Plainsong

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Summary: Thank you Mr. Haruf
Review: Reading your book "Plainsong" has given me many emotions, your writing has taken me on a wonderful journey of true feelings, some overwhelming. Thank you for the wonderful trip. Jean

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Summary: Kent Haruf's Plainsong novel will make you cry!
Review: I took a writing class over the summer and one of the novels we had to read was Kent Haruf's Plainsong. This novel was well written and made me feel like I can become a better person because of it. It makes the reader emotional as you get angry, sad, laugh and cry throughout the novel. I'm really grateful to my Professor that made us read Haruf's novel as I'm definitely keeping it!

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Summary: The best book I have read this year.
Review: I read Plainsong in January and I still think of it, often. It is beautifully written. It is perfectly straightforward, but enigmatic. It is deeply involving, but not for everyone - several people to whom I have raved about the book have reported back that it was - well, just too plain. The thing I love most about Plainsong is the character of Maggie. As with only a few other literary characters, I find myself thinking, what would Maggie do in this situation?

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Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable
Review: This story had me engrossed the minute I started it. It has complex characters and it has simple characters. Loved the book very much! Don't miss the chance to read this one.

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Summary: Boring and Tedious
Review: I hated the fact that there were no quotation marks and I found most of the characters to be incredibly boring. Also, we never really learn much about what makes the characters tick. When teenage Victoria's mother finds out Victoria is pregnant she kicks her out of the house. Why is she so bitter? Guthrie's wife first stays in bed all day at home and later abandons her two small boys. Why does she behave this way? We never really have any answers in this book. The ending was particularly disappointing and vague. We know that Russ does something (I won't spoil the story for those who haven't read it), but we never find out if he is prosecuted for it. We know that Victoria has her baby, but we never even find out what the baby's name is. For a more entertaining book on small town life with equally unlikely relationships (strangers taking in teenage mothers, etc.)I would recommend Where The Heart Is by Billie Letz.

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Summary: Close to perfect.
Review: Absolutely wonderful telling of a hopeful tale of the meaning and future of family. No Pablum here, but neither is meaning hidden. Seldom have I read a story so elegantly written.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

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Summary: A slow moving, small town story
Review: At first I was distracted by the writing style. It gave me a feeling of distance from the characters. After a while I didn't notice that so much because I was wrapped into the story line. This is a really enjoyable book dealing with community and family. The humanity of the characters is genuine and real. None of them are perfect but they are all believable studies of human nature. I would recommend this book to others, although some might find it lacking in action. It is a slow moving, small town story that I found interesting and gentle.

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Summary: No Missteps Here
Review: A superficial description might make this novel sound ordinary: a group of disparate people in various stages of their lives reside in a small Colorado town, interact, and undergo subtle, beautiful changes. Truly, that's a disservice. Kent Haruf is the real thing, a writer who sets out to tell some interlaced stories and does so in the most understated, compelling way. He doesn't write with an agenda or moralize. I'm always grateful for the rare occasion when a novel's deck doesn't feel stacked.

Whether it's the pair of young brothers, their father (who at the book's beginning is seeing his marriage unravel), a pregnant high school student, or the two elderly brother farmers who live outside of town, Haruf draws them with much compassion and brings each and every one alive on the page. The author has an uncanny ability to enter into his characters' heads, so that although Plainsong is set in a small town, I felt like I'd traveled much farther. As far as contemporary American fiction goes, this is a must read.

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Summary: Overrated.
Review: This is the type of book that one might expect to see onOprah's book club: young girl warms the heart of two older bachelor brothers; high school teacher and colleague fall in love; small town where there are no secrets. But is has some serious problems, the most serious of which is that the character's actions do not really make sense. ... The reasons behind the character's decisions are not believable, especially when dealing with the bachelors. These characters are creating their own chaos, and to be plausible, the reader needs to buy into their reasoning. But there is too little conflict, too little soul-searching. The drama seems manufactured and banal, and that is really the most important part of a novel like this. END

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Summary: great story--held my attention
Review: I liked the author's relaxed story telling style and describing the characters a lot by their dialog. The lack of quotation marks bothered me for a while but I got used to it. What bothered me more was his frequent use of overlong sentences. For reading aloud this is an endurance test. It was a touching story in many ways--the way the two old bachelor farmers took in and tried so hard to take care of the 17 year old pregnant girl--the 9 and 10 year old boys who were practically motherless. I also liked the short chapters. A sensitive reader might not like some of the harsh (taboo) language and sexually explicit episodes but it seemed to fit the characters involved.