Just finished this amazing story “Death Comes for the Archbishop.” The language is spellbinding, the Arizona setting is portrayed with an amazing beauty and the even the harshest events are told as if whispered in an Abby.
One thing I am interested in hearing thoughts on is the structure of the book. It feels closer to the Canterbury Tales or Don Quixote in its episodic nature than a more modern novel?
Also, this is the first Cather book I have read, and I believe this is considered Cather’s masterpiece, but would certainly like to hear of anyone thinks other books of hers are in the running.
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We’re reading My Ántonia over on r/ClassicBookClub It’s my first time reading Cather, but I definitely would like to read more. I really enjoy her style so far.
I am just about to start that
Besides that one, I liked all the ones in the ‘trilogy’ pretty well, with O Pioneers! being the slight favorite. One of Ours goes a bit further afield geographically, and also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Also, if you enjoy short stories, fwiw I thought The Troll Garden was good
That book made me cry. I’m still holding a grudge.
My Ántonia is one of my all time favorite books. It’s been a few years since I read Death Comes for the Archbishop, but I seem to recall that in the beginning of the novel, a couple of cardinals were dining in Rome with a priest and the topic of a lost piece of religious art came up. The icon had been given to a mission church amount the native Americans and was stolen for the church in a pillage.
Agreed. I thought it would be deeply relevant to the story but was not.
My Antonia changed the way I view fiction. Read it halfway through my English/creative writing degree, and instantly shifted the way I craft stories. Her narrative is so stunning.
I read Willa Cather’s book quite a while ago and I think you’ll find that it is set mostly in the Santa Fe, Albuquerque area of New Mexico.
I recall that the principal character very nearly got lost in the Journada de los Muertos a feature found on maps just south of Albuquerque, it is so desolate that it was the location for the Trinity A-bomb test some 70 odd years ago.
The background not alluded to in Willa’s novel is the successful revolt of the Puebloan people against the Spaniards led by Popay in 1680. Many Spanish priests were killed and the Spanish settlers were driven out for about 12 years. That and the high handed and violent way Coronado cut a swathe through the relatively peaceful world of these civilized Native Americans makes this a most interesting story, since the Catholic priests were still somewhat alien to the people, and some cultural tensions still existed.
A most interesting read!
Yes. All that was in the background of the story. I had just gotten back from a two week driving and hiking tour of the area so I was familiar with many things she described. Especially Canyon de Chelle.
Generally Death Comes for the Archbishop, My Antonia, O Pioneers!, and The Song of the Lark are considered her top tier, so if you’re interested in reading more, I’d start with one of those. Death Comes for the Archbishop is unique in her work for its southwestern setting. The others are set in the Great Plains, where Cather grew up, but they have the same beauty of language and setting. Some of her stories have more defined plots than others, but the episodicness of the stories is definitely a feature, not a bug in most of them.
Shadows on the Rock is also an interesting companion piece to Death Comes for the Archbishop–it was written around the same time, when Cather had become obsessed with Catholicism. Both books are about the settlement of Catholicism in the New World and the people who grew up around these settlements, but Shadows on the Rock is about Quebec instead of New Mexico. Death Comes for the Archbishop is definitely a stronger work overall, but it’s interesting to read them together.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll be reading the next Willa Cather book soon!
I’ll also recommend you to read her work - Great Plains Trilogy. The first book O Pioneers! is amazing! Published in 1913, this novel brings the harsh Nebraska prairie to life! You’ll love this one too!
I am embarking in those presently. Thanks.
Dang I remember I had this book ages ago but I never got around to reading it and it must have got lost in one of my moves years ago, as I definitely don’t have it anymore. ☹️