In Cather’s reflection of her novels and their respective successes, I thought it was not a unique opinion. Often times it is said that writers will write what is most familiar to them, whether it be regarding themselves or a place or community. I did wonder if this holds across other genres however: for example, in sci-fi or fantasy novels, how much does the author leave of themselves in the book in relation to other writers?
2 thoughts on “Willa Cather, My First Novels”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I really enjoyed reading her reflections and thought it gave me a deeper appreciation for the book. Like you said, I think much of Cather’s success with “O Pioneers” came from the fact that she wrote about what was familiar to her. With her first novel, “Alexander’s Bridge”, she talks about how she tried too hard to make it fit what she thought people would be interested in reading. It “follows the most conventional pattern,” (My First Novels). When she finished writing “O Pioneers” she was thrilled with the book because it was based on things she knew and the places she loved. I think that readers can tell when something is genuine and that is why so many people loved the book.
Hey Sasa,
I found your comment on sci-fi or fantasy novels, pertaining to how much authors write about themselves and their own experiences, very interesting. It reminds me of a link to a piece written by Aldous Huxley in which he talked about a similar yet not completely related experience. For those of you who do not know, Aldous Huxley was a British novelist who focused on the sci-fi genre. Specifically, his piece ‘Brave New World’ was set in a dystopian future and marked different aspects of American social culture, including contraceptive rights. In this article, (of which I cannot find a link, unfortunately), he stated that his colleagues at the University of Oxford that were also interested in sic-fi and futuristic genres, were usually the people that had felt out of place in their time period. They were the “outsiders” or the weird kids in high school. Thus, in a way, their novels about what seems to be completely distant settings and time periods, turns out to be more relatable to them and their lives. SO, to answer your question, I think that authors of every genre find a way to write about what they know, even if it is to vastly different extent.