Reviews for The Song of the Lark

The average rating for The Song of the Lark based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-02-10 00:00:00 Nina Evjen In this second of Willa Cather's Great Plains Trilogy, we are taken on an adventure of a different kind. For those who are interested in how the creative process grows within a person from young childhood through to adulthood, this book is perfect. Thea Kronborg is born in Moonstone, Colorado and is part of a large Swedish family of seven children and an Aunt who helps their mother maintain some semblance of order in their tiny, over-crowded home. It is her Aunt Tillie who first declares Thea to be something special. Thea's mother also senses this daughter's higher destiny but has six other children she must also encourage toward fulfillment. Dr. Howard Archie is young and trapped in a bad marriage where he struggles to maintain dignity and the respect of the townspeople by putting the best face on it. Dr. Archie is one of Thea's first friends outside of the family who can also see something interesting in young Thea, although he cannot put a name to it. Thea's calling and her inner torments in achieving what she feels driven to achieve are central to this marvelous story. Along the way, there is a sojourn in New Mexico where she goes to recover herself at one point, and the descriptions and writing soar into and throughout the canyons like birds catching a thermal. Sunrises, sunsets, storms, hot days, cool nights, the cliffs with deserted homes built along both sides of the canyons like long, suspended city streets - all are so vividly painted, they are palatable to the senses. Eventually, when Thea recovers her equilibrium and her renewed strong will and determination drive her onward once more, Thea goes to Germany to hone her craft. One of her teachers says to her,'When people, serious people, believe in you, they give you some of their best, so - take care of it, Miss Kronborg.' Thea takes this to heart and although she continues to meet people who do have that belief in her, she struggles with letting go of the people who could only hold her back, even without meaning to. There is one internal engine, however, that keeps pushing her toward her goals, and only those who recognize it for what it is will continue to share her journey. You may or may not be surprised to learn what it is that ensures her success where so many others fail, and there are also some surprises in discovering which people will always be part of her life and lifestyle. I enjoyed this book a great deal as I could relate to so much of it personally, even though I know very little about the world of Opera. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys music on any level and/or is interested in - or curious about - the nurturing and development of the creative process within.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-12-08 00:00:00 Lawrence Nagy [As much as Ántonia warmed my wistful heart in My Ántonia, her development as an independent human being was finally curtailed by the solemn aura of her femininity because it ended trapping her in the role of ultimate incarnation as some kind of "earth mother". Contrarily, Thea renounces to her personal life and sacrifices having a family because she has a dream to pursue, which is also a heavy burden and an enormous responsibility, regardless of the consequences of taking the path that leads her to the art she believes to be locked inside herself, ebullient to flare up if the right igniter flashes the desired, needed spark. In O Pioneers!, free-spirited Alexandra proves she is worth her weight in gold when it comes to stating her position as a successful entrepreneur without the shadow of a male presence to influence her decisions, but she proves to be severe and rushed to judge illicit love within the framework of social convention of a highly questionable morality. In contrast, Thea doesn't renounce to her self-respect but at the same time her open-mindedness allows her to accept, and even empathize with people of dubious propriety, for she challenges the generally accepted norm and forms an opinion based on her personal experience alone. (hide spoiler)]