“Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.”
-Willa Cather-
Willa Cather was born in Back Creek, Virgina on December 7, 1873. Her family later moved to Catherton, Nebraska in 1883 and moved again to Red Cloud, Nebraska the year after. Life on the prairie had left a huge impression on Willa, the land and people surrounding her were the moments Cather would reminisce about when writing her novels. Generating a thriving infatuation for land that would later prove to be one of Cather's main focus points when writing. Nebraska by the 1890's had an immigrant population that made up 43% of the states population. Becoming involved in a variety of customs and foreign languages, we can see how much of an impact her childhood had on her passion for writing.
I found a very interesting essay where Cather talks about some of the barriers young writers face. The main point being quality not quantity. It's not how much you write or how many pieces you complete, it's all about writing that one piece of art that captures the minds of readers. Something bold and refreshing, unique and daring. Jumping outside the box and bringing the reader into a whole new world of words, settings, characters and scenarios. Having your book, your artwork speak for itself. Finding that one moment, stripping it down to its bare essential and letting it shine.
“Art, it seems to me, should simplify. That, indeed, is very nearly the whole of the higher artistic process; finding what conventions of form and what detail one can do without and yet preserve the spirit of the whole-so that all that one has suppressed and cut away is there to the reader's consciousness as much as if it were in type on the page.”
The more I read about Willa the more I like her! She isn't an author, she's an artist. She paints such vivid pictures in the minds of readers, her descriptions of settings are absolutely beautiful. I think dunkirk (as a whole) is a pretty unappealing town, but I could read a whole novel about it if she had ever written one. In “My Antonia”, I feel like I'm there running through the wine colored grass while feeling the warmth from the sun in the bright blue sky.
“Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand-a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods-or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.”
I found a bunch of essays Willa wrote on other writers, ranging from Edgar Allan Poe to William Dean Howells. I chose two who we had already read about in class (seemed more interesting and relevant that way).
This is by far my most favorite essay that I've seen written by Cather. Remember way back in the beginning of the semester when we read Mark Twain's “Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses”? Well I don't know about you but I thought it was a little over the top. I understand criticism and judging other pieces of work, but to me he came off as a know it all. He was a bully, ripping apart every section, every sentence of Cooper's story. It was an imaginative tale and Twain despised it. Thoroughly trashing Cooper's work and his overall style as a writer. Destroying it all. So when I read what Cather had to say about Twain's critique on Paul Bourget's book “Outre Mer”, it put the biggest grin on my face.
“Clemens did not like the book, and like all men of his class, and limited mentality, he cannot criticize without becoming personal and insulting.”
I obviously haven't read this book, but judging based on how he came off in Cooper's critique I'd say she hit the nail right on the head. He was degrading, rude, and went above and beyond to ruin their reputation's as writers. Her essay gets even better..
“He tried to demolish a serious and well considered work by publishing a scurrilous, slangy and loosely written article about it. In this article Mr. Clemens proves very little against Mr. Bourget and a very great deal against himself. He demonstrates clearly that he is neither a scholar, a reader or a man of letters and very little of a gentleman. His ignorance of French literature is something appalling.”
I think I fell in love with this writer a little bit more! Talk about putting it all out there, she's definitely letting him know how she feels. Throughout the rest of the piece she chews up and spits out Twain, calling him awkward, shallow and his works mediocre. Giving him no credit as an author and pretty much says he will never be a good enough writer in her eyes. It baffles her that he gets the same recognition as other writers who are better and more deserving (such as Lowell).
“He is not a reader nor a thinker nor a man who loves art of any kind. He is a clever Yankee who has made a “good thing” out of writing. He has been published in the North American Review and in the Century, but he is not and never will be a part of literature.”
Another writer that we're all familiar with is Henry James, by recently reading his story “Daisy Miller”. Cather had many positive comments in regards to James. Applauding him and not only claiming him to be the master of language but an artist as well.
“Now that Stevenson is dead I can think of but one English speaking author who is really keeping his self-respect and sticking for perfection. Of course I refer to that mighty master of language and keen student of human actions and motives, Henry James.”
Cather goes on to say how his pieces are flawless. His style and the way he uses words to make them flow is mesmerizing. His sentences, the tone and formatting, makes his phrases magnificent. Finding it alluring and fascinating, she's stating the perfection of his technique. She's praising James with his timeless pieces of work and as an admirable writer.
“If his character novels were all wrong one could read him forever for the mere beauty of his sentences. He never lets his phrases run away with him. They are never dull and never too brilliant. He subjects them to the general tone of his sentence and has his whole paragraph partake of the same predominating color. You are never startled, never surprised, never thrilled or never enraptured; always delighted by that masterly prose that is as correct, as classical, as calm and as subtle as the music of Mozart.”
Amazing and interesting views from Cather made her a joy to research upon!
Willa Cather is an author, artist and a visual genius.
"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."
Reflecting upon her past memories of land, life and friendships, Cather has provided readers with books derived from passion that will never grow old.
I completely agree with you about Cather being an artist. Her descriptions of the Nebraskan prairies are beautiful. She contributes a lot of regionalist material through her use of imagery.
ReplyDeleteCather is really able to grasp the concept of painting a picture with words. I agree that the way she describes the evolving world around her characters is beautiful.
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