Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Song of the Lark

The Song of the Lark
The Song of the Lark
Author: Willa Cather, Doris Grumbach
Perhaps Willa Cather's most autobiographical work, The Song of the Lark charts the story of a young woman's awakening as an artist against the backdrop of the western landscape. Thea Kronborg, an aspiring singer, struggles to escape from the confines her small Colorado town to the world of possibility in the Metropolitan Opera House. In classic ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780395345306
ISBN-10: 0395345308
Publication Date: 5/10/1983
Pages: 424
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 17

3.9 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
Read All 4 Book Reviews of "The Song of the Lark"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed The Song of the Lark on + 13 more book reviews
Everyone in my book group loved this book. The writing draws you into its pace and tone and you don't want to miss a single word. The characters and story are fascinating and surprising and the settings are marvelous. A beautiful book in every way.
reviewed The Song of the Lark on + 137 more book reviews
If you have never read Willa Cather, you MUST. She is one of the leaders of female authors in this century. A classic, The Song of the Lark is a MUST READ.
reviewed The Song of the Lark on + 13 more book reviews
This book, published in 1915, was largely a disappointment. Billed as a tale of "a feisty girl whose upbringing in a raw, provincial Colorado town nearly stifles her artistic ambitions" which "captivates readers with its psychologically subtle portrait of a young woman sustained by determination...," it instead is a work that leaves one as frustrated as a starving artist.

Willa Cather, clearly a forerunner of feminist American writing, paints a picture of an existence without hope, purpose or fulfillment. The Song of the Lark is a godless portrait of an artist who exists outside of meaningful relationships, even with self. Devoted to her artistry, she develops not love for craft or success in achievement, but rather hatred, frustration and disappointment. It is a selfish and sad existence.

While the rich upbringing in a small town is acknowledged as a part of her immense artistic talent, it is simultaneously derided as simple and worthless.

Unfortunately, I will never get the time back that I spent plodding through this sometimes lovely (in its descriptions of the country) but mostly pointless diatribe of the sanctity of art.


Genres: