O Pioneers!

By: Willa Cather

Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh

Life was hard on the Nebraska prairie, but for Alexandra Bergson, daughter of a Swedish immigrant family, her love of the land gave her courage and strength. When Alexandra's father dies, she takes over the care of her family and management of the farm, so that the Bergsons can stay in the place they've chosen for their home. O Pioneers! tells the story of a remarkable heroine, and draws on Cather's own experience growing up on the lonely and wild American prairies.

Public Domain (P)1989 Recorded Books, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A direct, human tale of love and struggle and attainment, a tale that is American in the best sense of the word." (The New York Times)
"Barbara McCulloh's voice and quiet tone match the flow of this American classic." (Omnibus)

Not what I expected.

It was okay. It was not really what I coincide a pioneer book. It was just a sad book really

0ne of the very best American stories

One of the very best American stories I have ever read-- well-drawn characters, captivating plot, beautiful language. I was enthralled.

Lifted and carried lightly by some one very strong

I love Willa Cather's soothing love of the land, of people, and nature. Her prose ripples and rolls like fields ready to harvest. Cather is elegant in her prose, but she doesn't hold back in her stories. O Pioneers! is a simple and passionate tale of life, struggles, tragedy and love. It is epic and simple both.

It is clear that Cather loved those immigrants who came from Europe (whether Swedes, Bohemians, or French) to carve their piece out of the American West. Her writing is full of the economical (yet hard) memory of the land, the circadian rhythms of nature and life, and the soft beauty and brutal tragedy of love.

She is one of those writers you either get and love, or just never quite connect to. For me, her prose is like a quickening. It makes me slow down, but also become more aware, more tolerant, more accepting of my own fragile place in this world.

Great book, but ...

Awesome book! Really gives a good, in-depth picture of life on the frontier in vivid, beautiful, penetrating and challenging language.

BUT, the recording was terrible. It was a recording from a tape (the "turn over tape" instructions were left on at one point in the download). I had to turn my ipod up nearly all the way in order to hear the reading.

I hope that audible or someone can procure a better reading.

I love this site! Thanks for offering good books!

Doug

Beautifully narrative and narrator.

I tried listening to other versions, but this one captures the story and characters in a beautiful melancholic style.