My AntoniaI think that My Antonia, written in 1918, is one of Cather's finest works. The critic H.L. Mencken thought it was the most complete, and shortly after its publication in 1919 wrote: "His style has lost self-consciousness; his sense of form has become instinctive. And he has such a grip on his materials... I know of no novel that makes the remote peoples of the western prairies more real… and I know of none that make them seem more worth knowing.” One of the high points of the story is the tragic case of Mr. Shimerda's death. In this character Cather displays an almost obsessive longing for the past. A man of worship, Antonia's father cannot bear the difficulties he encounters in Nebraska and longs to return to live in Bohemia. He clings to his wardrobe and Old World foods… “a gray knitted vest and, instead of a collar, a dark bronze-green silk scarf, carefully crisscrossed and held together with a red coral brooch. " Longing for his homeland, Mr. Shimerda shoots himself. Some critics find Cather's recurring preoccupation with the past destructive, TK Whipple said there was an element of passion in the theme. "Having cared about something intensely does not mean having lived in vain." I think the theme of immigrants nostalgic for the past was very fitting. Many of the settlers of the Midwestern prairies were immigrants, and most were desperate to hold on to their past while building a new life in the American melting pot. The difficulties of immigrants were not uncommon. Many were forced to go to the city to become a "girl" as Antonia did before returning to the agricultural work she enjoyed, where she discovered city life in nightclubs. My favorite part of reading My Antonia are the beautiful descriptions of the terrain and other little details. In this story Jim Burden is not only a narrator for Cather, but for the land. Throughout the story his descriptions bring an eloquent style to his writing and draw the reader into the story. “Everywhere, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but rough, shaggy red grass, almost as tall as me.” In a phrase now found on Cather's tombstone, he comes to accept the earth's power over him, saying, "This is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.