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Willa Cather
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My Ántonia (Bedford College Editions) Kindle Edition

by Willa Cather (Author), Guy Reynolds (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 4,257 ratings
My Ántonia (first published 1918) is considered the greatest novel by American writer Willa Cather. My Ántonia — pronounced with the accent on the first syllable of "Ántonia" — is the final book of the "prairie trilogy" of novels by Cather, a list that also includes O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark.My Ántonia tells the stories of several immigrant families who move out to rural Nebraska to start new lives in America, with a particular focus on a Bohemian family, the Shimerdas, whose eldest daughter is named Ántonia.
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  1. Part of series
    Penguin Drop Caps
  2. Print length
    284 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Bedford Books
  5. Accessibility
    Learn more
  6. Publication date
    1 April 2018
  7. File size
    1.1 MB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07CB46LJT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bedford Books
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 April 2018
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.1 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-2291006961
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ Penguin Drop Caps
  • Customer reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 4,257 ratings

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Willa Cather

Willa Cather

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4,257 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers praise the book's descriptive prose and find it a joy to read, describing it as a wonderful read with an engaging story. The character development receives positive feedback, with one customer noting how Antonia's character leaps from the page. The book's era is appreciated, with one customer describing it as evocative of a time long gone. The plot receives mixed reactions, with several customers noting there isn't much of one.

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Writing qualityReadabilityStorytellingCharacter developmentEraPlot
37 customers mention ‘Writing quality’37 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, noting its lovely descriptive prose and excellent descriptions, with one customer highlighting Willa Cather's skill as a writer.

"A beautifully written saga of one man’s life and those people who shaped it. Fascinating. Picked by chance an immensely enjoyed." Read more

"...is a description of the short-lived era of pioneering, a wonderful depiction of the land and people’s relationship with it before it was fully tamed..." Read more

"...As a writer, Cather is economical but her prose is consistently fine. Her writing is a joy to read, and it is no exaggeration to call her great...." Read more

"...The prose is exceptional, and if the book had been edited, I would not have begun to find the finishing of it a chore...." Read more

31 customers mention ‘Readability’31 positive0 negative

Customers find the book wonderful and enjoyable to read, with one customer noting it as one of their favorite passages in all literature.

"...social order are all portrayed brilliantly, leaving a lasting impression on the reader’s mind – for this reader, more lasting than the lives of our..." Read more

"...is actually a key part of the novel, is one of my favourite passages in all literature, and in this lovely Dover paperback you get a bit more of..." Read more

"...This is one of the finest American novels by one of America's greatest writers." Read more

"...I enjoyed the first part of the book and absolutely loved the last chapter...." Read more

17 customers mention ‘Storytelling’17 positive0 negative

Customers find the storytelling of the book engaging and fascinating, with one customer highlighting its well-paced Nebraska settings and another noting its psychological complexity.

"...Fascinating. Picked by chance an immensely enjoyed." Read more

"My Antonia has well-written prose, very little plot and some good descriptions of place and times...." Read more

"...with a female protagonist who is strong and successful and psychologically quite complex. My Antonia, by contrast, is a little more traditional...." Read more

"I loved everything about this story. The style of writing, the narrative, the description of what life was like in that time. It gripped me," Read more

8 customers mention ‘Character development’8 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one noting how Antonia's character leaps from the page.

"...the canyons, from New York to 17th-century Quebec, her characters come to life so naturally that they become unforgettable...." Read more

"...The story revolves around 2 principal characters and is told in the first person (Jim Burden) who grows up with the Antonia of the title...." Read more

"...trilogy, which really brought the praire to life and had a wonderful heroine and an engaging story. '..." Read more

"...this book I really enjoyed it - really well written and some excellent characters." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Era’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's era, describing it as a classic of its time, with one customer noting how it evokes a time long gone.

"...is one of my favourite passages in all literature, and in this lovely Dover paperback you get a bit more of it than you do in other editions, where..." Read more

"A throoughly modern book that could have been released over the last few years, My Antonia shows the struggles of Americans in an ever changing..." Read more

"...all novels were as well written as this - a joy to read, evocative of a time long gone but it gives clues as to the rural communities in America..." Read more

"...that I shall re-read it at some time in the future indicates its classic status." Read more

9 customers mention ‘Plot’4 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the plot of the book, with several noting there isn't much of one. One customer describes it as a lovingly told story, while another mentions it follows a long journey where not much happens.

"...I’ll explain why for me it only rates as four stars – simply put, it has no plot, which unfortunately is one of the things most likely to make me..." Read more

"...between the two central characters is also one of the loveliest relationships in literature...." Read more

"...We dip into the lives of various families, but nobody else is really engaging, and they aren't central to a plot, because there doesn't really seem..." Read more

"A heart warming story of life in Nebraska for new immigrants and how or not it worked for them. Beautifully told." Read more

Do not download this e -version of the book.
1 out of 5 stars
Do not download this e -version of the book.
This book is practically illegible in digital form. I have included a photo of a page from the book and if you read it you can see how frustrating it is to follow. Maybe there is a better digital version but I’m very disappointed with it as I was looking forward to reading it.
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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Bargelady
    5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2025
    Verified Purchase
    A beautifully written saga of one man’s life and those people who shaped it. Fascinating. Picked by chance an immensely enjoyed.
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  • FictionFan
    4.0 out of 5 stars A nation of immigrants…
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 January 2022
    Verified Purchase
    One day in the late 19th century, two children arrive separately in Nebraska on the same train. Jim Burden is a ten-year-old boy, recently orphaned and coming to the prairie land to live with his grandparents. Ántonia Shimerda is a couple of years older, immigrating to America from Bohemia with her family. Although from different backgrounds and traditions, the children become friends, learning about the land and wildlife of their new home together as they explore it with some of the other children in the farming neighbourhood. Over the years their friendship will gradually fade as Jim goes off to university and later to live in New York, but he always remembers Ántonia, and now in middle-age has set out to write down his memories of her.

    To start, I’ll explain why for me it only rates as four stars – simply put, it has no plot, which unfortunately is one of the things most likely to make me grumpy about a book. Instead it is a description of the short-lived era of pioneering, a wonderful depiction of the land and people’s relationship with it before it was fully tamed, a foundational story of the creation of America, and a coming-of-age tale of Jim, primarily, but also of Ántonia and of the frontier itself.

    The writing is excellent, especially in the descriptions of the various settings. The vastness of the landscape, the strength and courage of the pioneers, the rapid development of towns and social order are all portrayed brilliantly, leaving a lasting impression on the reader’s mind – for this reader, more lasting than the lives of our major protagonists, I must admit, who largely felt as if they existed to tie together a rather disparate set of episodes illustrating facets of the frontier life. Ántonia herself disappears completely for large parts of the book and her story is often told at a distance, by some third party telling Jim the latest gossip about her. The introduction in my Oxford World’s Classics edition suggests a long-running debate between people who think the book is fundamentally Ántonia’s story, or Jim’s. I fall into the latter category – for me, this is very definitely Jim’s story, and through him largely Cather’s own. But mostly it feels like a part of America’s story, or of its myth-making of itself as a ‘nation of immigrants’ – that is not to denigrate the myth or to suggest it is untrue, simply to say that all nations form myths from their own history which reflect and influence how they feel about themselves and how they act as a society. And I feel this foundational myth-creation aspect may be why the book has earned its place in the hearts of so many Americans, and as a well-deserved American classic.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Paul Turner
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the loveliest books ever
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Cather is sublime. Above all, her characters (here orphaned American boy Jim and Antonia, daughter of poor immigrant farmers) live on in the reader's mind and heart for ever. They are archetypes. Like the places visited in her books, from the prairies to the canyons, from New York to 17th-century Quebec, her characters come to life so naturally that they become unforgettable. The introduction to My Antonia, which, at just two or three pages, is actually a key part of the novel, is one of my favourite passages in all literature, and in this lovely Dover paperback you get a bit more of it than you do in other editions, where it is curtailed, reflecting a cut made to the passage by the author herself after publication - a rare misjudgement on her part. The relationship between the two central characters is also one of the loveliest relationships in literature. Cather and her characters have many qualities, one of which is strength, another lack of sentiment but great warmth. As a writer, Cather is economical but her prose is consistently fine. Her writing is a joy to read, and it is no exaggeration to call her great. What she has to say and how she says it are inseparable, indispensable, enduringly fine. When you have discovered her, you will struggle to find her equal. Her short stories are as good as the novels. For the full-length books, start with Antonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Shadows on the Rock, Song of the Lark, and One of Ours - and somewhere among them dip into the Collected Stories (including the magnificent Neighbour Rosicky and Tom Outland's Story, later incorporated into another of the novels: The Professor's House). For me the early novels Alexander's Bridge and the later Sapphira and the Slave Girl are less good, but overall Cather is one of the finest writers in the English language.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Vanya Jaiswal
    5.0 out of 5 stars A nostalgic look at bygone times written with eloquence
    Reviewed in India on 30 May 2020
    Verified Purchase
    My Ántonia by Willa Cather had me longing for the innocence of childhood— the happy nonchalance towards harsh circumstances that can only be the preserve of children and the naiveté of their conviction in the wonders of the future. Cather begins her masterpiece with a train journey during which two friends who chance upon each other converse about their mutual friend, Ántonia Shimerda, whom they both remember fondly. One of them entreats the other, a man named Jim Burden, to write about her and what follows is the story of this Bohemian girl and her immigrant family living in Nebraska, America.

    There’s not much I’d like to say about the plot but I do want to share what made me adore this beloved classic. The book takes a close look at the hardships faced by immigrant families in foreign lands. The problems of not knowing the native language, the constant sense of being ill-at-ease because of ‘looking different’ from the ‘original inhabitants,’ the urgency of adapting to harsh climatic conditions, sustaining on limited means, and above all an acute awareness of the wealth of your neighbours. Cather foregrounds these challenges with much eloquence and pathos.

    While reading the book, I was mesmerised by the friendship between Jim and Antonia. They were friends as children and the sweetness of their relationship remained invulnerable to time and distance. The fact that they loved each other was made more beautiful because that feeling wasn’t bound by a need for marriage. They continued to acknowledge what the other meant to them in front of their respective families even when they grew up. It’s rare to see such a relationship in books, let alone classics, and it warmed my heart to witness the splendour of friendship between a man and a woman without the underlying subtext of an obligation of matrimony.

    I think I picked up this book at the best possible time with its overarching theme of nostalgia for bygone times echoing our present-day yearning for a life that wouldn’t be so complicated and claustrophobic. My Ántonia’s wistful gaze at rustic lives, the glowing, sun-kissed prairies, the majestic farms, the canopy of trees, and the coexistence of humans and animals was a humbling reminder of there being a whole world that exists outside of us which desperately needs our attention.
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  • alistairjohnston
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful writing!
    Reviewed in Canada on 6 February 2024
    Verified Purchase
    A beautifully written, sweet story. A little tedious, occasionally.
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  • Otto
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un classico che tutti dovrebbero leggere!
    Reviewed in Italy on 18 February 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Il libro è arrivato con qualche minima imperfezione in copertina. Questo libro racconta di un America ancora rurale e poco sviluppata, dal punto di vista di immigrati. Il protagonista, Jim Burden entrerà in contatto con una famiglia di boemi, la cui figlia maggior, Antonia giocherà un ruolo essenziale nella sua vita. Questo romanzo fu pubblicato nel 1918 come parte della "Praire Trilogy" che includeva "O, Pioneers" e "The song of the Lark" e si basa, in parte, su delle reminiscenze della stessa autrice. Consigliato!
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    Otto
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Un classico che tutti dovrebbero leggere!

    Reviewed in Italy on 18 February 2021
    Il libro è arrivato con qualche minima imperfezione in copertina. Questo libro racconta di un America ancora rurale e poco sviluppata, dal punto di vista di immigrati. Il protagonista, Jim Burden entrerà in contatto con una famiglia di boemi, la cui figlia maggior, Antonia giocherà un ruolo essenziale nella sua vita. Questo romanzo fu pubblicato nel 1918 come parte della "Praire Trilogy" che includeva "O, Pioneers" e "The song of the Lark" e si basa, in parte, su delle reminiscenze della stessa autrice. Consigliato!
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  • Paulette Folmer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best of three
    Reviewed in the United States on 5 June 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Of the trilogy, I enjoyed this one the most. The characters were so vivid and relatable, reading the story, it was as if you were there.
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  • Marta
    5.0 out of 5 stars Igual que en la imágen
    Reviewed in Spain on 22 November 2018
    Verified Purchase
    No es tapa blanda, pero sí flexible. Es muy cómodo para leer y queda bien en la estantería.
    Hay que tener un nivel alto de inglés para adentrarse en la historia, pero es un libro que vale la pena leer.
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