Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Fiction
1999 Vintage
Read in November 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
A heartstrong story of family and romance, tribulation and tenacity, set on the High Plains east of Denver.
In the small town of Holt, Colorado, a high school teacher is confronted with raising his two boys alone after their mother retreats first to the bedroom, then altogether. A teenage girl—her father long since disappeared, her mother unwilling to have her in the house—is pregnant, alone herself, with nowhere to go. And out in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, work the family homestead, the only world they've ever known.
From these unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant. As the milieu widens to embrace fully four generations, Kent Haruf displays an emotional and aesthetic authority to rival the past masters of a classic American tradition.
Utterly true to the rhythms and patterns of life, Plainsong is a novel to care about, believe in, and learn from.
My Original Thoughts (1999):
A wonderful book. Quick read. Marvelous characters. Humorous, yet serious and thought-provoking. Memorable. Would make a great movie.
My Current Thoughts:
I'm surprised I didn't give this book a perfect 5/5 rating. I remember that I loved it and the subsequent books in Haruf's Plainsong trilogy. It's time to re-read all three!
I never read it, but I recognize the title and remember seeing reviews. Now, is a good time to reread a trilogy that you loved! There is something so comforting about rereading a book that you enjoyed and appreciating anew.
ReplyDeleteJenclair, it's a wonderful novel. I plan to devote a month to rereads later this fall and this will be in the stack.
DeleteI have never read this, but it sounds like something I would like. I will add it to my growing TBR! Thanks for reposting.
ReplyDeleteGretchen, if you haven't read any of his books, this one is very good, as is the follow-up, Eventide. Haruf's last novel (he passed away in 2014), Our Souls at Night, is wonderful. It's in my stack for re-reads later this year.
DeleteYeah I remember really liking this book ... but it was a long time ago. I wonder would it be as great today? Good idea to do a reread.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I wonder if it will stand up to the test of time, too. I remember it was the first book that I read that didn't use quotation marks for the dialogue. Now, that's not so uncommon!
DeleteI feel like I may have read this book with one of my book groups long ago. It sounds so familiar yet from what you describe I don't know. Maybe I just dreamt I read it!
ReplyDeleteIliana, I don't remember a lot about the plot, but I do know that I really liked the book a lot. I'm eager to read it again!
Delete