I wrote my Masters thesis (1987) on Willa Cather's southwest novels, Death Comes for the Archbishop, mainly and the two parts about the Southwest in The Professor's House and Song of the Lark. My thesis was that she treated landscape as a character in all of her novels, using all of these as examples. I read all of her novels and a great deal of the research on her. I had a fabulous Professor who taught a seminar class on her work, who was also a famous author, William Dickey, which sparked a love of her work; I had lived in both Nebraska and New Mexico (my favorite state) , as a military brat, as well as in Europe.
This was an interesting documentary. I had never heard of this woman. My grandmother lived the life of "My Antonia". She was raised in a dugout near a lake in Iowa. She married and raised 9 children. One was my Father. I was raised next door to my grandmother in the 1950-60's. She then lived in a regular house and tho she had no running water her house was spotless. She had a garden, canned vegs and made bread. She was a quiet pleasant woman. Never complained.Just did her work as if it was just the way it is and you do what you had to do. I wish I had asked her more questions about growing up in that dugout. But I imagie she would have had a different outlook on it than I did. When I think I have it rough I think about my granny and my gr grandmother who rased my granny and her 7 siblings in that dugout. And wondeer what I'm complaining about..
PK , very well said ... and well-written . You have a bit of a writer in you and if you don't already write , you might want to think about doing so because you have a way with words that people will appreciate ... and maybe even benefit from .
Yes, thank you for sharing your story. I can’t imagine I live in the dugout and raise kids and wash clothes no running water in boiling water to wash clothes that was a one full day of laundering. I would like to recommend the book: “Bird by Bird” which teaches you how to write in a simple way by Anne Lanotte. You may also want to read the book by Elinore Pruitt Stewart: “Letters of a Woman Homesteader,” Elinor is so down to earth humorous and endearing. It’s one of my favorite books I read each spring. She will also inspire you to write. 🌷 Wishing you all the best, ~ Nell
@@gardensofthegods thank you . I've always wanted to write but have been a huge procrastinator. My High School English teacher always said I had talent too Maybe it's not too late. :-) I have a lot of events in my life I could put into short stories. My own life would be quite the novel.... Some nitty gritty and triumph combined....Thank you for the encouragement.
Finally after 40+ years of sitting on my shelf, I am opening a Library of America volume Willa Cather Later Novels. Watching this beautiful documentary is very emotional 😢 truly a great American, an amazing mind, a truly free woman
I wrote my undergraduate senior thesis on Willa Cather. I read most of her books. I really love her work. She had a unique voice for women. My Antonia was the focus but I just loved all of her female characters.
I must say I really enjoyed this biography of Willa Cather. I had never heard of her but now I'm going to go and pick up one of her books. Thank you for introducing her to us
This was a brilliantly conceived and executed documentary. The selection of the people who commented or criticized was faultless, as was the editing of their thoughts with the passages from Cather’s books. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the finest and most revealing biographical docs I have ever seen. Even the musical interludes were sympathetic to the content. Never before have I felt so inclined to find without delay and read the works of any author. bravo to the entire team who constructed this flawless portrait.
Agreed. It really is flawless. Even the discussion of her personal life and sexuality was done so well, no hyperbole or agenda. We don't KNOW, because we don't know. And it has nothing to do with the WORK, which is all that really matters. And Alison, the woman reading Cather's words is Marcia Gay Harden. Great actress. Miller's Crossing, Pollock, Mystic River.
I enjoyed this documentary . I was made aware of this lady author. Her life must have been very lonely. 82 and have endured many years per self and it’s no life.
This is one of the best programs of its kind that I have had the pleasure of viewing. Thank you, to all involved with creating this and getting it to us.
It's because of Willa Cather that I took up writing. I love (and still own) the ancient copy of My Antonia from which I studied Cather's writing, word for word. She was able to make you feel the heat of the train car rumbling across the prairie, and feel the cloud of dust as your hand hit the hot, fading red velvet covered car seats. The Shimerdas - the life of the immigrants, the Swedes - she made it all come to life. I was always sad to read the ending of when Antonia was a mother with missing teeth due to her harsh life, so would always go back and read when she was a bright and sunny girl again, with chestnut cheeks. I must have read that book once a year for at least 3 decades - just to keep my own writing fresh. She, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," and Robert Nathan's "Portrait of Jenny," are the go-to books to study for any aspiring writer. As Anton Chekhov - another must-read writer, wrote, "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
Loved *My Antonia*, btw... The Shimerdas were Bohemian, not Swedish. Also, haunted by *Portrait of Jenny*.. the movie was good, too. Robert Nathan was a rare find; a fellow librarian introduced him to me. I thought it was a true story (because of the intro?) Short but sweet. If you have a powerful theme, it doesn't matter how long or short your novel is. Hudson's *Green Mansions* is another haunting book like this. Not too crazy about F. Scott Fitzgerald, though. Still need to read Chekhov.
@@LS-ei7xk If you were my neighbor, we'd be fast friends! It is next to never that I have heard of anyone has read Portrait of Jenny - let alone knew it was a book before they made the movie! Or who was as enamored with My Antonia as I. The Great Gatsby is in this group of great novels, I think, because his descriptions are succinct yet visually powerful, and one can learn a lot just through that alone. And he was only 27 when he wrote it! But, I do confess it took me decades to get into it. I had tried to read it but always shut the book after the first two paragraphs of the first chapter - until one day I forced myself to read it through, and I was hooked. Another great book is, believe it or not, A Christmas Carol by Dickens. But topping that book is his masterpiece, Great Expectations. The characters are so alive, you can feel sympathy for them, or hate them just as easily, but it also has that great twist in the end. He had characterization, form and plot down to perfection. My fortune is that I did not even know what the book was about until my friend nagged at me to read it - blew my mind. Add to that repertoire is, of course, Gone with the Wind. It is so thick, that one of my friends who begged me to read it after I balked at the size of the novel, promised me that I would not be able to put it down. I took up her challenge - and true to her word, read that whole, entire, voluminous book in one weekend, unable to sleep until I finished it. Regarding the Shimerdas being Bohemian and not Swedish - I guess I should have written that sentence more clearly - Yes, the Shimerdas were Bohemian, but Cather also wrote about the life of the immigrants as well as the Swedish immigrant population - the girls in town who took in laundry and worked for others. That is what I meant. A lot of love for the Nebraskan immigrants whether they were Bohemians or Swedes, went into Cather's writing. I'm thankful for the likes of her as well as Dickens, Nathan and other fine novelists, because the art of the novel seems to be dying in this texting and often vulgar age. We need to bring back the beauty of language.
What strikes me about this very introspective and highly gifted writer is her humbleness and true grit to follow her path for writing. I am touched by her love for women who grant her wish of destroying their letters so their love and true selves are strictly private. A fascinating woman indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed the bio pic of Willa. Marvellous! Thank you.
I've been a fan of Cathers' work for almost 30 years. This film has made me fall in love all over again. Thanks for this gift for lovers of enduring literature.
You can smell, feel, taste, the world she paints artfully, each sentence crafted keenly, with beautifully chosen words. Her personal life was superfluous to her work and she knew it, God love her, and saw to it, it remain so. Smart lady.
this showed up in my youtube recommendations! i am so happy! this was an incredible documentary! I look forward to watching more, especially women writer's.
A truly great writer. Those two central novels "The Professor's House" and "Death Comes For the Archbishop" are as good as anything in American fiction. They deal masterfully with universal themes, so that they speak even to me, a reader sitting in south west London. There can be no greater accolade, and hopefully, with many of her titles now appearing in Penguin Modern Classics, she will regain the wide readership she deserves.
Death Comes For The Archbishop was a truly magical reading experience for me. It was like being part of something sacred. Her writing style just grew on me. It's hard to describe. And this is coming from someone who can rarely sit still to focus on anything!
A wonderful documentary. She was hugely brave multiple times to leave a pleasant "sure thing" and jump into the unknown again and again. And she succeeded in something many artists aspire to, she managed to erase her personal life and leave us only with her written work.
I love her work and, as much, her fierce privacy and share her feelings. Many Americans, today, feel they are entitled to know public figures intimately and I don't blame their fury upon intrusion. She was truly gifted and under appreciated in today's pseudo intellectual literary landscape.
My spirit connected to the first book I read by Miss Cather. Our journeys all start with that first step,we explore,we experience,we gain knowledge and understanding. Whether we ever gain success...we were here and then we move to our next life enriched. Willa conveyed that very well. Thank you.
Of course, I've known about her "forever," but just realized I have never actually read her books. This fine documentary has spurred me to do just that.
I've loved the writing of willa Cather since I was a teenager. The profound emotional impact of My Antonia and Oh Pioneers has haunted the many decades of my life. I recently reread My Antonia and was just as in awe as the first time I read it. Next, Oh Pioneers.
Thank you so much for uploading this documentary on Willa Cather. Her stories 'The Song of the Lark' and 'My Antonia' have lingered with me for decades.
I haven't known any daughters who wanted to live a life like their mothers. This includes my friends, my grandmother, mother, my aunts, myself and my granddaughters That isn't some rare profound discovery of who a woman wants to be. She wants to be herself, off course.
@@avaperry9167 ah but I am born and bred.. I also don't want my daughter and granddaughters to be like me. I believe we are all meant to be unique. Of course there are similarities in biological traits and hopefully we teach each other to be caring and kind but I think our differences is what makes us, us ❤
Extraordinary - thank you. “My Antonia” has been one of my favorite books for decades, read and reread it many times, but never knew anything at all about the author, now I know more….
PBS, of course! Awoke at 3am, ciuldnt slerp, found this delight and now a new fan! What a fantastic bio. Looking forward to reading her works. Loved the excerpts.
I'm far from a Cather scholar, but I've read a good bit of her stuff. The two, it seems to me, that most people talk about are Death Comes For The Archbishop and, of course, My Antonia. Both great books, but I would highly recommend The Song Of The Lark. That's the one that really got me. Anyone who is pursuing a life in the arts, or any life that is not the normal laid-out path - you would love that book. Her shorts, also, are great. "Neighbor Rossicky" had as much of an influence on my own writing as anything has. Style-wise, pacing-wise, I pretty much just imitated it for years. "The Enchanted Bluff," "The Sculptor's Funeral," "Coming, Aphrodite!" Etc, etc. Her shorts are really something.
My high school literature teacher introduced her work to me in the 70’s. I grew up on the prairie of ND. Never knew much about her life until now. Fascinating. Thank you for this gem.
Same here, I'm 66 now, I camped for several months this summer in Neb., Wyo, Colo. and NM. Drove many miles across Nebraska twice once not far from Red Cloud and thought of Willa for the first time in many years. Paddled the Niobrara out of Valentine, Neb the day that Tim Walz was picked to be the running mate of VP Harris. Turns out he grew up in Valentine! I think it's time to read another of her stories after sleeping many nights in the sandhills of Neb.
My Antonia was the first Willa Cather book that I read in 6th grade. I'm from Nebraska and now live in Virginia. I completely understand how she became passionate about those open spaces. I long for them even now as I get older. I became passionate about the ocean. I will stay here in Virginia because I love it, but I will long for Nebraska till the day I die. I love her books. They take me back to those open expanses.
That is ironic. My family was from Virginia but I was raised in Nebraska. So it's the other way around for me. I knew of Willa Cather and her work from an early age. So her and Laura Ingles Wilder(I was born near her home in South Dakota) were THE authors of my childhood. Stuart Virginia, where my family is from is in the southwestern side of the state. So not very near back creek.
Thank you for this wonderful documentary. Such personalities outlive their natural lifespan, and I am reminded of the artist Georgia O’Keefe, who also thrived in New Mexico, who also found inspiration in the untamed environment. I shall certainly endeavour to find her books.
I once did a spoken word where I was being filmed and I asked them to stop filming. I wanted people to remember me as I was and my words, my work. I totally understand what she meant. I got chills as the orator began reading a few lines of her words. Ty.
Great documentary--thanks for sharing this. I love that Cather closed the blinds on her private life, even though I wish like crazy that her letters had survived. My introduction to Cather was 'The Bohemian Girl', which is still one of my favourites.
I happened upon "O Pioneers" in a library years ago. I remember it being one of those stories in which I lost myself. I was inspired with the hope the main character was able to find in love and in the prairie, but I absolutely bawled at the senseless deaths of the people she loved. The depth of thought and feeling Cather brought out in me is hard to describe. I'd need Cather's talent to do that!
IMO....Willa Cathers' concrete imagery is amazing. And I love her view of things she thought was fascinating. I feel like she is a part of my own spirit.
Only 10 minutes in and being reminded of Will and Abby Deal that also moved to Nebraska after the Civil War. They are written about by Bess Streeter Aldrich in her book called, "A Lantern in Her Hand (1928)". I always wondered if Will and Abby Deal were her grandparents but have never really researched. Bess was born in Iowa in 1881 and died in Lincoln, Ne. in 1954. Her pen name was Margaret Dean Stephens but I never knew that until grabbing facts for this post. In any case I read that book at least 5 or 6 times as a pre-teen and teen. And a few others written by Bess. Just learning about Willa Cather and thinking that I'll be looking for some of her books. GREAT documentary thus far. Back to Willa Cather!
I'll never understand why Willa Cather has fallen out of fashion. I've read almost everything she ever wrote, including the young adult novel of the French Canadians. IMHO she and Mark Twain are the two greatest American novelists. Her masterpieces are the stories and novels of the westward settling of the the Great Plains. They chronicle an American past that never really was, but that we all believe is true. These works are quintessentially American folklore but must be read with a critical eye. The truth is there, but not readily apparent in the same way the Little House sagas of the same period seem so idyllic but are full of hardship and misery romanticized out of existence.
Young peope today don't care about the history of settling America. What past are you speaking if that really wasn't? My grandmother grew up in a dugout. I've been doing genealogy (fascinating and like reading a novel of pioneer days) and people in the mid 1800's traveled all over resettling. It really wasn't romantic. It was a very hard life. They had to always be preparing for the next day or week or they wouldn't have survived. My great grandfather helped settle the little town I grew up in.
An America that never really was? I think the lives described on My Antonia were the America that really was. Dugouts, suicide were only folklore? The corruption and decline of A lost Lady are folklore? Little House on the Prairie can't compare to Willa Cather's novels.
The experiences during that time (and indeed ALL times) were lived and experienced individually and in different ways by every single person. There can never be one account of what happened, not one true reality. Novels are like people: one voice, working to describe and share an experience or a vision of their world. The fact that it might be fiction, biographical, autobiographical or based on actual history, does not matter one whit - it is a life lived. The way that life is described and presented is what makes it a success. We cannot say that any novel distorts a human life, because somewhere amongst all of human society there will be elements of those experiences, even the idealised or romanticised aspects. If we can understand this, we can read and enjoy well written fiction as a version of human life.
Little House, book series written by Lauren Ingalls Wilder is meant for children, Willa Cather is a writer for adults, which is darker and more complicated than life on the "wholesome Nebraska Plaines".
Alison: Brilliant comment. Beautifully written. Thought provoking. Sound philosophy. Thank you from an 81 year old granny and frustrated writer in southwest Montana
I wish people would stop so hoping for people to be homosexual to the point they would be disappointed if they aren't when they don't know enough about their sex lives. No wonder she wanted her things burnt, she knew her privacy would be destroyed. Some of us don't need to be all up in everyone's private life, to know what another woman or man chooses to do in their private bed. It's becoming where we are at risk of being defined by our sexuality. We are so much more than this. We are spiritual beings.
Tracie Becker Very well said. Close the bedroom door and come to the table, read and enjoy the fruits of the good book. Let's go on a trip of another's life. What will we learn? What secrets will we uncover? Only read then you can find out.
*Thank you for this wonderful documentary! I learned to love Willa Cather's writing in my 20's, and "My Ántonia" was the first book of "serious literature" that I tried to teach when I started working as a college lecturer in Japan. This first course was not an overwhelming success, but I hope to be able to repeat it at least once more--now that I've learned "a thing or two" about conducting literature courses for students whose language and culture is so remote from that of the USA--especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries.*
What an extraordinarily done documentary! What a remarkable life story and work of an amazing writer and woman. I loved listening to the female voice reading Willa Cather's writings... such a hypnotic voice... Thank you so much for this gem!
I wish someone would make her books into movies. We need some new fresh material from a different era instead of this current negative stuff that’s being produced!
O Pioneers was made into a movie in 1992 staring Jessica Lange & David Strathairn. No movie could compare to the book, but I found this adaptation enjoyable, nonetheless. In 95 My Antonia was also made into a movie - a rather bad one.
Scorsese's rendition of Wharton's The Age of Innocence and some films of Henry James's novels certainly show that material from this era can work well onscreen. Not sure what you mean by "the negative stuff that's being produced."
Oh I read a few of her books and yes the energy you feel is so intense, and she flows like no other author I have read! I fell in love, and read Death for the Arch bishop and Oh Pioneer and My Antonia, I think of my Grandma coming to America through Ellis Island, going to North Dakota, in the 1800's. Just amazing How much you feel a part of it, want it crave it, Thank you for the wonderful documentary. She grew up here in Winchester not to far from where I live. I can't imagine how it was back then, Virginia's rolling hills, and valleys..
I grew up in south-central Nebraska. My father had a trailer on a lake where the nearest 'town' is Red Cloud. My brother-in-law's brother is married to a Cather - directly related to Willa. I love the plains of Nebraska - though I don't live there now. My mother grew up in the Sandhills and was an avid reader - handed down to all of us.
I too had never heard of her but she brought me to this awesome channel. I'd forgotten the high quality of PBS docs and the storytelling of this amazing writer has given my wings a lift. Thank you for your amazing uploads
I was on the mesa in the 1960's with my "Swinger" Camera . I can tell you I got a great picture of my fingertip and a half-a-snap of the cliff-dwelling. Good times were had by all!
Beautifully done documentary. Ive always been an avid reader yet somehow lve missed reading any of Willa’s work! I’ll now purpose to find some of her books and enjoy them. There was such beauty in the parts of her writing which were shared in this documentary! So much of what was said of Willa’s reticence to her changing world rings true to me and my own writings of over 50 yrs will probably forever remain in storage as l haven’t the courage Willa possessed! Bravo for Willa!
In the right hands, Cather's masterful "The Song of the Lark" could lend itself to becoming a brilliant epic film. To be successful, the crew and cast involved in its filmic adaptation would need to possess uncommon intelligence and sensitivity. An accomplished director of photography could transform the novel's many highly cinematic passages into spellbinding imagery that would compensate for the narrative challenges involved in depicting 30 years of Thea Kronborg's life as she grows from a small girl living on the edge of the Colorado desert into an internationally renowned opera singer performing Wagner in turn-of-the-century Manhattan.
😲📢 I grew up in the exact same place where she was! That's so cool!!! I fished, and did the intertube, everything..... I tell you what, that's where I learned the about snakes 🐍 and I seen a water moccasin, boy they can really really move out on the water!!! I love to fish!, but I was struck down with CHRON'S disease in 1981', so back creek is now on a road called Bandy Rd. They grow a lot of corn 🌽 and they have really nice greenhouses, and when a storm pops up, it is known to make Lemon-ade for your guest.... it was a special time for me and my family! July 4, 1981' I never will forget it. So whoever reads this, you will know what I'm talking about!!! (1981'.....it was a time for family, food, and drink...and progress.)There just wasn't enough time in the day... Jeremy from Virginia, VA USA 🇺🇸 🏴🇮🇪... the memories... Tommytoes
These are very fine bio videos. Yesterday I watched Maughm, which is just as good as this one. I love a good biography and wrirers/novelists hold special interest. Id love to have known Cather. Thanks for making these excellent programs available.
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...a beautiful documentary. I read My Antonia years ago when I was in my 20's. I'm 74 now and would like to revisit it.
I wrote my Masters thesis (1987) on Willa Cather's southwest novels, Death Comes for the Archbishop, mainly and the two parts about the Southwest in The Professor's House and Song of the Lark. My thesis was that she treated landscape as a character in all of her novels, using all of these as examples. I read all of her novels and a great deal of the research on her. I had a fabulous Professor who taught a seminar class on her work, who was also a famous author, William Dickey, which sparked a love of her work; I had lived in both Nebraska and New Mexico (my favorite state) , as a military brat, as well as in Europe.
Really a fine example of public television and public radio. I think this is a great documentary .
Thank you for the beautiful documentary, a piece of art in itself. I enjoyed every moment of it
This was an interesting documentary. I had never heard of this woman. My grandmother lived the life of "My Antonia". She was raised in a dugout near a lake in Iowa. She married and raised 9 children. One was my Father. I was raised next door to my grandmother in the 1950-60's. She then lived in a regular house and tho she had no running water her house was spotless. She had a garden, canned vegs and made bread. She was a quiet pleasant woman. Never complained.Just did her work as if it was just the way it is and you do what you had to do. I wish I had asked her more questions about growing up in that dugout. But I imagie she would have had a different outlook on it than I did. When I think I have it rough I think about my granny and my gr grandmother who rased my granny and her 7 siblings in that dugout. And wondeer what I'm complaining about..
Thanks so much for sharing, wow!
yes, those women had hard lives and few choices. it's heartbreaking to think of what they went through.
PK , very well said ... and well-written . You have a bit of a writer in you and if you don't already write , you might want to think about doing so because you have a way with words that people will appreciate ... and maybe even benefit from .
Yes, thank you for sharing your story. I can’t imagine I live in the dugout and raise kids and wash clothes no running water in boiling water to wash clothes that was a one full day of laundering.
I would like to recommend the book: “Bird by Bird” which teaches you how to write in a simple way by Anne Lanotte.
You may also want to read the book by Elinore Pruitt Stewart: “Letters of a Woman Homesteader,”
Elinor is so down to earth humorous and endearing.
It’s one of my favorite books I read each spring.
She will also inspire you to write.
🌷 Wishing you all the best,
~ Nell
@@gardensofthegods thank you . I've always wanted to write but have been a huge procrastinator. My High School English teacher always said I had talent too Maybe it's not too late. :-) I have a lot of events in my life I could put into short stories. My own life would be quite the novel.... Some nitty gritty and triumph combined....Thank you for the encouragement.
I am struck by this careful, respectful look at the art and life of Willa Cather. Thank you.
Finally after 40+ years of sitting on my shelf, I am opening a Library of America volume Willa Cather Later Novels. Watching this beautiful documentary is very emotional 😢 truly a great American, an amazing mind, a truly free woman
What a wonderful documentary about the author, Willa Cather. I have all her novels.
Excellent documentary! Thank you
How am I 59 years old and never heard of this author and her books? And I was a reader all my life. Going to have to catch up...
Because your school system sucked
Well I am 57 and also just discoveted het on YT. I have some excuses tough.
Me too, which book should I start with?
My Antonia is a masterpiece
@@BoninBrighton I loved all of her works that I've read, but Song of the Lark was my favorite.
I wrote my undergraduate senior thesis on Willa Cather. I read most of her books. I really love her work. She had a unique voice for women. My Antonia was the focus but I just loved all of her female characters.
I watched this from Ireland and applaud you for a most beautifully crafted documentary
I must say I really enjoyed this biography of Willa Cather. I had never heard of her but now I'm going to go and pick up one of her books. Thank you for introducing her to us
This was a brilliantly conceived and executed documentary. The selection of the people who commented or criticized was faultless, as was the editing of their thoughts with the passages from Cather’s books. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the finest and most revealing biographical docs I have ever seen. Even the musical interludes were sympathetic to the content. Never before have I felt so inclined to find without delay and read the works of any author. bravo to the entire team who constructed this flawless portrait.
😊😊😊
I agree. The narrator of her work gives an exquisite performance. Every word savoured.
Agreed. It really is flawless. Even the discussion of her personal life and sexuality was done so well, no hyperbole or agenda. We don't KNOW, because we don't know. And it has nothing to do with the WORK, which is all that really matters.
And Alison, the woman reading Cather's words is Marcia Gay Harden. Great actress. Miller's Crossing, Pollock, Mystic River.
You are a gifted writer yourself.
So true! Love this doc too, was thinking it on the level with Ken Burns (in quality & emotions) & even better!
So beautifully written and illustrated. Thank you for posting this!
I enjoyed this documentary . I was made aware of this lady author. Her life must have been very lonely. 82 and have endured many years per self and it’s no life.
What a brilliant and gifted lady . Ahead of her time. By the way , to whoever who made this documentary , you did an excellent job . Support PBS .
🕊️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕊️VERY WELL SAID.....
yes! the clip of her at 14 getting her hair buzzcut blew me away. i have too many thoughts to write them all now!
She was not "ahead of her time." She was exactly OF her time. It's where she lived and where she worked. IN her time.
First time hearing about her, interesting I like Walt Whitman. And John Keats.
I have a Shakespeare book
I loved this. Rest in peace Ms.Cather, you are not forgotten.
This is one of the best programs of its kind that I have had the pleasure of viewing. Thank you, to all involved with creating this and getting it to us.
It's because of Willa Cather that I took up writing. I love (and still own) the ancient copy of My Antonia from which I studied Cather's writing, word for word. She was able to make you feel the heat of the train car rumbling across the prairie, and feel the cloud of dust as your hand hit the hot, fading red velvet covered car seats. The Shimerdas - the life of the immigrants, the Swedes - she made it all come to life. I was always sad to read the ending of when Antonia was a mother with missing teeth due to her harsh life, so would always go back and read when she was a bright and sunny girl again, with chestnut cheeks. I must have read that book once a year for at least 3 decades - just to keep my own writing fresh. She, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," and Robert Nathan's "Portrait of Jenny," are the go-to books to study for any aspiring writer. As Anton Chekhov - another must-read writer, wrote, "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
Loved *My Antonia*, btw... The Shimerdas were Bohemian, not Swedish. Also, haunted by *Portrait of Jenny*.. the movie was good, too. Robert Nathan was a rare find; a fellow librarian introduced him to me. I thought it was a true story (because of the intro?) Short but sweet. If you have a powerful theme, it doesn't matter how long or short your novel is. Hudson's *Green Mansions* is another haunting book like this. Not too crazy about F. Scott Fitzgerald, though.
Still need to read Chekhov.
@@LS-ei7xk If you were my neighbor, we'd be fast friends! It is next to never that I have heard of anyone has read Portrait of Jenny - let alone knew it was a book before they made the movie! Or who was as enamored with My Antonia as I. The Great Gatsby is in this group of great novels, I think, because his descriptions are succinct yet visually powerful, and one can learn a lot just through that alone. And he was only 27 when he wrote it! But, I do confess it took me decades to get into it. I had tried to read it but always shut the book after the first two paragraphs of the first chapter - until one day I forced myself to read it through, and I was hooked. Another great book is, believe it or not, A Christmas Carol by Dickens. But topping that book is his masterpiece, Great Expectations. The characters are so alive, you can feel sympathy for them, or hate them just as easily, but it also has that great twist in the end. He had characterization, form and plot down to perfection. My fortune is that I did not even know what the book was about until my friend nagged at me to read it - blew my mind. Add to that repertoire is, of course, Gone with the Wind. It is so thick, that one of my friends who begged me to read it after I balked at the size of the novel, promised me that I would not be able to put it down. I took up her challenge - and true to her word, read that whole, entire, voluminous book in one weekend, unable to sleep until I finished it.
Regarding the Shimerdas being Bohemian and not Swedish - I guess I should have written that sentence more clearly - Yes, the Shimerdas were Bohemian, but Cather also wrote about the life of the immigrants as well as the Swedish immigrant population - the girls in town who took in laundry and worked for others. That is what I meant. A lot of love for the Nebraskan immigrants whether they were Bohemians or Swedes, went into Cather's writing. I'm thankful for the likes of her as well as Dickens, Nathan and other fine novelists, because the art of the novel seems to be dying in this texting and often vulgar age. We need to bring back the beauty of language.
An amazing writer who led an equally amazing life. Thank you for a truly wonderful documentary!
Of course!
So many things to learn from Willa Cather!
Öl å was
Brilliant, elucidating, moving, documentary. I felt her so deeply and found it changed me. Thank you.
I read “My Antonia” in college, and I love that book ever since.
What strikes me about this very introspective and highly gifted writer is her humbleness and true grit to follow her path for writing. I am touched by her love for women who grant her wish of destroying their letters so their love and true selves are strictly private. A fascinating woman indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed the bio pic of Willa. Marvellous! Thank you.
Loved this ❤
I've been a fan of Cathers' work for almost 30 years. This film has made me fall in love all over again. Thanks for this gift for lovers of enduring literature.
The best story of an American writer I have ever read. Bravo
Loved this documentary, what an amazing woman and writer!! Thank you.
Thank you for this! One of my favourite Writers, Willa Ella Cather! 🙏🍀💕
Beautiful documentary. Truly moving picture of her life.
You can smell, feel, taste, the world she paints artfully, each sentence crafted keenly, with beautifully chosen words. Her personal life was superfluous to her work and she knew it, God love her, and saw to it, it remain so. Smart lady.
her writing is truly like no one else's.
this showed up in my youtube recommendations! i am so happy! this was an incredible documentary! I look forward to watching more, especially women writer's.
Same here. It is a wonderful depiction of her life. She seemed as if she never really knew herself and was continually searching all her life.
This was a documentary that I never knew I needed. I am so glad I clicked to check it out though. Wonderful!
A truly great writer. Those two central novels "The Professor's House" and "Death Comes For the Archbishop" are as good as anything in American fiction. They deal masterfully with universal themes, so that they speak even to me, a reader sitting in south west London. There can be no greater accolade, and hopefully, with many of her titles now appearing in Penguin Modern Classics, she will regain the wide readership she deserves.
Was this remark posted by Tony Bennett, professor of cultural studies?
Death Comes For The Archbishop was a truly magical reading experience for me. It was like being part of something sacred. Her writing style just grew on me. It's hard to describe. And this is coming from someone who can rarely sit still to focus on anything!
Death Comes for Archbishop is my favorite of hers.
Reading her books took me back to a time and place that lived again through her writing...so moving.
A wonderful documentary. She was hugely brave multiple times to leave a pleasant "sure thing" and jump into the unknown again and again. And she succeeded in something many artists aspire to, she managed to erase her personal life and leave us only with her written work.
A thoroughly enjoyable documentary. I really enjoyed learning about Willa Cather. A true artist!
“My Antonia” is available for free in PDF form. Just google the title and put pdf. Happy reading. 🥀
Thank you
Thanks and hope to read it, after watching this fantastic documentary film.
@@dimitrialiberty2779 it’s such a pleasure to pass this on. 📚
@@yeowkl7541 I think the book might be even better than this amazing documentary. Enjoy! 📖
When I visit Mabel Dodge Lujan House in Taos, I always stay in Willa Cather's room to soak up the vibes.
Love that!
Very thorough biography; I am truly impressed
This was a superb documentary in all its aspect from the writing, the narration, the photography, even the accompanying music
Beautifully scripted, narrated, and orchestrated documentary on an exceptionally gifted writer.
Thank you for this! Willa Cather is my favorite American novelist!
That's awesome! I love her short stories myself
I love her work and, as much, her fierce privacy and share her feelings. Many Americans, today, feel they are entitled to know public figures intimately and I don't blame their fury upon intrusion. She was truly gifted and under appreciated in today's pseudo intellectual literary landscape.
Fascinating!!! thank you
My spirit connected to the first book I read by Miss Cather. Our journeys all start with that first step,we explore,we experience,we gain knowledge and understanding. Whether we ever gain success...we were here and then we move to our next life enriched. Willa conveyed that very well. Thank you.
This is such a thoughtful comment, so now I'm curious: what was the first book of Cather's that you read?
O Pioneers
@@karenwright8556 Thank you! I'm adding it to my reading list.
@@tothelighthouse9843 Thank you,enjoy the good read!
Of course, I've known about her "forever," but just realized I have never actually read her books. This fine documentary has spurred me to do just that.
7
I've loved the writing of willa Cather since I was a teenager. The profound emotional impact of My Antonia and Oh Pioneers has haunted the many decades of my life. I recently reread My Antonia and was just as in awe as the first time I read it. Next, Oh Pioneers.
Thank you so much for uploading this documentary on Willa Cather. Her stories 'The Song of the Lark' and 'My Antonia' have lingered with me for decades.
What a beautiful presentation -the music, the presenters, and of course the subject. I knew nothing of the lady. Thank you.
I haven't known any daughters who wanted to live a life like their mothers.
This includes my friends, my grandmother, mother, my aunts, myself and my granddaughters That isn't some rare profound discovery of who a woman wants to be. She wants to be herself, off course.
You definitely aren’t Southern!
@@avaperry9167 ah but I am born and bred..
I also don't want my daughter and granddaughters to be like me. I believe we are all meant to be unique.
Of course there are similarities in biological traits and hopefully we teach each other to be caring and kind but I think our differences is what makes us, us ❤
Extraordinary - thank you. “My Antonia” has been one of my favorite books for decades, read and reread it many times, but never knew anything at all about the author, now I know more….
PBS, of course! Awoke at 3am, ciuldnt slerp, found this delight and now a new fan! What a fantastic bio. Looking forward to reading her works. Loved the excerpts.
I'm far from a Cather scholar, but I've read a good bit of her stuff. The two, it seems to me, that most people talk about are Death Comes For The Archbishop and, of course, My Antonia.
Both great books, but I would highly recommend The Song Of The Lark. That's the one that really got me. Anyone who is pursuing a life in the arts, or any life that is not the normal laid-out path - you would love that book.
Her shorts, also, are great. "Neighbor Rossicky" had as much of an influence on my own writing as anything has. Style-wise, pacing-wise, I pretty much just imitated it for years.
"The Enchanted Bluff," "The Sculptor's Funeral," "Coming, Aphrodite!" Etc, etc. Her shorts are really something.
"Hell, even I thought I was dead once...'til I found out that I was just in Nebraska."
( Little Bill Dagget, _Unforgiven_ ).
My high school literature teacher introduced her work to me in the 70’s. I grew up on the prairie of ND. Never knew much about her life until now. Fascinating. Thank you for this gem.
What a splendid documentary. Thank you for introducing me to this fascinating person.
What a treasure. Thank you for creating the videos!
Love this. Thank you for the upload. New Mexico is a very Spiritual place
Thank you for this, I have appreciated hearing about this amazing writer who lived through challenging times.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, thanks for posting. Had never heard of her before and eager to start reading her work. Thanks from Ireland x
Very much enjoyed this documentary. Thank you.
How wonderful these documentaries are! Thank you.
Glad you enjoy them!
I read Death comes to the Archbishop 45 years ago and it remains strongly fixed in my memory. A truly great novel.
Same here, I'm 66 now, I camped for several months this summer in Neb., Wyo, Colo. and NM. Drove many miles across Nebraska twice once not far from Red Cloud and thought of Willa for the first time in many years. Paddled the Niobrara out of Valentine, Neb the day that Tim Walz was picked to be the running mate of VP Harris. Turns out he grew up in Valentine! I think it's time to read another of her stories after sleeping many nights in the sandhills of Neb.
Willa Cather's MY ANTONIA is one of the best books I ever read.
Beautifully done documentary. Absolutely worth watching.
Amazing documentary thank you! I'm so inspired and will be buying her novels
My Antonia was the first Willa Cather book that I read in 6th grade. I'm from Nebraska and now live in Virginia. I completely understand how she became passionate about those open spaces. I long for them even now as I get older. I became passionate about the ocean. I will stay here in Virginia because I love it, but I will long for Nebraska till the day I die. I love her books. They take me back to those open expanses.
That is ironic. My family was from Virginia but I was raised in Nebraska. So it's the other way around for me. I knew of Willa Cather and her work from an early age. So her and Laura Ingles Wilder(I was born near her home in South Dakota) were THE authors of my childhood. Stuart Virginia, where my family is from is in the southwestern side of the state. So not very near back creek.
Thank you for this wonderful documentary.
Such personalities outlive their natural lifespan, and I am reminded of the artist
Georgia O’Keefe, who also thrived in New Mexico, who also found inspiration in the untamed environment.
I shall certainly endeavour to find her books.
I once did a spoken word where I was being filmed and I asked them to stop filming. I wanted people to remember me as I was and my words, my work. I totally understand what she meant. I got chills as the orator began reading a few lines of her words. Ty.
Wonderful brilliant
Thank you so much for your dedication to this subject documentary!
Great documentary--thanks for sharing this.
I love that Cather closed the blinds on her private life, even though I wish like crazy that her letters had survived.
My introduction to Cather was 'The Bohemian Girl', which is still one of my favourites.
Wow! I read My Antonia many yrs ago and have never forgotten it. This is wonderful. I am motivated to read others! Thank you!
What an incredible early American writer! Why has her Virgina birth house outside Winchester, been abandoned?
I happened upon "O Pioneers" in a library years ago. I remember it being one of those stories in which I lost myself. I was inspired with the hope the main character was able to find in love and in the prairie, but I absolutely bawled at the senseless deaths of the people she loved. The depth of thought and feeling Cather brought out in me is hard to describe. I'd need Cather's talent to do that!
great artists just show others what is in them.
IMO....Willa Cathers' concrete imagery is amazing. And I love her view of things she thought was fascinating. I feel like she is a part of my own spirit.
Only 10 minutes in and being reminded of Will and Abby Deal that also moved to Nebraska after the Civil War. They are written about by Bess Streeter Aldrich in her book called, "A Lantern in Her Hand (1928)". I always wondered if Will and Abby Deal were her grandparents but have never really researched. Bess was born in Iowa in 1881 and died in Lincoln, Ne. in 1954. Her pen name was Margaret Dean Stephens but I never knew that until grabbing facts for this post.
In any case I read that book at least 5 or 6 times as a pre-teen and teen. And a few others written by Bess. Just learning about Willa Cather and thinking that I'll be looking for some of her books.
GREAT documentary thus far. Back to Willa Cather!
I'll never understand why Willa Cather has fallen out of fashion. I've read almost everything she ever wrote, including the young adult novel of the French Canadians. IMHO she and Mark Twain are the two greatest American novelists. Her masterpieces are the stories and novels of the westward settling of the the Great Plains. They chronicle an American past that never really was, but that we all believe is true. These works are quintessentially American folklore but must be read with a critical eye. The truth is there, but not readily apparent in the same way the Little House sagas of the same period seem so idyllic but are full of hardship and misery romanticized out of existence.
Young peope today don't care about the history of settling America. What past are you speaking if that really wasn't? My grandmother grew up in a dugout. I've been doing genealogy (fascinating and like reading a novel of pioneer days) and people in the mid 1800's traveled all over resettling. It really wasn't romantic. It was a very hard life. They had to always be preparing for the next day or week or they wouldn't have survived. My great grandfather helped settle the little town I grew up in.
An America that never really was? I think the lives described on My Antonia were the America that really was. Dugouts, suicide were only folklore? The corruption and decline of A lost Lady are folklore? Little House on the Prairie can't compare to Willa Cather's novels.
The experiences during that time (and indeed ALL times) were lived and experienced individually and in different ways by every single person. There can never be one account of what happened, not one true reality.
Novels are like people: one voice, working to describe and share an experience or a vision of their world. The fact that it might be fiction, biographical, autobiographical or based on actual history, does not matter one whit - it is a life lived. The way that life is described and presented is what makes it a success. We cannot say that any novel distorts a human life, because somewhere amongst all of human society there will be elements of those experiences, even the idealised or romanticised aspects. If we can understand this, we can read and enjoy well written fiction as a version of human life.
Little House, book series written by Lauren Ingalls Wilder is meant for children, Willa Cather is a writer for adults, which is darker and more complicated than life on the "wholesome Nebraska Plaines".
Alison: Brilliant comment. Beautifully written. Thought provoking. Sound philosophy. Thank you from an 81 year old granny and frustrated writer in southwest Montana
I absolutely love her writing.
Willa Cather surpasses others.
I wish people would stop so hoping for people to be homosexual to the point they would be disappointed if they aren't when they don't know enough about their sex lives.
No wonder she wanted her things burnt, she knew her privacy would be destroyed. Some of us don't need to be all up in everyone's private life, to know what another woman or man chooses to do in their private bed.
It's becoming where we are at risk of being defined by our sexuality.
We are so much more than this. We are spiritual beings.
Not any more, we're not. Now we're vulgar peeping Toms. (Not you and me, of course; "we" as a society.)
Tracie Becker
Very well said.
Close the bedroom door and come to the table, read and enjoy the fruits of the good book. Let's go on a trip of another's life. What will we learn? What secrets will we uncover? Only read then you can find out.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
@@hijodelaisla275 Hubris seems to be your forte.
@@carolperczak9938 And making baseless slurs seems to be yours.
My mother had me read My Antonia when I was in grade school. Thank you, Mom. Great call. I am 64 and I still remember being enthralled.
This documentary was beautifully realized. I'm sure Willa Cather would appreciate it.
I love Willa Cather and my favorite of her books is, "My Antonia".
*Thank you for this wonderful documentary! I learned to love Willa Cather's writing in my 20's, and "My Ántonia" was the first book of "serious literature" that I tried to teach when I started working as a college lecturer in Japan. This first course was not an overwhelming success, but I hope to be able to repeat it at least once more--now that I've learned "a thing or two" about conducting literature courses for students whose language and culture is so remote from that of the USA--especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries.*
“O Pioneers” was one of the books that I read decades ago and influenced my life so much
What an extraordinarily done documentary! What a remarkable life story and work of an amazing writer and woman. I loved listening to the female voice reading Willa Cather's writings... such a hypnotic voice... Thank you so much for this gem!
The actress is Marcia Gay Harden.
@@zharapatterson Thank you so very much! I really loved her voice and interpretation... It was so touching...
Like many people, I had not heard of this woman; another great PBS job, dramatic but without hysteria, a well held line.
I wish someone would make her books into movies. We need some new fresh material from a different era instead of this current negative stuff that’s being produced!
By doing so, you would go against
Cather's wishes.
O Pioneers was made into a movie in 1992 staring Jessica Lange & David Strathairn. No movie could compare to the book, but I found this adaptation enjoyable, nonetheless. In 95 My Antonia was also made into a movie - a rather bad one.
Scorsese's rendition of Wharton's The Age of Innocence and some films of Henry James's novels certainly show that material from this era can work well onscreen. Not sure what you mean by "the negative stuff that's being produced."
@@SisterShirley And how do you purport to know this? Provide a specific reference to a statement Cather made.
@@mikeletaurus4728 She destroyed all of her personal letters before she died.
Thank you for this documentary, I often wondered about her life, I have read most of her works and every time am drawn into the time, place and story.
Oh I read a few of her books and yes the energy you feel is so intense, and she flows like no other author I have read! I fell in love, and read Death for the Arch bishop and Oh Pioneer and My Antonia, I think of my Grandma coming to America through Ellis Island, going to North Dakota, in the 1800's. Just amazing How much you feel a part of it, want it crave it, Thank you for the wonderful documentary. She grew up here in Winchester not to far from where I live. I can't imagine how it was back then, Virginia's rolling hills, and valleys..
I grew up in south-central Nebraska. My father had a trailer on a lake where the nearest 'town' is Red Cloud. My brother-in-law's brother is married to a Cather - directly related to Willa. I love the plains of Nebraska - though I don't live there now. My mother grew up in the Sandhills and was an avid reader - handed down to all of us.
I am also a graduate of the University of Nebraska.
Brilliant. I loved every minute. I will read Willa Cather.
I first read Willa Cather about 50 years ago. She continues to speak to me, though in different avenues...
I too had never heard of her but she brought me to this awesome channel. I'd forgotten the high quality of PBS docs and the storytelling of this amazing writer has given my wings a lift. Thank you for your amazing uploads
Wow!! I have just witnessed a great writer I knew nothing about. Thank you!
Magnificent documentary. Just exquisite. The story of a beautiful lady and of her life and her gift. Presented in such a perfect way.
I was on the mesa in the 1960's with my "Swinger" Camera . I can tell you I got a great picture of my fingertip and a half-a-snap of the cliff-dwelling. Good times were had by all!
I had a Swinger! I remember taking pictures of everything.
Beautifully done documentary. Ive always been an avid reader yet somehow lve missed reading any of Willa’s work! I’ll now purpose to find some of her books and enjoy them. There was such beauty in the parts of her writing which were shared in this documentary! So much of what was said of Willa’s reticence to her changing world rings true to me and my own writings of over 50 yrs will probably forever remain in storage as l haven’t the courage Willa possessed! Bravo for Willa!
Thank you for uploading. I only recently found Willa Cather. I’m enjoying making my way through her works. 👌💕
In the right hands, Cather's masterful "The Song of the Lark" could lend itself to becoming a brilliant epic film. To be successful, the crew and cast involved in its filmic adaptation would need to possess uncommon intelligence and sensitivity. An accomplished director of photography could transform the novel's many highly cinematic passages into spellbinding imagery that would compensate for the narrative challenges involved in depicting 30 years of Thea Kronborg's life as she grows from a small girl living on the edge of the Colorado desert into an internationally renowned opera singer performing Wagner in turn-of-the-century Manhattan.
thank you so much for such kind of documentaries 🌸💐
😲📢 I grew up in the exact same place where she was! That's so cool!!! I fished, and did the intertube, everything..... I tell you what, that's where I learned the about snakes 🐍 and I seen a water moccasin, boy they can really really move out on the water!!!
I love to fish!, but I was struck down with CHRON'S disease in 1981', so back creek is now on a road called Bandy Rd. They grow a lot of corn 🌽 and they have really nice greenhouses, and when a storm pops up, it is known to make Lemon-ade for your guest.... it was a special time for me and my family!
July 4, 1981' I never will forget it.
So whoever reads this, you will know what I'm talking about!!!
(1981'.....it was a time for family, food, and drink...and progress.)There just wasn't enough time in the day...
Jeremy from Virginia, VA USA
🇺🇸 🏴🇮🇪... the memories... Tommytoes
I have watched this twice now. Thank-you for a high quality biography of such an interesting person!
My Antonia is an incredible book. I cried like a baby when i finished -partly because of the story and partly because it was over.
These are very fine bio videos. Yesterday I watched Maughm, which is just as good as this one. I love a good biography and wrirers/novelists hold special interest. Id love to have known Cather. Thanks for making these excellent programs available.