My Ántonia (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Willa Cather

Narrated by: David Colacci

When high-powered New York attorney Jim Burden recollects his childhood on the Nebraska prairie, Ántonia Shimerda is at the heart of every memory.

Orphaned at age ten, Jim is traveling west to his grandparents’ home in Black Hawk when he first meets Ántonia, the daughter of a Bohemian family who settles on a neighboring farm. Through sunbaked summers and frigid winters, Ántonia bears the hardships of a young immigrant as she longs for a vanishing past. It is a profound nostalgia for a lost time that Jim now also holds dear as he recalls all that he left behind and that which he’ll never lose.

Set against a defining and reflecting midwestern landscape—melancholic, nurturing, and changeable—My Ántonia is a celebration of an enduring friendship and a moving tribute to the courage and resolve of pioneering immigrants.

AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from the masters of storytelling. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or rediscover an old favorite, these new editions open the door to literature’s most unforgettable characters and beloved worlds.

Revised edition: Previously published as My Ántonia, this edition of My Ántonia (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Lovely vignettes have a part of the country. I was not familiar with.

It was delightful to listen to a book where there were no gruesome murders, no crazy stalking people and just insightful vignettes about life was like while the corn-country was being settled by immigrants.

MY Antonia

The phrase “My Antonia” occurs several times in the novel, spoken by different characters but meaning the same thing to each one. Cather’s Antonia is lovingly drawn for us so masterfully that we each feel we know and love her as our own.
This novel challenges us to evaluate the worth of a person by more than their accomplishments. Antonia’s friends all go on to achieve success in various ways while she remains behind where she began her life as a pioneer Czech girl on the brutal prairie. Her life story challenges our assumptions about success and a “good “ life.
I’m often tempted to skip descriptive prose to get to the story line, but never here. Cather has succeeded in making the prairie one of her main characters. From the frozen dark winters to the searing scorch of summer, every season plays a part in framing the lives and actions of the characters.
The narration of this audible version is superb. The narrator does not attempt to add his voice to the story but allows the story itself to have its full impact on us. I particularly enjoyed his Czech accents and noticed that the characters who spoke with heavy accents earlier spoke with lighter, almost imperceptible accents later as their command of English grew. Brilliant.
I read this book 25 years ago and I have always remembered it fondly. Upon listening to this Audible version I have experienced anew much of my original delight in this story so well written. After returning to it years later I still find it to be “MY Antonia”.