1st Impression on The Professor's House by Willa Cather

What it’s about

After completing his masterwork and garnering a great deal of money for it, history professor Godfrey St. Paul has purchased a new house. But when the time comes to move, he cannot bring himself to do so. Sitting in his comfortable study in his current house near the shore of Lake Michigan—and on the verge of a midlife crisis—he reflects on his past.

At fifty-two, he has dedicated himself to his work, his garden, and his wife and two daughters, but despite all of his successes, he is unhappy with the course of his future. He retreats into his memories—his career and fond recollections of Tom Outland, his most outstanding student and once his son-in-law-to-be, who was lost in the Great War. He also thinks of his present and the daunting mystery of what lies ahead. And soon the introspection takes over...  - Goodreads


First lines:

"The moving was over and done. Professor St. Peter was alone in the dismantled house where he had lived ever since his marriage, where he had worked out his career, and brought up his two daughters."

My 1st impression:

I sympathize with the middle-aging Professor Godfrey St. Peter. The older we grow, the more we need stability. I realized this after watching how terrified my parents (my father especially) were when I suggested to sell our house and move into an apartment about seven years ago. Our thirty-years-old house was dilapidated at that time and in need of massive renovation (which we couldn't afford). Surely to sell the house and use the money to buy a smaller apartment was the most sensible choice. But my father was adamant, with many excuses. My mother and I need about a year to persuade him, that he finally relented. But that was that. To move to even a better place, to leave the old one with so many memories, to be separated from old habits, is hard and uncomfortable.

And that's what the Professor must have felt when the family move to a new house. Uprooted - that's the most appropriate term. He realized of so many imperfections of the old house, but he had accustomed to them. The old house had become, to St. Peter, a beloved entity. When you love someone, you're aware of their flaws, yet you still love them for what they are. You learn to accept the flaws with affection, and soon the flaws are mere unique personalities to you, and you'll be sad to be without it. And that's what the old house is for St. Peter.

So far the story is quite promising. I got to know Mrs. St. Peter, Lilian, who is jealous of St. Peter's deceased beloved pupil: Tom Outland. Then there are the daughters and sons-in-law. The elder is Rosamond, who was engaged to Tom Outland when he's alive, but now married a Marselus. Outland bequeathed his patented invention to Rosamond, and now its revenues enriched the Marseluses, and they even named their new house: Outland. I guess this will soon create problems.


Keep or Stop Reading?

Definitely I'll keep reading. I am curious about the secretive Tom Outland's background. I don’t know him, but I begins to like him. One character which I want to see more is Augusta, the sewer woman, who has become like a friend to St. Peter.


Have you read this book? Did you like it?