Customer Reviews

Plainsong

5 star:		(205)
4 star:		(155)
3 star:		(56)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(43)

 

 

PLAINSONG is one of those novels that sneaks up on a reader, beginning with understated prose and culminating with such authorial affection that the reader does not want to leave the fictional world. Haruf follows the lives of several characters in rural Holt, Colorado - Guthrie, an honest school teacher whose wife has suffered a nervous breakdown; his two sons, Ike and Bobby, who find themselves facing death, independence, and growing up; Victoria Roubideaux, a pregnant teenager thrown out of her mother's house; the McPherons, Harold and Raymond, bachelor brothers who know more about cattle prices and corn cribs than they do about people; and Maggie Jones, the woman who connects them.

I did not fall in love with this novel until the hundredth page or so, and then I could not put it down. The narrative flows like a meandering river - steadily but without visible ripples on the surface - and so it takes time to become fully invested in Haruf's characters. Fortunately, the characterizations, fictional details and the quality of the prose are strong enough from the start to keep one reading. The rhythms of life in Holt and the honest, almost innocent, way its citizens face their trials give this novel a graceful elegiac quality.

PLAINSONG is a quiet character-driven novel that evokes small town life on the American Plains. I heartily recommend it to readers who like this kind of fiction.

I believe this book was nominated for an award or two, and it is well written and easy to read in a sitting or two. The story line is familiar--life in a small town in a rural setting. Most of us live in urban areas these days, but many have parents or grandparents who lived in small towns, or can imagine life in a place where everyone knows everyone.

Any number of books including murder mysteries are set in towns or villages. This is a refreshing book because the characters are real but not psychotic. They all have too much going on in their own lives to meddle with others or murder a neighbor. Haruf depicts the day to day struggle--to get out of bed, to get to work, to do your job, to find love. You come to care about his characters, particularly Maggie Jones the school teacher who brings people together. It is Maggie who understands the needs of the McPheron brothers, Vitoria Roubideaux, and Tom Guthrie. She isn't a do-good Mrs. Fix-it either, just a kindly person who cares enough to make a useful suggestion, lend a helping hand, or offer a word of encouragement. In the end, all the characters whose lives have been touched by Maggie's simple grace have formed a better life for themselves.

My only criticism of the book is that it lacks a sense of connectedness with the setting. The characterization is strong and the plot is straightforward, but I did not feel "present" in the story. I had the sense I was moving underwater and only vaguely comprehended my surroundings. It's the feeling I've had when coming out from under general anesthesia. I could not latch onto the story the same way I did with Jane Smiley's "Thousand Acres" where I could almost see and touch and smell the land.

I sent my 85-year old Aunt (retired school teacher and high school counselor who lives in rural Wisconsin) the audio version of the book and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She said it sounded "real" to her and Victoria reminded her of any number of girls she had known while she was teaching.

This is one of the very best books I've read in a while, and I read 2-3 books a week. I had to force myself to read it slowly so I could savor it. The writing is simple and beautiful, the setting and climate are evoked descriptively, the main characters are honorable, courageous, and likable, and the McPheron brothers are fabulous. I knew it would be excellent when I saw on the back cover that Richard Russo and Howard Frank Mosher, two of my very favorite authors, praised it.

Beautiful, beautiful book. The authentic voices allow the reader to co-create the characters, making for a rewarding reading experience. The style is a tribute to Strunk & White: less is more, nouns and verbs win out over adjectives and adverbs. I stayed up til 2:30 a.m. reading this one, and never felt as though I'd missed the sleep.

Like Kent Haruf's previous books, Plainsong looks unflinchingly at the cruelty of "plain" human beings, and counterbalances all that's ugly with a remarkable "song" of human kindness and care. Two old brothers, who know little more about the world than birthing calves, take in a young woman rejected by her mother, abused by her lover, and take care of her as she prepares for the birth of a child. Two young brothers go through a terrible journey of loss--their mother, an old neighbor, their innocence about the world of sex and human cruelty--and find solace with the two older brothers who've built their dignity on a lifetime of shared losses. And a teacher, accused of abusing a boy who's bullied his sons, finds love when his wife has abandoned him and the sons he tries to protect.

This book, nominated for the National Book Award, is subtle, understated, lovely. And like Kent Haruf's other remarkable novels, it is fully grounded in the plain and beautiful language of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. You must read this book.

Unlike the reviewer from Sydney, I am one Aussie who really loved this book. Like all of Kent Haruf's work, this novel is finely crafted to the point where it all seems deceptively simple. It is not only a wonderful character portrayal (and a surprisingly good read), but like all the best American fiction, integrates its characters with the landscape. This is something Haruf has done well twice before and I urge anyone who liked this book to get hold of his first two: "The Ties that Bind" and "Where You Once Belonged". The latter, in particular, is a masterpiece employing the same spare style but building to a tragic climax that is truly heart-rending. It is out of print, but hopefully the success of "Plainsong" will encourage the publishers to re-issue it. Angolphiles won't like "Plainsong" or, indeed, any of Haruf's books, but what do they know?

Plainsong offers you snapshots of several lives interwoven into a story set in the small town of Holt. Its prose is simple, without exaggeration and unnecessary stimulation, yet as you continue reading, it pulls you into caring about its characters and their troubles.

I started out reading this book impatiently looking for a punch-line or a twist. But I soon learned to enjoy Plainsong like a vacation with no agenda or urgency. There is no build up, climax or low point. But it is involving just the same. It's a novel about regular people that will remind you of friends you may already have, with problems that are timeless yet contemporary- teenage pregnancy, divorce, depression, as well as a healthy dose of the good things in life - friendship, generosity, the support of a community, new beginnings.

A peaceful read; Plainsong's charm creeps up on you if you allow it. But you have to be in the "right" mindset or mood for it. If you're one who only gets a thrill out of an adventure-type of book, with many twist and turns, or prefer the surprise of an unpredictable ending from a fast paced novel or mystery, this book may disapoint you.

Plainsong, by Kent Haruf is one of the most satisfying reads in years. It seems an oxymoron to expect that a novel titled "Plainsong" and written in a style to mimic the "unadorned melody" found in the early Christian church, should provide so much depth. The novel is simple to read. And yet, it is in the simple characterizations that seems accurate to small time people they portray and the seemingly accurate dialects that Haruf patterns in the speech of these characters, which makes the reader feel the lives and experiences of the characters that people this book.

A girl pregnant; a teacher who rises to the ocassion to help her; the McPherons', seemingly incapapable of providing the support they do or of growing as human beings, which they do. Ike and Bob, good kids, growing up on the best that small town life can give them. Guthrie, a teacher, unsentimentalized in Haruf's portrayal, doing the best he can as a single parent. There is some sterotyping here, but through his method of presenting the small town of Holt throught the lives of ten or twelve characters, Haruf appears to capture the unsimpleness and complicated issues of living life in a small town.

I did not want this novel to end. The way it did end may have opened the door for a sequel. I hope so.

I read voraciously, mostly contemporary fiction, and I have been very disappointed with most offerings I have read in the past 12 months. Plainsong is a great exception to that rule. It is definitely plain, if you're looking for a pot boiler, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you're looking for a novel with real, complex human emotions and truly touching characters, then this is the work for you. It will allow you to reconnect with your humanity.

I generally enjoy books that create an image that I can easily visualize. Kent Haruf has created these images for me thus making an impact not just from his wonderful narrative but because I can see his countryside, his dusty roads, his starlit nights, and his abandoned houses. But I can also see his emotions.

I can see the fear in Ike and Bobbie's eyes, the lonliness in the heart of Victoria and the hope in Tom Guthrie.

The characters in this book are no more special than each one of us. Tom Guthrie is a teacher whose nutso wife has left him with two sons. Victoria is a pregnant high school girl who doesn't know who to turn to. Maggie is a woman who hasn't found the right man but has a good heart. Ike and Bobbie are two kids learning about life.

Sound familiar? That's because the author has captured us all in this book. He then winds us together makes us real and fills us with emotion. The images stay with you. The emotion disturbs you. I love reading books like this. You will not be able to read this book and not feel the same way!!!