Summer Reading
Willa Cather is always held up as the great example of a famous female author from my home state, Nebraska. She often overshadows other authors, especially her contemporaries. I've started to read a book written by one of those, Mari Sandoz, titled Old Jules which is about her father's life a settler.
I'm maybe 1/3 of the way into it. It's a lot harsher than My Antonia by Cather, that's for sure. I suppose that's why Cather is brought up in middle school, and Sandoz is not. Jules was not a very likable man.
Sandoz wrote: People who are disturbed by Old Jules forget that only the srong and the ruthless stayed--that the squeamish may be nicer to live with, but they conquer no wilderness. If you look into history you will find that vision is always accompanied by a degree of thoughtlessness, impatience, and even intolerance for others.
And later, about the description of setback after setback: ...you would hardly expect anyone of my temperment to "emphasize the hopelessness of the struggle in the sandhills." I don't recognize any hopelessness in any struggle with nature. Defeated we are, of course, for death is inevitable, but to the people that seem interesting to me the struggle is a magnificent one in any event.
And this leads me to wonder who will be chosen when it comes time to colonize Mars, a place where it's even harder to pick up stakes and abandon your attempt to scratch out a living. Instead of just heading back east and giving up, you'll be stuck there. People hanging themselves or being committed to madhouses is casually mentioned in the book...how bad could things get for people not prepared?
I'm maybe 1/3 of the way into it. It's a lot harsher than My Antonia by Cather, that's for sure. I suppose that's why Cather is brought up in middle school, and Sandoz is not. Jules was not a very likable man.
Sandoz wrote: People who are disturbed by Old Jules forget that only the srong and the ruthless stayed--that the squeamish may be nicer to live with, but they conquer no wilderness. If you look into history you will find that vision is always accompanied by a degree of thoughtlessness, impatience, and even intolerance for others.
And later, about the description of setback after setback: ...you would hardly expect anyone of my temperment to "emphasize the hopelessness of the struggle in the sandhills." I don't recognize any hopelessness in any struggle with nature. Defeated we are, of course, for death is inevitable, but to the people that seem interesting to me the struggle is a magnificent one in any event.
And this leads me to wonder who will be chosen when it comes time to colonize Mars, a place where it's even harder to pick up stakes and abandon your attempt to scratch out a living. Instead of just heading back east and giving up, you'll be stuck there. People hanging themselves or being committed to madhouses is casually mentioned in the book...how bad could things get for people not prepared?