Rating: 
Summary: Quiet evening...
Review: This is not Kent Haruf's major achievement. Other readers have felt that Haruf was "marking time", using material he did not use in Plainsong... it seems possible. While the atmosphere of Holt and surrounding territory is strongly created, so much trivial detail - and the author's very annoying punctuation (or lack of) - are major detractions to me. If this "fill in" leads to a development of, say, the DJ character - who is here rather left out in the cold at the end - it will have been worth it. But Eventide seems very much made up of scraps from the writer's desk...
Rating: 
Summary: Eventide
Review: This is part II of Plainsong. The main characters are the same, and new ones are added. I becamed so attached to the brothers, that when a disaster occurs on the ranch I cried. I just wasn't expecting it. I was furious with Kent Haruf. The social worker, Rose, plays a vital part of Raymond's life, and she has a difficult problem to solve for some of her clients. I loved this as much as Plainsong. But, readers really should read Plainsong first to fully understand Eventide. I hope the author writes a part III. I am not ready to leave this town.
Rating:
Summary: "Every living thing in this world gets weaned eventually."
Review: Three years after the author's previous novel, Plainsong, concluded, the author returns to Holt, Colorado, continuing the story of Raymond and Harold McPheron, elderly ranchers who lived in almost complete isolation until they agreed to provide a safe haven for a scared and pregnant teenager, three years ago. With other familiar characters from Plainsong also returning in minor roles, the novel then broadens to focus on three additional families, whose new stories the author deftly juggles and interweaves. Somewhat more thoughtful and complex than Plainsong, Eventide quickly engages the reader with its unpretentious style, revealing dialogue, and often heart-tugging scenes of difficult lives.Luther and Betty June Wallace are some of Haruf's most beautifully drawn characters. Extremely limited in their understanding, they receive professional assistance in everything from budgeting to parenting classes, anger management, and lessons in cleanliness. DJ Kephart, a small eleven-year-old whose responsibilities make him seem much older, is an orphan, now living with his elderly, often bed-ridden, grandfather, for whom he does all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. He and his neighborhood friends, Dena and Emma Wells, whose father is in Alaska, spend their free time turning an abandoned shed into a playhouse, a peaceful, make-believe home where adults do not intrude. Suddenly, separate acts of fate, involving the McPheron brothers and each of these three families, upend all their lives and set in motion a series of events which will change them forever. Death, illness, injury, abandonment, abuse, and the arbitrary harshness of fate all contribute to emotional crises the characters must find the strength to overcome. As Raymond McPheron says, simply, these acts of fate and disaster are "things you don't get over," but, as he notes while he is separating cows from their calves, "Every living thing in this world gets weaned eventually." Deliberately simple in style, but polished and graceful in its realization, the novel is full of the love and travail, the effort and failure, and the kindness and cruelty that fill the lives of these plainspoken, often endearing, characters. Vibrant, almost lyrical descriptions of the land and nature are seen in the context of sudden emergencies arising on the ranch, and every scene of tenderness and love is juxtaposed against scenes of cruelty and inhumanity. A master at evoking emotion, Haruf tugs at the heartstrings of even the most stoic reader, drawing the reader into scenes of warmth and poignancy, only to jolt him/her with new scenes that kill the sentimentality. Life can be cruel, fate can be capricious, and things do not always turn out "right," but Haruf's characters somehow soldier on, with the reader right beside them, heartstrings thrumming. (4.5 stars) Mary Whipple
Rating:
Summary: A Very Readable Sequel (3.5 stars)
Review: While much of the light that infused Plainsong is absent from Haruf's sequel, there is still a lot of merit to Eventide as a novel in its own right. I was happy to be reintroduced to some of the endearing characters from Plainsong; it occurs to me that Haruf simply could not forget them himself and was compelled to continue their stories. The McPherson brothers are unforgettable and, while I was hoping to see a bit more of Ike and Bobby Guthrie, I was impressed with the introduction of several new characters. Haruf not only has talent in creating narrative atmosphere, he also has a knack for writing characters who have distinct light and dark sides. The ending felt a bit abrupt and I can't help but wonder if Haruf is not only planning a third book, but a more lengthy series.
Rating: 
Summary: Kent Haruf is an incredible author.
Review: You know from his other books that he has lived in Holt, Colorado. You can tell by the way he uses the harshness of the weather and the reality of what it takes to make a living to offset the kindness and goodness of most of the characters. Like real life, not everyone in this book is good and kind, but it has a redeeming quality you can't get past. I live in Fort Collins myself and the mere mention of the various places visited in this book are enough to make me want to read all of Haruf's titles. I will also wish they do not end. I want the very best for Raymond McPheron and Victoria Roubideaux and Rose Tyler. These have become real peole to me. A book like this makes me see my life and where I live it from a new perspective and with a new appreciation. I've known a few men and women like these and their simple kindnesses among each other are what life in most of small-town America is really made of.
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