THE BOHEMIAN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES by Willa Cather⭐⭐⭐⭐

“You remember how we always said the leaves were whispering when they rustled at night? Well, they always whispered to me about the sea. Sometimes they said names out of the geography books. In a high wind they had a desperate sound, like someone trying to tear loose.”

“How funny, Nils,” said Eric dreamily, resting his chin on his hand. “That tree still talks like that, and ‘most always it talks to me about you.”

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Willa Cather is the master of capturing Nebraska’s essence, a place I find myself eternally running from even as my thoughts consistently drift back to my time there and all the ways it left a mark. Cather seemed to have a similar struggle, slipping the themes of escape and regret mixed with irreverence for the land and it’s way of life into her work over and over again. Some of the language is antique and too clever for the likes of me; I surely missed a few things. But following along as best I could, my thoughts bounced around and I recorded where they landed. If anything, I appreciate that someone could give my homeland a flourishing life on the page, one that effectively shows the sometimes thick disconnect between it and the metropolitan parts of society, as well as the beauty in its proximity to nature and a simpler time. Here are my notes, story-by-story:

Eric Hermannson’s Soul

Star-crossed lovers discover, test, and accept the short time they have together. The setting and scenery of the West creates an atmosphere where anything can happen, but even that isn’t always enough to beat the norms and expectations of civilized society. As in Bridges of Madison County, we are left contemplating if finding true love is worth it if we only spend a short time with it, or if it’s better to never have found it at all. If I’m reading Cather’s prose properly, it’s never the latter.

The Sculptor’s Funeral

Leaving a small-town is a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation for many reasons. You may leave as the pride of those still stuck there, only for them to eventually decide in fact you were wrong to go and that they know better and always did and surely you’ve come to your senses and realized there’s nothing like the quiet and simplicity and safety of home. They find a way to knock what they could never try. But no matter what we go off to do, those small-towns are a part of us, even after death. Not all of us physically return, but something of us does, somehow. Our name in someone’s mouth, our memory in the air or a mark left on the earth discovered anew (in my case, graffiti on a concrete lake wall). I may not grasp every theme or nuance of these stories so far, but that’s where this one took me.

A Wagner Matinee

So far, the most gorgeous prose with a subtle judgment about homestead living and the plains. This one left a forlorn feeling for the aunt character and her long ago decision to husk off the city life she relished so well. The differences between Boston and Nebraska are still fairly drastic nowadays, but back then I can imagine living in the west was akin to being three worlds away and two steps into the past.

Paul’s Case

I’m noticing common themes of wanting to escape the prison-like monotony of the small-town and the power that theatre and spectacle have over people. There are so many passages of beautiful descriptions about emotions and cities and the release of a life lived as a lie. Paul puts on the performance of a cleverly emotive and rambunctious teenager for his whole short life, not realizing he’s performing for himself, too, until he leaves behind the thing he truly dreads: being like every one else. I really liked this one.

The Enchanted Bluff

An ode to folktales and the dreams boys make when the world is still wide open and lives mostly within stories and rumor. Everything seems so simple then; traveling farther than you ever have before, farther than you have any real mind to, and proving a myth right or wrong with your own eyes, and maybe becoming a legend yourself. These are the things we cling to as we watch our childhood friends grow older, knowing what it means for us, too. This story also includes the most poetic and accurate descriptions of the Nebraska waterways, all of them an adventurous staple for anyone growing up in those parts. When I think of home, I think of the Platte rivers that surrounded the town and all the times I drove over them or walked through them or watched their waters recede to expose new isles or flood to drown parts of my favorite golf course. I’ve separated from them as I’ve moved away, but they are always there waiting when I return.

The Bohemian Girl

So many feelings stirring. Layers of characters dealing with the choice to leave home and escape the prairie, tied together with a timeless romance. Instead of watching the grand decision to stay play out, we see the agony of a long-passed decision fester. We get so attached to the things that drive us crazy and stand in our way, consuming us from within, it almost feels like removing a piece of ourselves when we let them go. But there’s no denying when it has to be done. You learn these things with time, but they never get easier. You also learn that whatever is in the way, it’s never too late to choose yourself.