My Antonia by Willa Cather: book review

My Antonia (1918, version 1980) is set in rural Nebraska, America, at the turn of the 20th century. It’s about a community of migrants – from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Norway and Denmark – living in the ‘Norwegian settlement’ and coming to terms with their new homeland.

Narrated by Jim Burden, who is now a legal advisor in New York, he recounts his childhood when he was ten years old living with his grandparents after his parents died, and meeting 14-year-old Antonio Shimerda from Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda had four children – Ambrosch, Antonia, Julka, and Marek.

When Jim is 14 the Harling family move to the area – Charley, Julia, Sally, Frances, and Nina. Antonia lives with them as their cook. Lena Lingard has come to town too, to work for Mrs. Thomas, the dressmaker. Out of the three Bohemian Marys, the Norwegian Anna, the very pretty Lena, and the Danish laundry girls, Jim thought Antonia was ‘the fairest of them all.’

When Jim goes to Lincoln, Nebraska, to study, he loses contact with Antonia. At 21 he enters Harvard Law School – and reconnects with Lena Lingard. Antonia is now a single mother because Larry Donovan didn’t marry her – she is disgraced. Jim returns to the community to find Antonia.

This is the story of the loves and losses within the migrant community – and who goes on to become successful professionals and business owners and who does not. Set in the wheat plains, the rugged land shapes the lives of teenagers as they become adults – shaped also by their families, where traditions and restrictions either bind people together or sets them free.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog