Customer Reviews

One of Ours (Vintage Classics)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For understandable reasons, "One of Ours" is perhaps Willa Cather's most underrated novel. Published in 1922, only four years after the end of the First World War, it is widely regarded as Cather's "war novel" and, although she visited Europe to research the battle scenes, she admitted the difficulty of writing such a novel when she had no direct personal experience of war itself. Judged simply as a war novel, then, it is certainly lacking in many respects; one won't find realist depictions of military action here. In addition, criticism that she glorified the war and its sacrifices has haunted the book since its publication.

But "One of Ours" is instead a eulogy for her cousin who served as an officer at the Western front. Only very small portions of the book actually occur during battle, and those that do are less about fighting than about a Nebraska boy who finds himself away from home, billeting with a French family and becoming friends with a fellow officer. Like some of her other works, "One of Ours" is a perceptive character sketch of a Midwestern youth struggling to escape the confinement of life on the farm.

The opening chapters follow Claude Wheeler from boyhood to an abortive college career, interrupted when his father insists that he leave school to work on the farm. One of the more absorbing sections describes his informal adoption by members of the Ehrlich family, who host a faux-bohemian parlor for their college-age friends and introduce Claude to Lincoln's social giddiness, intellectual intensity, and cultural pleasures: "He had never heard a family talk so much, or with anything like so much zest." After he returns home, his life begins a less satisfactory course, first by marrying an impossible woman and then by "escaping" to the war in Europe.

Readers and critics have often misunderstood Cather's novel; eighty years later, however, it's hard to see how anyone could say the novel prettifies combat. Instead, she probes, from Claude's perspective, those aspects of the war--camaraderie, adventure, patriotism--that entice young men to risk their lives. She explores the motives of those who serve their country while simultaneously lamenting the results. At the same time, she ridicules many of her usual targets--parochialism, bigotry, and righteousness--and lovingly portrays David Gerhardt, Claude's friend in Europe (who is based on a real-life violinist named David Hochstein). Taken as a whole, then, the novel is both Cather's celebratory tribute to "one of ours" and a grief-stricken remembrance of the tragic effects of war.

...,but I can make a great city of a small state". Themistocles once said these words that might have been lifted from the thoughts of Claude Wheeler, the central character in Cather's Pulitzer winning novel. Claude is out of place in rural Nebraska, the initial setting of the novel. Only on the battlefields of WWI does he finally come in to his own.

Having read the critical comments of others, I sympathize with some of thier views. Cather did perhaps overreach in this novel. And certainly other of her works deserve more attention (Song of the Lark, My Antonia, Oh Pioneers). But for those of us who would read the technical specs for the muffler of a 73' Pinto if Cather had written them, this book is pure pleasure. Frankly, I can't imagine any of her books deserving less than 5 stars.

I also take exception to comments regarding the weakness of the final chapters. I found Cather's musings on fighting for a cause incredibly stirring. They offered resolution to the soul searching and final triumph of Claude. The epic scope of this story transcends the mere trials of finding oneself and speak to what it means to be human. No mere "fiddling" indeed.

Though you begin to realize where this story is headed early in the novel, you are not quite prepared for where it takes you. It is heartbreaking, and Willa Cather does not beat you over the head with that. The story begins in Nebraska- this is where Cather exhibits her best writing in the story. Her description of our hero's lament is sincere in its vaguery. His feeling of entrapment spills over to the reader. Ms. Cather loses some of her magic when he goes off to The Great War. While we imagine that his sense of entrapment in Nebraska is lifted, we never really feel the emotional evolution that we expect he is going through. In addition, the first three quarters of the story contain a complicated familial element to which we never return.

In the end, where we knew we were headed, we long a little bit for the entrapment of our hero's Nebraska, but feel a little bit liberated by his new freedom.

I am not certain that Willa Cather wrote anything that was not worth reading, but I do think this is the weakest of the ten or so of her works that I have read. If you have read and enjoyed her other books, by all means read it. If you haven't read her at all, I would recommend instead DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP, THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE, or SHADOWS ON THE ROCK, or her prairie books MY ANTONIA or O PIONEERS. This book is a decent book by a great writer.

This is my first Willa Cather book and I was very impressed with her descriptions of the Nebraska lifestyle. Claude was a cornered and ho-hum young man forever destined to live the life others expected of him. Then the war gave new meaning to his life and seemingly a direction. His wife reminded me of Scarlett O'Hara in many ways--her selfishness and use of other people. I was glad to see her go to China so Claude could breathe. The depiction of the trench war was so vivid and was the most exciting part of the book for me. The relationships formed among the soldiers was what life really is about, and Claude finally found significance in his. A purpose! I intend to read more Cather.

This novel represents the heroic struggle of one individual against farming, social ambition, marriage and war.

Although strong and capable, farming is the worst profession imaginable for this red headed hero. Willa Cather shows every respect for the hard honest life of a Nebraskan farmer, but Claude makes a hard honest fiasco of the farming life. This book is the story of a soul. A strong daring soul that needs to wrestle something bigger than itself (even if it loses). Claude begins by trying to manage his father's farm. When he spends a few years at college, he is shown the world of social ambition, but neither of these experiences set his life on the right path. If you are interested in the dynamics of male/female relationships, Claude's marriage provides plenty of food for thought. Willa Cather chose a very interesting backdrop for her hero when she describes the home front of these two very black sheep.

This book may be the most realistic description of middle-west sentiment during the first world war. It describes the emotions of Americans who volunteered to fight for people they had only met via the black and white media of newspapers. The war becomes a sort of crusade, and Claude feels compelled to answer the call. Willa Cather gives a wise description of the issues, and even expresses the sentiments of honest German farmers in Nebraska. Claude's best friend is from the Bohemian old country, and doesn't quite agree with Claude's choices.

This book has received quite a few reserved reviews. I recommend this book without reservations.

Numerous typo errors. Don't think anyone proof read the text. This is definitely not the copy one should buy. No introductory essay or comments.

"One Of Ours" starts out so strong, but ends flat. It drags out too long. Her story of farm and small town life are great, but her descriptions of war and Europe at the end seem almost like a separate story. Start Willa Cather by reading "My Antonia" and some of her short stories and then get to "One of Ours". Cather is great, but this is not the place to start.

Nothing can compare with Cather's O, PIONEERS, or even her SONG OF THE LARK, but this book is pretty darn close. The writing is the same--good--as in her other books, but the one thing I DID like better about ONE OF OURS is the fact that it explores a more psychological aspect of the main character---especially that of someone during the WWI period. As with all Cather's books, they are crafted well. A few may find her a little too wordy, but consider that these were written in a time when there was no TV, few movies, and barely any radio. It's what people wanted back then.

Willa Cather's One of Ours follows the life of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska farm boy who is searching for some meaning to his existence. With his study at the university stripped away because of his father's farm, he bitterly drives himself into the monotony of farm life, establishes himself, and weds a woman who has little affection for him. Claude is searching for some kind of sustenance to create a life that has more meaning than chopping wood and mending fence. WWI comes along and Claude enthusiastically enlists in a cause he can be proud of, and finds a sense of purpose in the trench warfare, feeling a brotherhood among his fellow soldiers. One of Ours is a bildungsroman of a disillustioned and bitter man. To any reader interested in the Modern Period of American Literature, this novel pounds home the common themes of that period. Cather's description is adept as usual, while her plot is somewhat predictable. Nonetheless, it's a solid novel for readers to sink their teeth into.