Death Comes For The Archbishop

Book excerpt: "Death Comes for the Archbishop was published in 1927. It is widely considered Cather’s masterpiece, centers on a pair of French missionaries working among Hispanic, Navajo, and Pueblo people of the New Mexico desert. It is the story of Father Latour and Father Valilan. They are just over seventeen years old as they enter seminary together in France and then live together in the Mission, one as bishop, the other as his vicar, with a great love for whatever God asks of them, not shutting themselves away in the diocese to pray from morning till night, but visiting people, new places, old missions and parishes in inaccessible and remote areas... from Durango to Taos, living for and with the people they met. The friendship between the two priests is beautiful, melancholy and yet respectful of each other's will and emotional feeling. The novel was reprinted in the Modern Library series in 1931. It was included in Life Magazine's list of 100 outstanding books from 1924-1944. It was also included in Time Magazine's list of the top 100 English-language novels from 1923 to 2005 and in Modern Library's list of the top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century and was selected by Western Writers of America to be ranked 7th on the list of the best "Western novels" of the 20th century.