About this title: In alternating points of view, Haruf chronicles several lives in a small town in Colorado. The plot involves Tom Guthrie, whose wife leaves him with their two little boys; a young pregnant girl who is thrown out of her house by her mother; the elderly McPheron brothers who take her in; and Maggie Jones, Tom's kindhearted colleague.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 1999-09-21
ISBN-13:9780375406188ISBN:0375406182
Description: Good. Clean text; tight binding, marking inside cover; some dented pages; small chippings along top cover edge; faint corner creases to back cover corners; edgewear. read more
The setting is the small town of Holt-located in the prairie not too far from Denver. The type of town where people know each other's business and papers are still delivered by boys on bicycles. Yet as much as people know you in a small town, they don't really know you or what goes on behind closed doors or closed mouths. In this small community, we get inside the minds and lives of several Holt residents-all of whom are suffering from some form of loneliness, sadness or isolation.
* Tom Guthrie-a teacher at the local high school whose wife has become distant and unreachable
* Ike and Bobby-Guthrie's two sons, who are confused by their mother's distance and looking for a way to recapture her love and attention
* Victoria Roubideaux-a high school girl who finds herself pregnant and cast out of her home by her mother
* The McPheron Brothers-two older bachelor brothers who live on a farm outside of Holt and keep mostly to themselves.
* Maggie Jones-a single woman who teaches with Guthrie and cares for her elderly father and serves as the glue that begins to bind these individuals together.
Each of these characters alone has a voice that is aching to be heard and understood. And as they move ever closer together to form a type of family of their own, their voices and lives begin to intertwine and harmonize together in a way that is true, touching and beautiful.
My Thoughts
At the start of the book, Kent Haruf provides the definition of plainsong:
The unisonous vocal music used in the Christian church from the earliest times; any simple and unadorned melody or air (e.g., Gregorian chant is type of plainsong).
I didn't fully appreciate the meaning of the title until the end of the book. But upon finishing the book, the title just made so much sense and was so fitting. In the book, each of the character's individual lives comes together to become part of a bigger whole-with each voice complementing and harmonizing with the other voices. At its heart, this book is about seeing a new community being formed from lives that were previously lived separately and parallel.
The book is both simple and subtle. It doesn't hit you over the head with things. Rather, it lets you experience the lives of the characters through simple narration and dialogue. Even the dialogue is unadorned with quotation marks (and sometimes attribution). I could see that some readers might find this book a bit slow-paced or even frustrating. But if you stick with it until the end, you'll appreciate the author's skill in giving you much more that you thought you were getting at first glance.
Frankly, I was surprised at how satisfied I was by the end of the book. I struggled to get into the story for a little bit and found the shifting viewpoints a bit off-putting at first. It was almost like drifting from character to character like a ghost-getting a little bit here, leaving for awhile, and then coming back and getting a little more. Once you adapt to the rhythm of the book, though, it turns into a rich and rewarding read.
My Final Recommendation
I don't think this book is for everybody. If you're the type of reader who likes big, loud, obvious books (i.e., ones that read like a summer blockbuster movie like Transformers), I don't think you would care for Plainsong. However, if you're the type of reader who has patience and an appreciation for slower-building, more subtle books (i.e., ones that read like an art house film), then this book would be perfect for you. Think of Plainsong as a cup of tea-it takes time to steep and brew and you drink it slowly but, at the end, you're filled with warmth and satisfaction.
And for those of you who care about such things, Plainsong was a finalist for the National Book Award."
"This book brought on one of the widest swings ever in holding my interest, from slow-going early doors to extremely engaging by the end.
Initially the only characters I liked were Ike and Bobby, who have a self-assured quietness that I relate to. But otherwise none of the story lines were compelling to me, and I was worried that it would devolve into a seedy-small-town-sex and/or poor-family-upbringing-leads-to-tragedy drama novella. At one point, about a third of the way through, I realized that I was only still reading because Kate had recommended it and I really really want to like the same books she does.
But then the McPheron brothers saved the day! Their part in the story was tender and much funnier than you'd expect after anything in the first half. I was touched by their simple big-heartedness, which tempered a lot of what had kept me aloof and allowed me to connect with the other characters (for example, by the end I was totally in love with pregnant-teen Victoria).
So I tore through the second half of the book, in stark contrast to how I slogged through the first half. And I was very emotionally satisfied with the entire experience. It's a keeper, no question."
"For the phenomenal reviews this book both nationally & locally received, I really only feel like I can give it 3 stars, max. The story's really not bad. However, it was trying for me to get past the grammar...or the lack there of. Instead of looking at this and saying, "boy, this is really spectacular and it must be something special" just because Haruf had the notion to never use a quotation mark, I look at this as "geez, who are you to not be bother to follow the generally accepted norms of our language." I guess that it's my tendancy towards thinking along those lines that also makes it difficult for me to appreciate abstract artists like Pollock. So, who are you? Do you like your paintings realistic or your noses coming off the side of your head? That should help determine if you'll easily enjoy this book or if it will be work for you."
"Plainsong is a well executed novel that displays Kent Haruf's understanding of people and love for the Great Plains. The novel centers around a few different characters with the chapters named simply for whose section of the story is being told. These characters include: Victoria Roubideaux - a pregnant teenager without many options, Guthrie - a local teacher trying to raise his sons as his marriage disintegrates, the McPheron brothers - two old bachelors who raise cattle, and Ike and Bobby - Guthrie's sons.
Haruf's writing is full of compassion, tenderness and a knowledge of the human condition. His characters are complex and lead lives full of small triumphs and at times crushing disappointments. They do not always make wise choices, or have qualities we would call exemplary, however, Haruf has treated even the most shameful and sad characters with respect. The reader can understand how these characters came into being, how the small town of Holt, sparse and windswept, might produce grudges and loneliness.
There are times when it seems as though the novel might swing towards melodrama or sentimentality, but Haruf manages to keep it from crossing that line. Partly, this is accomplished by not adding in an editorialized narration. Events are seen, but not expounded on, in some cases not even by the characters in the novel, whom are a reserved, tight-lipped cast. Some of my favorite parts of the book were the chapters following Ike and Bobby. It is in these chapters that the reader re-experiences the world of a child, which is full of unknowns and half-understood demands. Ike and Bobby navigate the world of adults as best they can while balancing their needs for love and attention against their distrust and lack of understanding of the people around them.
Once you start this novel, you may find it hard to put down. I read it in a couple of days, and look forward to reading Eventide, which follows the lives of these characters."
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