Finished at last

I finished My Ántonia this afternoon. There is a charm to the story I must admit. It has an honesty to it, and according to the afterward, most of it is actually true. Although the plot is not compelling and the story-line does not follow a very direct path, there are some interesting stories imbedded within. I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed the little anecdotes here and there about why a character had come to Nebraska, or what they did after they left. I did not enjoy the unconcerned and removed tone that the author used to portray the lives of the interconnected people. I never became invested in them and perhaps that is why I never really cared what ended up happening to them. I doubt if any of it will stick with me for very long.

My Ántonia

I find myself still reading My Ántonia and not particularly excited about it. Several of the chapters I have read were actually interesting, but there doesn't really seem to be much to the book. It's a portrait of the early settlements on the Nabraska plains. It is much more about the place then the people in it, although some of them have fun stories. I have little to no sympathy for the main character. But then again I had this same problem with Catcher in the Rye, and a lot of people seem to really like that book- even obsess over it. Either way, I am determined to finish this book. perhaps it will redeem itself in the end.