The Professor's House

Reminded me of 'Stoner'. Another take of a dissatisfied American professor, with disappointing women around him. Very odd bit in the middle about a mysterious Mesa in the desert, which is very poetic and evocative, though rather an odd combination.

Strangely engaging considering how unsympathetic several of the characters are, I shall be looking to read more of her novels in the future.

I have read the book before and enjoyed it. My book group has chosen it for our next book. I loaded it to my husband's Kindle, and have found that difficult to use. It doesn't come with any printed instructions. I find the print, even when enlarged, difficult to read. I think I'll stick with printed books at present.

Willa Cather's early novels of life on the American prairie, such as "My Antonia" and "O Pioneers" are well known. Her novel "The Professor's House" is much less familiar, but it is Cather at her best.The book tells the story of Professor Godfrey St. Peter. When we meet St. Peter, he is a respected academic and scholar, age 52, who has written an eight volume history called "Spanish Explorers" dealing with the Spanish in Mexico and the American Southwest. He has persevered in his writing and received awards. As a result, St. Peter and his family are able to build a new house and move away from the ramshackle rented quarters in which the Professor and his wife have lived and raised their family.The family consists of two daughters who, when we meet them, have married and gone their own ways. The younger daughter is married to a struggling news reporter who has impressed his bosses by his ability to turn out hack prose-poems for the paper on a daily basis.The older daughter was at one time engaged to a man named Tom Outland who is, perhaps the real hero of the book. Outland invented an important scientific device and willed it to her upon his death in WW I. She then marries an engineer and entrepreneur who develops and markets Outland's invention. The couple build a large home and name in "Outland".The book tells a story of change, frustration and acceptance. The Professor is unhappy with the new home and refuses to leave his old study. His relationship with his wife and daughters has cooled. He is unhappy with the modernization of the university and of academic learning with its emphasis on technology and business rather than study and reflection. Most importantly, he is dissatisfied with his honors, his leisure, and his comforts. He thinks of his youth of promise and study, of his life of solitude, and yearns for adventure and meaning.The first part of the book tells the story of the Professor and his family. The second, shorter, part is a flash-back and tells the story of Tom Outland who Professor St. Peter befriended many years before and who grew up in mysterious circumstances in New Mexico. We learn in the second part of the book of Outland's life on the railroad and on the range. We see his somewhat ambiguous friendship with an older man and their discovery of an ancient Indian village on the mesas. There is a wonderfully drawn picture of Washington D.C. as Tom tries, without success, to interest officials in his discovery.In the third part of the book, the Professor reflects on Tom and on his own life. It seems to me that Tom's life mirrors the theme of the Professor's lengthy studies in "Spanish Explorers" It is the kind of life in its rawness, closeness to nature, and independence that the Professor thinks he would have liked to lead rather than settling for a middle-class life of conformity, comfort, and boredom. We see how the Professor tries to struggle on.There is a frustration built into life when we learn we are not the persons we dreamed of becoming. This is a poignant, beautifully-written story of American life and of how and why people fall short of themselves.Robin Friedman

Published in 1925, this book is about a professor in his 50s, his wife, two daughters and their husbands. However the most interesting part of the book is Part Two of Three which tells the story of Tom Outland, the professor's student and friend. He had discovered a cliff city's remains in the American South West, while working as a rancher there with a drifter, Roddy.Tom and Roddy had delighted in the cliff city and spent some idyllic time in the beautiful, Eden like surroundings. Tom felt betrayed by Roddy in their subsequent dealings over sharing the discovering with the world, which led to the break up of their friendship.The Professor feels distanced from his family who seem to value him above all for his financial input. It is as though he felt at his happiest in his early days before he started to earn money.I found the first part difficult to read as I found the characters shallow and tiresome. Perhaps that's the point, we are supposed to realise that only a deep connection with nature and the natural world (as experienced by Tom in Part Two) can give us a feeling of satisfaction with our lives.The closest bonds are between Tom and Roddy and, we believe, Tom and the professor.The book is melancholy, wistful, and I thought, pessimistic, with its depiction of human relations as something that never quite goes right

Set after the First World War, this American novel follows Professor St Peter (yes, that is his name) who is resisting moving from his old house to a new build. Preferring his dingy yet comfortable study in the old house, the Professor cannot see why anyone would want to give up this comfortable space. The novel follows the Professor and his family, along with the ghost of Tom Outland. He died in the war and and left his then fiancée, one of St Peter’s daughters, a hefty sum of money. This creates a wedge between his two daughters and the entire story is haunted by the genuine warmth that Tom brought to the family.The story is divided into three sections and the middle part tells us more about Tom Outland. Whilst it was interesting to read about Tom’s love for the treasures he discovers while out West, I found this section the most tedious. I understood the principles that Cather was referring to, but found the surrounding sections about the Professor and his family more of an absorbing read. I only wish that Cather had elaborated more on Tom’s discovery that led to him being so wealthy, and feel that I might have understood his character a bit more as a consequence.I felt sorry for St Peter and how tiresome he feels towards life. Whilst his wife and family are off gallivanting in Paris, he is left, quite content, at home. When readers rejoin the Professor after Tom’s story, he is suddenly very tired of life around him and I felt so sorry for him that the rest of his family were not nearby. It is clear he held Tom in his highest regards and think that if given the opportunity he would do anything to spend some more time with his close friend.I enjoyed reading this but don’t think I would read it again. The middle section was not as enjoyable as the rest of the story but I did find it clever how Cather made the Professor and Tom appear quite wistful in their ideals.

A story of nuance and grace. Totally believable with characters you end up caring about.

Just couldn't get into it.

At University I had to read Wila Cather, And I didn't enjoy it, After years, at the reading club we were asked to read this novel, and I was surprised, I enjoyed it!!

I enjoyed the book; Willa Cather has a wonderful way of developing stories and characters; she is a good writer who makes you feel that you are inside the characters.

I had to push myself in the middle to connect with a renewed "interest" at the end, ending with great disappointment. Why? I ordered it because I am retired and now officially an old man. I thought I would read about a man's inner thoughts and emotions and dialogs with himself over becoming introduced to the changes in body and spirit in aging. I was looking for some insights and just identifying with someone else - (her character) as they faced changes in life that one not always wants to accept. But her manner of writing I enjoyed. She is very detailed. You'll get a glimpse of the color of the lamp shade behind the desk. Things like that; and her detailed descriptions of people's faces and human shape. She was truly a gifted writer. I "think" (?) I'll try her book on the Pioneer days in the Midwest, and maybe feel more satisfaction.