From Library Journal
Nebraska pulls out all the stops for this superb scholarly edition of Cathers 1927 novel. This edition includes a newly restored text along with several historical essays and explanatory notes by several scholars. Academic libraries supporting hardcore American literature curricula will want this volume.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Willa Cather's best known novel; a narrative that recounts a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert.


Download Description
Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant are French priests who are sent to the American Southwest region to restructure New Mexico's Catholic diocese. They have been friends since their childhood in France and their mission includes the correction of backsliding priests and the restoration of the Catholic culture. Themes of Indian relations, slavery, heresy, insubordinate clerical conduct, and reclusiveness are presented for Latour's and Vaillant's examination. Latour is dignified and reflective while Vaillant is forthright and optimistic; together they're able to appreciate a simple life in the southwestern desert which has become an oasis of civilization. Latour's commitment to erect a cathedral in the wilderness is realized after nearly forty years of good works in these reverential surroundings. His devotion to his assignment and the wisdom he secures from his inner conflicts are the qualities that sustain him even while his youth drains away. Cather beautifully and powerfully portrays the harmony that results from steadfast purpose. Please Note: This book has been reformatted to be easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Willa Cather, published in 1927. The novel is based on the lives of Bishop Jean Baptiste L'Amy and his vicar Father Joseph Machebeut and is considered emblematic of the author's moral and spiritual concerns. Death Comes for the Archbishop traces the friendship and adventures of Bishop Jean Latour and vicar Father Joseph Vaillant as they organize the new Roman Catholic diocese of New Mexico. Latour is patrician, intellectual, introverted; Vaillant, practical, outgoing, sanguine. Friends since their childhood in France, the clerics triumph over corrupt Spanish priests, natural adversity, and the indifference of the Hopi and Navajo to establish their church and build a cathedral in the wilderness. The novel, essentially a study of character, explores Latour's inner conflicts and his relationship with the land, which through the author's powerful description becomes an imposing character in its own right.


From the Inside Flap
Willa Cather's best known novel; a narrative that recounts a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert.

ANNOTATION

A narrative which recounts a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Death Comes for the Archbishop sprang from Willa Cather's love for the land and cultures of the American Southwest. Published in 1927 to both praise and perplexity, it has since claimed for itself a major place in twentieth-century literature. The narrative follows Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant, friends since their childhood in France, as they organize the new Roman Catholic diocese of Santa Fe subsequent to the Mexican War. While seeking to revive the church and build a cathedral in the desert, the clerics, like their historical prototypes, Bishop Jean Laury and Father Joseph Machebeuf, face religious corruption, natural adversity, and the loneliness of living in a strange and unforgiving land. The historical essay traces the artistic and spiritual development that led to its writing. The broad-ranging explanatory notes illuminate the elements of French, Mexican, Hispanic, and Native American cultures that meet in the course of the narrative, they also explain the part played by the land and its people - their history, religion, art, and languages.

SYNOPSIS

Willa Gather￯﾿ﾽs 1927 novel traces the friendship and adventures of Bishop Jean Latour and vicar Father Joseph Vaillant as they organize the new Roman Catholic diocese of New Mexico.

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