Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather
Completed March 2001
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a fabulous book. Cather's simple narrative of the life of a French missionary priest in late 19th century New Mexico is so powerful. I found it to be wonderful for a Catholic to read of a man with such conviction and purpose -- shaken at times by the vicissitudes of life, but also upheld and reinforced by finding God in others.
The book is not about the death of the archbishop, except in that one's death is a function of one's life. A subtle but powerful insight which -- like so much of this book -- is delivered so simply, when the Archbishop responds to his friend Bernard's comment that the bishop will surely not "die of a cold." The Archbishop responds, "I shall not die of a cold, my son. I shall die of having lived."
The book is remarkable in the same way that the bishop's life was remarkable. There is no "plot" in the traditional sense. Bishop LaTour's life is filled with good stories...a series of anecdotes. Cather's artistry is to put these into a narrative that paints an entire life. As we read of his life, I think we see it much as an old man looking back on his life remembers the entire life mostly through the events and the anecdotes. I thoroughly enjoyed it.