Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #615033 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'She is undoubtedly one of the twentieth century's greatest American writers' OBSERVER *'Her voice, laconical and richly sensuous, sings out with a note of unequivocal love for the people she is setting down on the page' MARINA WARNER *'Cather makes a world which is burningly alive, sometimes lovely, often tragic' HELEN DUNMORE

From the Inside Flap
A study in emotional dislocation and renewal--Professor Godfrey St. Peter, a man in his 50's, has achieved what would seem to be remarkable success. When called on to move to a more comfortable home, something in him rebels.

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Slips by as a dream...
Somewhere I read that Cather will eventually top Hemingway as America's finest and most esteemed writer. This book floated Cather above Hemingway in my estimation and this was only the fourth book of hers that I have read. A wonderful, timeless story set in the early twenties (could very well be today!). A remarkable tale of how the appearance of a young man in the lives of one family can have such impact. Cather develops each character around their reaction to the man, Outland. Outland, a perfect name for a character that sweeps in, lives intensely, whose intellectual capabilities create wonder and who gives it all away.

The main character, the Professor, begins by tutoring Outland, even as Outland tutors the Professor's own daughters. Outland betrothes the eldest who benefits from Outland's creations with enormous riches. The youngest daughter languishes in the shadow of her older daughter's consumerism, which the mother encourages, much to the disinterest and dissatisfaction of the Professor.

The middle and last sections of this three-part book are wondrous and provide the ultimate redemption and "tutoring" for the Professor who is "saved" by the life which Outland has lived.

The setting for this book moves from the attic-office of the Professor in a small college town set on Lake Michigan to the mesas of the southwest. Each setting is beautifully described, in economical and lovely language.

This novel is a wonder! Perfect, and the best that I have read in a very, very long time.

A surprising favorite
I have to admit that when I was assigned this book for an Amer. Lit. class I was anything but excited at the prospect. A further contribution to my misguided dread was born from the rather poor synopsis of the book on the back cover which fails miserably in "selling" the great story hidden within its pages. Yet another example of why one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It is far more than just another story of inward rebellion and emotional "renewal"; it is instead, a story about the American dream, the family, higher education, friendship, nature, and the elusiveness of American history. The way that Cather blends this varied subject matter is a testament to her great talent as a writer, but more impressively, this book bears witness to her keen insight into the deepest recesses of the American psyche. The story centers around an aging professor(St. Peter) , and his close and yet mysterious friend Tom Outland. Complicating this is the professor's strained relationship with his own family,(his two daughter's and their husbands and his wife). Cather's nonlinear narrative of their interactions and the various relationships that result works to pull the reader ever deeper into a work that soon spirals out of the professor's small study into a world of arid mesas, mysterious strangers, ancient skeletons and forgotten yesterdays. In the end, this story could be seen as an exposition on the American dream, one that probes deep below the surfaces of what that dream entails, and what is lost to acheive it.

Bittersweet novel of uncommon insight
This Cather novel can best be compared to a small symphony in a minor key. It is a gentle, bittersweet portrait of a successful scholar who finds himself emotionally isolated from his family in a transitional time in the family's development. A move from their familiar, too-small home to a newer, larger home highlights tensions and jealousies between his newly married daughters and the distance between himself and his wife. The first portion of the novel focuses on the professor's disappointing relationships with his family and colleagues, relationships he observes with poignancy and sadness. A smaller but equally important portion of the novel tells the story of Tom Outland, a young man whose life and death provide a backdrop for the professor's story. Cather's prose is lean and unadorned, giving every word meaning. This lends itself particularly well to her treatment of the southwest. Her portrait of the professor as ineffectual and alienated is consistent with Cather's general treatment of males and reflects her distrust of marriage. It is nevertheless a poignant and realistic portrayal of a man confronting the disappointments of an otherwise successful life. It is a must read.