Plainsong

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Summary: Plainsong: Food for the Soul
Review: A plainsong, indeed --a composition of unadorned prose; of characters whose lives reflect and move through each other and yet are each vivid and singular; of life cycles, rituals, family. Because it is unmediated, even unto the absence of quotation marks, this song reaches our senses like direct experience and lingers, to nourish our spirits.

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Summary: Loved this book!
Review: All the praise which has been heaped upon this books is well deserved. Only wish I could give it more stars.

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Summary: A Memorable Book
Review: After reading Plainsong, I will read Kent Haruf's other books with the expectation that there is the same gentle message that is pervasive throughout this book. The kindnesses that the characters extend to each other have the greatest immediate and long-term effects on their lives. I was so touched by the brothers who received as much as they gave through sharing their lives with a virtual stranger when her own family had abandoned her. This is a book that will remain in its readers' hearts.

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Summary: Totally engrossed!
Review: I finished this book last night and proceeded to have a good cry. Now, whether this was due to joy or sadness, I'm not sure. In a way, I was sad the book had come to an end. It was wonderful how the human spirit prevailed and lost souls found one another. In a way, this book reminded me of the movie "As Good as it Gets" in the way that everyone needs that connection. You will root for these characters and wish them the best......I only hope that he writes a sequel!

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Summary: Why did it have to end at all?
Review: What a joy! I loved every page and wished I could spend lots more time with these people. Often I read books and watch films that matter, but I don't like any of the people who live in them. I can see that they're masterful creations and important, but I don't like spending time with folks who irritate me, so why read about them? Now the people of Holt, I want to invite them all over for dinner. Maggie is who I want to be when I grow up.Every time the McPheron brothers showed up, I began by laughing out loud and then weeping. Why is this book not in paperback? This is a book I've been searching for for a long time, one my freshmen students (all ages and backgrounds) will love so much they may even start to enjoy reading. PAPERBACK! Thank you,Mr. Haruf

Rating:
Summary: A satisfying book
Review: I could have just as easily enjoyed an entire book about the McPheron brothers and Victoria Roubideaux, but all of the characters were real, likable people. Part of the book's charm is that some of the plot lines were left unresolved--it's like you're able to look in on these people's lives for just a moment, but you have to guess what happens to them after you leave.

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Summary: Prose a lot like that part of Colorado.
Review: Every year, I travel across the Colorado prairie where I imagine Holt is located on my way to the mountains. It is more desolate than the Nebraska sandhills. There is some sense of this geography that permeates his characters and their really quite ordinary lives. I do have a problem with the way Haruf romanticizes the good people of Holt. Shows that he is a big city guy at heart. It is nice to think that the good souls of Holt would generally do good deeds like the MacPherson brothers do for Victoria and Maggie for everyone, but we know that in the real, plain life in the Holts of the world, people aren't so nice to one another and not everything works out. And if it does, it is only after everyone talks about you behind your back interminably. Still a fine book.

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Summary: Song of the High Plains
Review: The title of the book is at least a triple play on the word "Plain." It refers to the plainsong of the medieval church, which proceeds straightforwardly, without added harmonies. Like the music, this story proceeds simply and straightforwardly. Thirdly, it takes place on the high plains of the American continent -- a semi-arid area always on the brink of disaster because of drought. And perhaps the title also reflects the fact that in the intelligence community, an unencrypted text is called "plaintext." It is as though the author has decyphered for us an encrypted song -- seven months in the lives of high plains people. These people are at first hard to like, they are so harsh and dry like their land, but by the end we care about them, largely because of a baby born to an unwed teenage mother who is taken care of by two old (harsh and plain) bachelors. The only criticism I have is that the author has perhaps taken on too much -- there are some distractions in the story that need not be there.

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Summary: Small town combinding
Review: "Plainsong," by Kent Haruf, is a book about people and how they react to difficult situations. A teenage girl becomes pregnant and is kicked out of the house for being so. She has no where to go and no one to turn to, until she meets two old men who take her in. There is also a teacher who is forced to raise two boys alone after his wife abandons them all. These people overcome their fate and come together to solve their problems.

In "Plainsong", Kent Haruf uses setting to help develop the theme of when you are alone it is comforting to have someone there to help. Being set in a little town called Holt, Colorado, east of Denver, he creates a setting that anyone can relate to. He develops regular people, places and events that allows the reader to feel the problems of the characters. Even though Holt is a little town with a small population, the people are still faced with everyday problems that are universal. Everyone in this world appreciates having someone there when they have a problem, this is the theme demonstrated in Plainsong.

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Summary: Too plain
Review: Kent Haruf's third novel Plainsong wants to be a modest book, judging by the title. And it is. It depicts the disintegration of several dysfunctional families in the little town of Holt, Colorado, and then the seemingly random formation of new and better units. The prose is laconic yet it creates rather beautiful, subdued portrayal of everyday life in the smalltown. Problem is that it is also rather pretentious in its solemnity, and cannot really hide the fact that this story is painfully plain as analysis of the domestic problems in today's society. There are several nicely done scenes, but Haruf likes his world black and white, resulting in good guys that are so very good and bad guys that are so very bad. Ending is also too saccharine, almost reactionary in its firm appraisal of traditional family values. Disney will not need to change a word if they ever make a movie out of this.