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| Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Willa Cather
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $11.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (93 reviews)
Sales Rank: 27288
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0679728899
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780679728894
ASIN: 0679728899
Publication Date: June 16, 1990
Release Date: June 16, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A "Classic" Worthy of the Designation November 1, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Willa Cather (1873-1947) has recently attracted renewed attention, in part because the Library of America has devoted several volumes to her collected works. This is fortunate, because if this book is any indication, she was truly blessed with a rare talent. First published in 1927, the focus of this novel is New Mexico in the early to late 19th century. In fact, I chose to read it because my wife and I were making our initial trip to Santa Fe, and the New York Times has discussed the relationship between the novel and actual locations in the state. I am very happy that I finally got around to reading it.
In a nutshell, the novel's two main characters are based on actual persons, although they are given different names by Cather: Archbishop Lamy, the first bishop of New Mexico, and his vicar, Father Joseph Machebeuf--childhood friends in France, who took orders together, and devoted their lives to missionary activities in North America. For anyone interested in, or familiar with New Mexico, this is the book to read. Set primarily in Santa Fe, and other locations within the state, one learns a good deal about the history of this period from the novel. It also adds luster that so many of the physicial locations in which the novel is set are still in existence and can be visited: Lamy's cathedral in Santa Fe; his retirement lodge and small chapel (the "bishop's lodge") on the grounds of the resort of the same name; and various pueblos and churches are all easily accessible. Cather obviously had done her homework and visited the very sites she includes in the novel.
How the Archbishop undertook to administer a large territory (not just New Mexico, but portions of Arizona and Colorado as well) with minimal resources, which had substantial Mexican and Indian populations, recently taken over by Americans, and developed the Catholic church presence is truly an amazing story of unrelenting dedication and limitless energy. It all makes for a fine novel and makes one curious to know more about this amazing individual. This Vintage Classic edition is printed on high quality paper and is a pleasure to hold. Unfortunately, it does not contain any introduction explaining the role of the real Archbishop and the his achievements--but that is what we have Google for.
Love Cather as I love Cormac McCarthy: time amd place September 17, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cormac McCarthy and Willa Cather are two of my favorite authors. Both, to me, tell great stories and develop time and setting in a remarkable way. McCarthy writes about the arid Southwest, and I am familiar with Cather's autobiographical Nebraska novels. Clean, spare, descriptive writing. I like that. I have just read Death Comes to the Archbishop. Just two years ago I spent one month camping with my daughter on the Colorado Plateau. My daughter who grew up in Switzerland had never seen the Southwest. By sheer coincidence we visited much of the places mentioned in the novel. We visited the town Zuni which is just within New Mexico at the Arizona line, most of the Navajo reservation and some of the Hopi reservation, which is ensconced within the Navaho reservation in Northeast Arizona. We peered into the Canyon de Chelly also in Northeast Arizona. I applaud Cather for giving flesh and history to this part of the world. First off, how much do any of us know about the non-"American" history of the Western States? Her description of the impoverished yet devout Mexican's of the mid-1800s is remarkable. To me she captures the awesome beauty and likewise danger of the geographical, arid place: the danger being at times too much and more often too little water. This Cather novel might be too much for high school reading, as the time and place is perhaps somewhat obscure and the pace and nonlinear narrative is not what younger people are familiar with. It is not my favorite Cather novel, yet, but it is a part of the body of work of one of my favorite authors.
Sustaining Life September 9, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Willa Cather was fascinated with the role that the Catholic church played in the shaping of America, especially among the western settlers and Indians. She drew upon real-life missionary priests for "Death Comes for the Archbishop", a book that is more a series of vignettes than a novel. The religious lives of the two priests, Jean Marie Latour and Joseph Vaillant, are the centerpoint of a narrative that revolves around the land and the cultures of the native tribes.
Both priests from France, Latour and Vaillant are sent to New Mexico to build up the church and to rein in priests who have abused their privilege. Both men are paragons of virtue, while distinctly different in personality and the way they reach out to the native population. Among their many years in the American southwest they must endure the hardships of life that the climate demands, and find a way to respect the Indian traditions while bringing Christianity to the people. Along the way their lives are enriched by the throngs of colorful people they meet (including Kit Carson) and the miraculous stories of faith and survival in that primitive land.
"Death Comes for the Archbishop" is relatively fast-paced, although a little choppy. Cather moves from one account to another with little transition between them. The title is a bit misleading, setting a tone of impending doom that is not present in the book. Through these stories, however; one gains insight into the trying lives of two priests who were following their purpose to serve God. It is a remarkable portrait of faith and endurance, tested time and again only to always make it through the fire.
Simple, graceful, magnificent June 22, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
From the opening pages in Rome, to the closing chapter in New Mexico, this is a novel about how time and place mold us, and how we, in turn, with dedication and love, can mold a place ourselves. It is a rare novel that never draws attention to itself, but meanders with the finality of a river running to a deep water ocean. Omnia mutantar nihil interit as they say. By the time you reach the final pages you'll be able to look back on the life of the Bishop with a clearer understanding of what it means to dedicate one's life to a single moral purpose and how to love a people and a place without judgement, but with hope and discipline.
When Priests Were Revered, Not Reviled [61][89][T] June 15, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Willa Cather was born in 1873, and the majority of the adventures of this book would coincide with the pioneering peers of her parents. The protagonist of this book is French born and American bound priest/Bishop: Father Latour whose adventures occur from the middle 19th century to 1888.
The priesthood was relished and loved in those days. Latour is a calming and placable fellow. He is honest as the day is long. He is, unlike others around him, celibate and obedient to the church - whether its laws be appropriate or not.
The amount of traveling on mules, the hard adventures to other civilizations and cultures, and the torrid natural elements fighting the priests are seemingly insurmountable. But, the priest, who becomes a bishop who later becomes an archbishop, lasts like the Energizer Bunny. He keeps moving, well beyond his retirement years. Having traveled to and fro by the least rapid of transportation modes.
Latour may be outdone by comrade Joseph Valliant - who is called Father Joseph or Father Vaillant in the book. That man, small in size and thin as a rail, never stays put. On order by his comrade, he ventures about in nomadic style preaching to the Indians and Mexicans, delivering sacrament and church baptism and other rites to better their souls. And, in certain passages, the intellectual Latour - who sees Valliant as his closest and best friend - acknowledges his friend's superior constitution and abilities. Each has a strength and weakness. But, overall, the Bishop sees Vaillant as the superior man of the cloth.
I admit this book impressed me in that there is little discussion of women. Instead, it is a tale. A greatly told tale. Of men in a man's world. And, all written by a woman. The ability to cross gender lines always impresses me - like Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha", Iris Murdoch's "Under the Net", or even Alexander McCall Smith's "Ladies' Detective Agency" series.
This was one of those books assigned to my parents as required reading. And, I am sure it was read, but with some disrespect to the teacher who made the assignment. Even though Kit Carson is referred to in the book, there is nothing exciting about what he does within the pages to lure the attention of young boys.
Although it is about priests in the virginal new land, this book is without obfuscation, without much symbolism, without most of literature's cute tools. This is a tale, this is allegory, this is fine story telling. Something which was more common in the time that this book was written and something which is unfortunately becoming less common today.
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