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Halfway through this book written in the turn of the last century. It's about immigrant, specifically German, settlement of the frontier in the late 19th century, following the course of pioneers Milkau and Lentz to get a plot of land and their life afterwards. It seeks a realistic depiction of the land in its entirety, both in its topography, vegetation, weather and so on and in all of its human geography -the presence of either immigrants or natives, the usage of language -with widespread bilingualism among the natives- festivals, religious cerimonies, the Germans' provinces of origin, mindsets and so on. Yet it's philosophical as much as it is descriptive, as the protagonists embody contrasting worldviews and discuss them as they contemplate the land -Milkau believes in humanism, collectivism, pacifism, cooperation, miscigenation and the value of religion, mythology and folk tales, while Lentz has an outlook of competition, individualism, materialism and racial supremacy. Through the land's description and the protagonists' dialogue the book covers themes such as race (a lot), settlers' relationship with the State, man and nature, heartland and frontier and decaying slaveholding society (it's set not long after abolition and Milkau meets a former slave right at the beginning) versus bold pioneer society.