Books

O Pioneers!

Tale of the social relationships surrounding a tough, smart, courageous immigrant woman as she converts a chunk of prairie into productive farmland.

It’s all about the characters, in this book. What little plot it has mostly serves to set up their conversations. 

The characters range from unforgettable, like the protagonist Alexandra or wacky Ivar, to endearing, like Marie, to fairly bland, like Emil or Carl. And the land itself acts a bit like a character. Alexandra personifies it, and Ivar nearly worships it. 

The writing is great for the most part, though the dialogue felt artificial in places and there were a few passages near the end that overreached and produced a few actual cringes in me. 

It feels less mature and less polished than My Ántonia, more like a parade of snapshots than a coherent vision. Still good, though. 

Don’t avoid it on purpose, but only read it if you’ve already read and enjoyed My Ántonia.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur Dent narrowly survives the end of the world, then things get tough. 

If you like sci fi but haven’t read this, you absolutely must. There’s a chance you won’t like it, but it’s more likely that you’ll love it. 

The plot is pretty manic and disjointed, and there’s not a lot of character development in the traditional sense, thought there are a lot of memorable personalities. 

It’s really just a vehicle for a whole bunch of hilarious lines. And it roasts sci-fi with obvious love. 

I laughed out loud when I read it the first time. My 6yo and I laughed out loud on this pass.

Strongly recommended for fans of sci-fi and humor. And for anglophiles, too, now that I think of it.

I recently read it for the first time, and loved it. This was my first fiction in a long long time. Hope to read more of these.