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Amazon.co.uk Review
Plainsong, according to Kent Haruf's epigraph, is "any simple and unadorned melody or air." It's a perfect description of this lovely, rough-edged book, set on the very edge of the Colorado plains. Tom Guthrie is a high school teacher whose wife can't--or won't--get out of bed; the McPherons are two bachelor brothers who know little about the world beyond their farm gate; Victoria Roubideaux is a pregnant 17-year-old with no place to turn. Their lives parallel each other in much the same way any small-town lives would--until Maggie Jones, another teacher, makes them intersect. Even as she tries to draw Guthrie out of his black cloud, she sends Victoria to live with the two elderly McPheron brothers, who know far more about cattle than about teenage girls. Trying to console her when she think she's hurt her baby, the best lie they can come up with is this: "I knew of a heifer we had one time that was carrying a calf, and she got a length of fencewire down her some way and it never hurt her or the calf."
Holt, Colorado, is the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone's business before that business even happens. In a way, that's true of the book, too. There's not a lot of suspense here, plot wise; you can see each narrative twist and turn coming several miles down the pike. What Plainsong has instead is note-perfect dialogue, surrounded by prose that's straightforward yet rich in particulars: "a woman walking a white lapdog on a piece of ribbon" glimpsed from a car window; the boys' mother, her face "as pale as schoolhouse chalk"; the smells of hay and manure, the variations of prairie light. Even the novel's larger questions are sized to a domestic scale. Will Guthrie find love? Will Victoria run away with the father of her baby? Will the McPherons learn to hold a conversation? But in this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and Plainsong manages to capture nothing less than an entire world--fencing pliers, calf-pullers, and all. Kent Haruf has a gorgeous ear, and a knack for rendering the simple complex. --Mary Park
Review
"'Kent Harufs novel is a literary soap opera of the highest calibre...Haruf is a fine writer' The Times 'Plainsong is beautifully crafted, alive and quietly magnificent. I read it in one mesmerising sitting. I had no choice; it wouldn't let me go' Roddy Doyle 'A perfectly formed, beautifully executed piece of writing that will stay with you long after you reluctantly put it down' Mariella Frostrup, Mail on Sunday 'Here is a poetry of landscape, a tender and passionate evocation of ordinary people in majestic country...written with a kind of compassion that makes it ultimately powerfully uplifting' Niall Williams, author of Four Letters of Love"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Kent Haruf's Plainsong reads like a collection of intertwined short stories more than a novel. I suppose the title emphasises simplicity, both in the writing and in the protagonists' destinies, as well as that plainsong is the music of several overlapping voices. Still, the technique is hardly revolutionary. And the problem with Haruf's novel is that only one of the stories really appeals, that of the pregnant teenager who finds refuge among the unlikely, old farmer brothers. That one is touching and even has good moments of conflict and suspense. But while the rest is readable, it tastes too much of the worn-out, divorce-among-academics-and-the-impact-on-the-kids theme.
The book is set in rural Colorado, and if verisimilar descriptions of heifers giving birth or horses being autopsied are your thing, it may appeal to you more than it did to me. Even that, though, can get maudlin at times, in spite of the austere title. And the author constantly makes use of the article "the" instead of the indefinite to refer to as yet undefined things or people. This is all right once in a while, but Haruf over-uses the trick; it forces the reader's attention artificially and gets annoying, the written equivalent of people who finish all their sentences with an interrogative up tone. Right?
The book is set in rural Colorado, and if verisimilar descriptions of heifers giving birth or horses being autopsied are your thing, it may appeal to you more than it did to me. Even that, though, can get maudlin at times, in spite of the austere title. And the author constantly makes use of the article "the" instead of the indefinite to refer to as yet undefined things or people. This is all right once in a while, but Haruf over-uses the trick; it forces the reader's attention artificially and gets annoying, the written equivalent of people who finish all their sentences with an interrogative up tone. Right?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you want thrill, this is not the book for you. It does just what it suggests on the cover and the title - it is a layering together of simple stories in an ordinary way that in its ensemble makes a beautiful melody of the lives involved. This is a book of heart and soul told in a beautiful lyrical fashion. Sure the plot is thin and that's part of the beauty - everyday life isn't jampacked with adventure. Just let the words and the characters wash over you.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A gentle and beautifully crafted story about monumental events in the lives of ordinary people. Haruf is a brilliant wordsmith and has an uncanny insight into the human condition. This book made me laugh and cry with its everyday moments of happiness and despair. An easy and rewarding read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great read!
I read this book quite a few years ago, having picked it up from a charity shop to take on holiday. I still remember it, even though I've read hundreds of books since. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Hamster
Another Annie Proulx?
Kent Haruf is a new name to me, but I want to read more.Halfway between Barbara Kingsolver's curiosity about life-patterns and Annie Proulx's laconic narratives about rural... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Eric J. Locke
Couldn't put it down.
I started reading this yesterday morning and finished it this morning. It is a 'must' read and throughly enjoyable. Read more
Published 23 months ago by F. Pawley
plainsong
plainly written, realism, set precisely into its landscape. You would probably describe it as 'gritty' rather than 'funny' or 'tragic', but it made me laugh out loud as well as... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2009 by Nicky
A GEM OF A BOOK
I picked up this book and couldn't put it down again. It's a wonderful story. I loved the two old brothers, who i thought were very funny when dealing with the teenage pregnant... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2008 by book worm
I am delighted with having discovered this author
As soon as I started reading this book I realized that the author has an immense ability for getting the reader involved in the story through his passionate descriptions of people... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2005 by Sebastian Fernandez
My favourite book
This is my favourite book. The other reviewers have summed it up rather well so I won't waste your time. Read more
Published on 20 July 2004 by Carl Phillips
Simplicity at its Best
I fell in love with this little book. I picked it up while buying a few books for a holiday and this was my favourite of the three that I bought. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2003 by SolightlyUK
A compassionate and compelling novel.
Plainsong takes a simple very ordinary story of life in mid America and weaves a magic spell. The prose and dialogue are simple (obtusely the dialogue is not in inverted commas)... Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2001
Painfully Dull
I was sadly disapointed with this book. It was very boring, very meaningless and the story line was paper thin. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2001
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