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Jan 29, 2017mayog rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The book is a third-person narration of the life of two French priests who serve as missionaries in New Mexico around the time of the Gadsden purchase, one as a bishop and the other as his vicar. It tells their experience of setting up missions, re-establishing Catholicism after the European model, and working among the people: the Mexicans and the Indians (Navajo, Hopi, Comanche, etc.) One could read this book as a series of short stories, rather than as a more contemporary work of fiction. The novel is divided into books, and each book could stand alone. Cather has some lovely, very understated insight into religion, the life of faith (including the dark night of the soul, although she doesn't call it that), into slavery, and other such American institutions. These she explores in an understated way through the eyes of the Roman Catholic French men. Her descriptions of their Marian devotion are particularly moving. I read this for the Book Riot 2017 challenge; we were to read a book written between 1900 and 1950. Given that, it's hardly surprising that this book fails Bechdel, Latif and Duvernay spectacularly. The primary conversations we hear are either between the men, or focused on one of the male characters. Never do two named women speak to each other about anything. There are some poignant scenes with female characters, but these also involve one of the men. As for Latif and Duvernay, none of the non-European characters have fully realized lives. This is particularly the case for the Indians with whom the French priest interact. They are clearly invaluable, but Cather leaves them mostly opaque, especially in their dealings with the French men. And we never see their dealings with one another. While there are more than two named characters of color, and they are not romantically involved with one another, they never have dialogue, and their actions are always in support of the French priests. Ultimately, the book was not to my taste, not because it failed the Bechdel, Latif,and Duvernay tests, but because Cather's spare prose failed to move me. That's a matter of taste, and not a critique of the book as a work of art. For what it is, a novel written in the 1920s about the American takeover of a large portion of Mexico and two missionary priests, it does its job. However, unlike the prose of Zora Neale Hurston, I find myself caring less about these characters than perhaps I should, as a fellow clergy person.