Narrator Jim Burden recalls his boyhood on the Nebraska prairie and his lifelong bond with Ántonia Shimerda, the spirited daughter of Bohemian immigrant homesteaders.
Books mentioned in My Ántonia (10)
The Georgics by Virgil: “I propped my book open and stared listlessly at the page of the 'Georgics' where tomorrow's lesson began.”
The Aeneid by Virgil: “Morning after morning I used to pace up and down my sunny little room, looking off at the distant river bluffs and the roll of the blond pastures between, scanning the 'Aeneid' aloud and committing long passages to memory.”
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: “I got 'Robinson Crusoe' and tried to read, but his life on the island seemed dull compared with ours.”
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss: “In the afternoons, when grandmother sat upstairs darning, or making husking-gloves, I read 'The Swiss Family Robinson' aloud to her, and I felt that the Swiss family had no advantages over us in the way of an adventurous life.”
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: “The Count of Monte Cristo,' which I had seen James O'Neill play that winter, was by the only Alexandre Dumas I knew.”
The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare: “Gardener had gone to Omaha to hear Booth and Barrett, who were to play there next week, and that Mary Anderson was having a great success in 'A Winter's Tale,' in London.”
Shenandoah by Bronson Howard: “That spring Lena went with me to see Joseph Jefferson in 'Rip Van Winkle,' and to a war play called 'Shenandoah.”
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving: “went with me to see Joseph Jefferson in 'Rip Van Winkle'”
The Old Oaken Bucket by Samuel Woodworth: “'It was "The Old Oaken Bucket," cut out of a newspaper and nearly worn out.”
Life of Jesse James: “a 'Life of Jesse James,' which I remember as one of the most satisfactory books I have ever read”
Books that mention My Ántonia (1)
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver: “It's from My Antonia. By Willa Cather. Mama's favorite book.”