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My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics)
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Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: Willa Cather
Publisher: Vintage
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Our Price: $9.31
You Save: $ 1.64 ( 15% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: Willa Cather
Publisher: Vintage
Average Customer Rating:
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My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780679731795
ISBN: 0679731792
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 112
Publication Date: 1990-10-31
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1990-10-31
Studio: Vintage
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780679731795
ISBN: 0679731792
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 112
Publication Date: 1990-10-31
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1990-10-31
Studio: Vintage
Editorial Review of My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics)
First published in 1926, this book is Cather's sparest and most dramatic novel, a dark and oddly prescient portrait of a marriage that subverts our oldest notions about the nature of happiness and the sanctity of the hearth.
Customer Reviews of My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics)
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: My Mortal Enemy
Review: Really enjoyed this book. It is only a very short book, but but a serious essay on what really ultimately matters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Overrated
Review: This novel is mediocre at best, about an old married couple that are hardly unique or even interesting. I read it in a few hours and moved on to another book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An Enemy of Mortals
Review: Natural questions a person might have when considering whether to read this book are: What kind of work of fiction is this? Does it fit into a major category of fiction? Who is the "mortal enemy" referred to in the title? I'll address those questions in this review.
My Mortal Enemy is not a classic romance, tragedy, or melodrama. It is a narrative view, from a fallible, secondary character's perspective. Some people might be put off by the title, incorreclty inferring: "Why would I want to read a book about someone ruminating over their interactions with their mortal enemy?" I can understand that apprehension. But hopefully, if you can make it to the end of this review - you may understand both why the above inferrence is partly inaccurate, and where it is accurate - there are plenty of worthwhile and thoughful cognitive twists to make this introspective novel a thrilling read.
"My Mortal Enemy" is a novel focused on the social observations of a young person, watching a close family friend's slow cognitive journey into almost invisible and hard to describe forms of mental dysfunction. I love this book. I read through it like a thrilling page-turner. I couldn't wait to get to the end, and was not disappointed when I got there. It is brilliant, sarcastic, and wise. It shows us, if we have the eyes to perceive, the seemingly benign steps a mind takes into horrific dysfunction.
I love Cather's characterization of Oswald. Cather's rare portrayal of him as a smart and compassionate man, dealing with a spouse who does not see her own self-inflicted demises, is a rare act of literary kindness from one gender to the other. After reading her characterization of Oswald, Cather cannot be characterized as a man-hater. He is so lovingly drawn, in the regular presence of Myra's berating.
It is hard for an author to write a character more interesting than the author. All of Cather's characters are interesting - so I would have loved to have met her. Reading this novel, I sometimes think of the conversations between Myra and Nellie (the narrator) as conversations between a younger generation and an older generation. But Myra does not represent "older and wiser." She represents "older." Many people don't get smarter as they get older or after they get married, and Myra is one of those people (and it appears Avril Lavigne is one also, at least for the moment, but that's a whole nother story). Myra is intelligent. But she is also not smart enough to see where she is misguided. And she is also so tunnel-visioned and bull-headed that she will not concede where she might be wrong. And if we're going to peg her with an Achilles' Heel - an inability and general unwillingness to change has to be near the top of the list of the reasons for most of her follies.
In some ways, Cather's 'My Antonia' can be thought of a young person's recollection and observations of what happens to first loves. 'My Mortal Enemy' can be thought of as a young person's discovery of how some people so easily make so many enemies. Some people are good at drawing many lovers to them. Others, like Myra and her father, are exceptional at creating enemies - even of the people closest to them. And the novel examines the social constructs and personality traits that easily create enemies.
This paragraph discusses the title of "My Mortal Enemy" and to what the title may be referring, so if you want to read the book before knowing the ending, please read the rest of this review thereafter. Who is the "My" referring to - in the title "My Mortal Enemy?" I think it can be read as several people. It could be a general "My," representing anyone. It could also specifically refer to Willa Cather, Nellie (the narrator), or Myra. Her name is "My"ra. And twice, at key plot places in the book (p. 78 and the final sentence), she says, "Why must I die like this, alone with my mortal enemy?" From Myra's perspective, she perceives Oswald to be her mortal enemy. I believe the title is intended to be interpreted in all the above ways.
So who is the "mortal enemy?" It could be most easily interpreted as Oswald. But it could also be interpeted as Myra's father who disowned and disinherited her. But I think Cather was smarter than either of those singular interpretations. This book was not intended to be some melodrama or whodunnit, where the protagonist whispers the killer's name in her dying breath. No, this is a book examining larger social and cultural rules and the real and damaging consequences of those boundaries.
Cather's lead characters are not known for their ability to adapt. Neither Antonia nor Myra are able to really see what may have held them back their whole lives. They are both brilliant, individual personalities and beauties. And it is not accurate to suggest Cather is like Thomas Hardy and is simply composing plots where no matter how hard the female leads try, fate seems to batter them down into their pre-ordained destinies. No, Cather's has more intelligent and modern perspectives. Cather wants to show the joys that are crushed by the combination of dominant social rules AND the women who follow them without questioning. Sometimes older generations, as they get older, think they have everything figured out. Myra is an example of this type of person. And Cather uses her as an example of an intelligent person who is also a fool, a fool who thinks all her enemies are the people around her, when tragically, her greatest enemy is her own thoughts, boundaries, and treatment of others.
Myra's mortal enemy is Myra.
As the book nears the end, Myra turns increasingly insentive and hostile toward Nellie, Oswald, and everyone else. She only shows mercy to her dead fatherly guardian, who never adopted her. But even her words toward him are cruel to everyone else - as she suggests he is worthy of mercy while all those who have cared for her daily for years are not worth her understanding, love or compassion.
The book implies Oswald may have had an affair with someone else after marrying Myra. But whether he did or not, is not Cather's great concern. Cather wants to stress that Myra's suspicion of Oswald's sexual or amorous feelings towards anyone else is a dominant basis for her hatred of him. Myra relies on her assumption that if Oswald ever loved another person after they married, then in Myra's moral reasoning, he should be her enemy. This charming, hard working, and loving man, who gave her years of love and compassion doing work he hated, to give her many ornate things he never wanted, is discarded and exiled from her affections. She takes extraordinary efforts to abandon him in the end to die alone.
Cather wants people to consider everything and to think for themselves. She wants people to look at the weight of these character's actions over their entire lifetimes and measure those against individual, exclusive moral standards. Cather shows us the fruit of Myra's and her father's (John's) hatreds and mistreatment of those close to them. Cather shows us what happens when some people require their loves to only love and follow them exclusively. According to several biographical accounts, Cather lived most of her adult life in love with a person who was married to another. Her writings often focus on related universal social concerns.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A little book that packs a wallop
Review: When I finished "My Mortal Enemy," I closed the book and said out loud to myself, "Wow!"
For the past year I've been reading all of Cather's novels in order. "O Pioneers" and "My Antonia" are rightly praised, but don't miss "A Lost Lady" and this gem. ("Death Comes for the Archbishop" is next on my list.)
To me, this book is a never-to-be solved mystery. What exactly went wrong between Myra and Oswald? Too passionate and dramatic a beginning?? Oswald's being stuck in work that didn't suit him? Not enough money? Pride? Materialism? Innate incompatibility? All of the above/none of the above/some combination of the above?
There are clues, but no definite answers. And that's what makes the book so lifelike, so thought-provoking, and, ultimately, so moving. Can we ever know exactly why a relationship fails? Aren't the people in the relationship as clueless (or worse) as outsiders like Nellie Birdseye, the narrator of "My Mortal Enemy"?
I don't understand exactly HOW Cather gives the reader so much in so few words. But that is part of her genius here.
A great work of literature - and there aren't many books I say that about.
Don't miss it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Excellent choice
Review: MY MORTAL ENEMY by Willa Cather (one of my favorite authors) is about a couple who get married despite the concerns of others. Things do not go as wonderfully as they hoped, but at the end of the day, not as awfully everyone expected.
To say that this couple had a strange but profound way of loving each other is not giving away the story. Absorbing the nuances of such love can only be accomplished by reading the book yourself.
Review Summary: My Mortal Enemy
Review: Really enjoyed this book. It is only a very short book, but but a serious essay on what really ultimately matters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Overrated
Review: This novel is mediocre at best, about an old married couple that are hardly unique or even interesting. I read it in a few hours and moved on to another book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An Enemy of Mortals
Review: Natural questions a person might have when considering whether to read this book are: What kind of work of fiction is this? Does it fit into a major category of fiction? Who is the "mortal enemy" referred to in the title? I'll address those questions in this review.
My Mortal Enemy is not a classic romance, tragedy, or melodrama. It is a narrative view, from a fallible, secondary character's perspective. Some people might be put off by the title, incorreclty inferring: "Why would I want to read a book about someone ruminating over their interactions with their mortal enemy?" I can understand that apprehension. But hopefully, if you can make it to the end of this review - you may understand both why the above inferrence is partly inaccurate, and where it is accurate - there are plenty of worthwhile and thoughful cognitive twists to make this introspective novel a thrilling read.
"My Mortal Enemy" is a novel focused on the social observations of a young person, watching a close family friend's slow cognitive journey into almost invisible and hard to describe forms of mental dysfunction. I love this book. I read through it like a thrilling page-turner. I couldn't wait to get to the end, and was not disappointed when I got there. It is brilliant, sarcastic, and wise. It shows us, if we have the eyes to perceive, the seemingly benign steps a mind takes into horrific dysfunction.
I love Cather's characterization of Oswald. Cather's rare portrayal of him as a smart and compassionate man, dealing with a spouse who does not see her own self-inflicted demises, is a rare act of literary kindness from one gender to the other. After reading her characterization of Oswald, Cather cannot be characterized as a man-hater. He is so lovingly drawn, in the regular presence of Myra's berating.
It is hard for an author to write a character more interesting than the author. All of Cather's characters are interesting - so I would have loved to have met her. Reading this novel, I sometimes think of the conversations between Myra and Nellie (the narrator) as conversations between a younger generation and an older generation. But Myra does not represent "older and wiser." She represents "older." Many people don't get smarter as they get older or after they get married, and Myra is one of those people (and it appears Avril Lavigne is one also, at least for the moment, but that's a whole nother story). Myra is intelligent. But she is also not smart enough to see where she is misguided. And she is also so tunnel-visioned and bull-headed that she will not concede where she might be wrong. And if we're going to peg her with an Achilles' Heel - an inability and general unwillingness to change has to be near the top of the list of the reasons for most of her follies.
In some ways, Cather's 'My Antonia' can be thought of a young person's recollection and observations of what happens to first loves. 'My Mortal Enemy' can be thought of as a young person's discovery of how some people so easily make so many enemies. Some people are good at drawing many lovers to them. Others, like Myra and her father, are exceptional at creating enemies - even of the people closest to them. And the novel examines the social constructs and personality traits that easily create enemies.
This paragraph discusses the title of "My Mortal Enemy" and to what the title may be referring, so if you want to read the book before knowing the ending, please read the rest of this review thereafter. Who is the "My" referring to - in the title "My Mortal Enemy?" I think it can be read as several people. It could be a general "My," representing anyone. It could also specifically refer to Willa Cather, Nellie (the narrator), or Myra. Her name is "My"ra. And twice, at key plot places in the book (p. 78 and the final sentence), she says, "Why must I die like this, alone with my mortal enemy?" From Myra's perspective, she perceives Oswald to be her mortal enemy. I believe the title is intended to be interpreted in all the above ways.
So who is the "mortal enemy?" It could be most easily interpreted as Oswald. But it could also be interpeted as Myra's father who disowned and disinherited her. But I think Cather was smarter than either of those singular interpretations. This book was not intended to be some melodrama or whodunnit, where the protagonist whispers the killer's name in her dying breath. No, this is a book examining larger social and cultural rules and the real and damaging consequences of those boundaries.
Cather's lead characters are not known for their ability to adapt. Neither Antonia nor Myra are able to really see what may have held them back their whole lives. They are both brilliant, individual personalities and beauties. And it is not accurate to suggest Cather is like Thomas Hardy and is simply composing plots where no matter how hard the female leads try, fate seems to batter them down into their pre-ordained destinies. No, Cather's has more intelligent and modern perspectives. Cather wants to show the joys that are crushed by the combination of dominant social rules AND the women who follow them without questioning. Sometimes older generations, as they get older, think they have everything figured out. Myra is an example of this type of person. And Cather uses her as an example of an intelligent person who is also a fool, a fool who thinks all her enemies are the people around her, when tragically, her greatest enemy is her own thoughts, boundaries, and treatment of others.
Myra's mortal enemy is Myra.
As the book nears the end, Myra turns increasingly insentive and hostile toward Nellie, Oswald, and everyone else. She only shows mercy to her dead fatherly guardian, who never adopted her. But even her words toward him are cruel to everyone else - as she suggests he is worthy of mercy while all those who have cared for her daily for years are not worth her understanding, love or compassion.
The book implies Oswald may have had an affair with someone else after marrying Myra. But whether he did or not, is not Cather's great concern. Cather wants to stress that Myra's suspicion of Oswald's sexual or amorous feelings towards anyone else is a dominant basis for her hatred of him. Myra relies on her assumption that if Oswald ever loved another person after they married, then in Myra's moral reasoning, he should be her enemy. This charming, hard working, and loving man, who gave her years of love and compassion doing work he hated, to give her many ornate things he never wanted, is discarded and exiled from her affections. She takes extraordinary efforts to abandon him in the end to die alone.
Cather wants people to consider everything and to think for themselves. She wants people to look at the weight of these character's actions over their entire lifetimes and measure those against individual, exclusive moral standards. Cather shows us the fruit of Myra's and her father's (John's) hatreds and mistreatment of those close to them. Cather shows us what happens when some people require their loves to only love and follow them exclusively. According to several biographical accounts, Cather lived most of her adult life in love with a person who was married to another. Her writings often focus on related universal social concerns.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A little book that packs a wallop
Review: When I finished "My Mortal Enemy," I closed the book and said out loud to myself, "Wow!"
For the past year I've been reading all of Cather's novels in order. "O Pioneers" and "My Antonia" are rightly praised, but don't miss "A Lost Lady" and this gem. ("Death Comes for the Archbishop" is next on my list.)
To me, this book is a never-to-be solved mystery. What exactly went wrong between Myra and Oswald? Too passionate and dramatic a beginning?? Oswald's being stuck in work that didn't suit him? Not enough money? Pride? Materialism? Innate incompatibility? All of the above/none of the above/some combination of the above?
There are clues, but no definite answers. And that's what makes the book so lifelike, so thought-provoking, and, ultimately, so moving. Can we ever know exactly why a relationship fails? Aren't the people in the relationship as clueless (or worse) as outsiders like Nellie Birdseye, the narrator of "My Mortal Enemy"?
I don't understand exactly HOW Cather gives the reader so much in so few words. But that is part of her genius here.
A great work of literature - and there aren't many books I say that about.
Don't miss it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Excellent choice
Review: MY MORTAL ENEMY by Willa Cather (one of my favorite authors) is about a couple who get married despite the concerns of others. Things do not go as wonderfully as they hoped, but at the end of the day, not as awfully everyone expected.
To say that this couple had a strange but profound way of loving each other is not giving away the story. Absorbing the nuances of such love can only be accomplished by reading the book yourself.