhaps, rather than according to the needs of the Indians. The magnificent site, the natural grandeur of this stronghold, might well have turned their heads a little.

Cather criticises the Spanish missionaries through Bishop Latour's thoughts, but does not seem to notice that his Bishop is also prone to the same accusation, with his tenacity to build the Cathedral of Santa Fe.

This Cathedral was built in French Romanic style, quite different from the style to which his parishioners were used, that of Mexican cathedrals. The Cathedral of Mexico City, for instance, reminds a lot the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and is quite different from the Cathedral of Santa Fe. So the Bishop fit his Cathedral to his own taste, rather than "the needs of his people." And this happened, not only in the novel, but in real life.

In most villages in Spain the church is quite grand, and reminds a Cathedral. The reason why it was built was to praise God, not just to tend the needs of the people.

[Maggie]

I kept thinking what people did with fewer resources and experts dwarfs what is often found now.

[Jill]

You've given many examples of the fact that the author wasn't Catholic and doesn't have much understanding of how the Church works, though she clearly respects these churchmen.
She's a wonderful wordsmith. I guess we can overlook the fact that she was lesbian, probably trans in today's terminology.

[John]

I am very much enjoying Cather's writing and these stories. Another excellent choice.

[Manuel]

In several places, Cather, through Bishop "Latour," criticizes some Spanish-Mexican missionaries and priests because "they squeeze poor people of their money."

According to the Wikipedia, the main disagreement between Bishop Lamy and priest Antonio José Martínez was because the Bishop instituted compulsory tithing, and decreed that heads of families that failed to tithe be denied the sacraments. Martínez saw this as squeezing poor Catholics. Martínez opposed Lamy publicly, in his writings. Apparently (says the Wikipedia) this was the main reason why Lamy confronted Martinez: "Bishop Lamy felt compelled to excommunicate Martínez not for moral failings, but for his "scandalous writings.""

Cather doesn't say anything about this, in spite of the fact that it turns her accusation around. In fact, her treatment of Martínez (whose name is not changed in the novel) is sometimes almost slanderous, in my opinion.

[Manuel]

Chapter IV in Part Nine is very good, and compensates some of the problems the novel has for me. Her treatment of Blessed Junípero Serra is quite positive. What a difference with those people who are destroying his statues in California today! They know nothing about history; their minds are abducted by the dominant ideology.

[Maggie]

So do we know if she knew all that we have access to now? I found it rather like a Catholic Western. I found it refreshing that the whole of the book is peopled with flawed people.

Her work was fiction, inspired by life. https://udayton.edu/blogs/libraries/2...

[Manuel]

Maggie wrote: "Her work was fiction, inspired by life."

But then, why does she change the name of the two main characters, but leaves the real names of several of the others?

[Maggie]

I will see what I can find from those who are more versed in her writing than me.

[Manuel]

One possible answer: she probably thought nobody would discover that Martínez, Lucero and Gallego had really existed. She didn't foresee the Wikipedia :-)

[Maggie]

Manuel wrote: "One possible answer: she probably thought nobody would discover that Martínez, Lucero and Gallego had really existed. She didn't foresee the Wikipedia :-)"

I love this answer.