A gifted girl from a Colorado railroad town claws her way to become a great opera singer. Cather's portrait of the artist's ruthless ambition.
Books mentioned in The Song of the Lark (18)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: “The book was a poor translation of "Anna Karenina."”
Flint's Physiology by Austin Flint: “In his old Flint's Physiology there was still a poem he had pasted there when he was a student; some verses by Dr.”
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: “The divinity student, who was always whispering soft things to her, sent her "The Kreutzer Sonata."”
Cato by Joseph Addison: “Thea had spent hours making trees out of “Thanatopsis,” Hamlet’s soliloquy, Cato on “Immortality.””
A Distinguished Provincial in Paris by Honore de Balzac: “Thea leaned forward and made out the title on the back, "A Distinguished Provincial in Paris."”
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Byron: “the Dying Gladiator she had read about in “Childe Harold” almost as long ago as she could remember”
The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine: “When he was braking, down on the Santa Fe, at the end of his run he used to climb into the upper bunk of the caboose, while a noisy gang played poker about the stove below him, and by the roof-lamp read Robert Ingersoll's speeches and "The Age of Reason."”
The Jolly Beggars by Robert Burns: “Hornbook" and "The Jolly Beggars," Burns's "Reply to his Tailor," he often read aloud to himself in his office, late at night, after a glass of hot toddy.”
Death and Doctor Hornbook by Robert Burns: ““Death and Dr. Hornbook” and “The Jolly Beggars,” Burns’s “Reply to his Tailor,” he often read aloud to himself in his office”
The Fair Maid of Perth by Walter Scott: “Constance de Beverley and the minstrel girl in "The Fair Maid of Perth," not the Duchesse de Langeais, were his heroines.”
Waverley Novels by Walter Scott: “Though he read Balzac all the year through, he still enjoyed the Waverley Novels as much as when he had first come upon them, in thick leather-bound volumes, in his grandfather's library.”
Among the Breakers by George Melville Baker: “Tillie belonged to a dramatic club that once a year performed in the Moonstone Opera House such plays as "Among the Breakers," and "The Veteran of 1812."”
The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Samuel J. Muscroft: “The club had decided to put on "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh," a very ambitious undertaking because of the many supers needed and the scenic difficulties of the act which took place in Andersonville Prison.”
The Veteran of 1812: “Tillie belonged to a dramatic club that once a year performed in the Moonstone Opera House such plays as "Among the Breakers," and "The Veteran of 1812."”
Maid of Athens by Byron: ““How about ‘Maid of Athens’?” She blushed and looked at him suspiciously.”
The Polish Boy by Ann S. Stephens: “After the orchestra played "Selections from Erminie," and the Baptist preacher made a long prayer, Tillie Kronborg came on with a highly colored recitation, "The Polish Boy."”
Standard Recitations: “She had a complete set of "Standard Recitations," which she conned on Sundays.”
Polar Explorations: “…plunged in between her red blankets, the cold sometimes kept her awake for a good while, and she comforted herself by remembering all she could of "Polar Explorations," a fat, calf-bound volume her father had bought from a book-agent, and by thinking about the members of Greely's party: how they…”