By Taylor Jasmine | On October 14, 2016 | Updated March 15, 2026 | Comments (0)
My Ántonia is considered one of the masterpieces of fiction by Willa Cather (1873 –1947). Published in 1918, it’s the last of her “prairie trilogy” of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark.
Set in 19th-century Nebraska, the novel follows the life of Jim Burden, an orphan boy from Virginia, and Ántonia Shimerda, the eldest daughter in an immigrant family from Bohemia (once part of Czechoslovakia).
The first year in the prairie leaves a potent impression on Ántonia and Jim, a theme that’s developed through the narrative. Cather created a book of singular beauty and simplicity, in which the theme of community is united with her talent for creating character development. Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On October 1, 2016 | Updated October 2, 2022 | Comments (0)
Though Laura Z. Hobson (1900 – 1986) is no longer a well-known name among today’s readers, her blockbuster 1947 novel, Gentleman’s Agreement, and its award-winning film adaptation are both classics.
The storyline tackles “polite” antisemitism in post-World War II New York City and environs. Not as autobiographical as some of her other novels, it drew upon her skills as a keen observer of social issues.
Hobson traveled in professional circles of publishing and advertising in midcentury New York, and as a Jewish woman, she was sensitive to signs of subtle and overt bias. Restrictions against Jews in housing, jobs, schools, and hotels was all too common. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On September 25, 2016 | Updated October 4, 2022 | Comments (0)
Atlas Shrugged (1957) is a philosophical novel by Russian-born Ayn Rand that examines a multitude of complex issues. Rand, never one for modesty, claimed that it was the most important book ever written.
Critics often felt otherwise. Where Atlas Shrugged was concerned, readers disagreed; it sold millions of copies around the world.
In spite of the fact that many critics at the time considered it, as one wrote,”a stupid and dangerous book,” it later made lists of the most influential books of the twentieth century. Here are two reviews from the time of its publication — the critics can barely contain their sarcasm: Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On September 16, 2016 | Updated October 4, 2022 | Comments (2)
Journal of a Solitude (1973) is May Sarton’s record of a year spent quietly observing her inner world and the natural world around her.
In this record of her sixtieth year, she writes with candor about her self, and shares insightful observations about her home, garden, and seasons, as well as books and ideas in her daily life in New Hampshire.
The reader shares a creative and spiritual journey of a talented writer who was occasionally frustrated by the trajectory of her career. The book begins: Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On May 24, 2016 | Updated September 30, 2022 | Comments (0)
From the original review of The Golden Notebook in the Tucson Daily Citizen by John Barkham, June 1962: Doris Lessing has long impressed as an underrated novelist. Her stories of southern Africa, The Grass is Singing, and of lower-class English life in Five, combine form with expression in a manner perfectly suited to the respective environments.
The Golden Notebook is far and away her most ambitious work to date — a long and complex novel which draws on all the talents and insights of this gifted woman.
It is no ordinary work of fiction, either in manner or matter. The publisher compares its heroine, Anna, with the “new woman” of Ibsen and Shaw. This is going further than I would, but unquestionably The Golden Notebook is going to be debated and analyzed by students of the novel for a long time to come. Read More→
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