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Women's Fiction

Plainsong

Plainsong

List Price: $24.00
Your Price: $16.32
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The land a metaphor for the people
Review: Haruf presents a landscape both physical and more importantly psychological of the spare, austere plains of northeast Colorado. The action, scoured clean of any unnecessary ornament, suits the geography. I suppose a passing familiarity with the area aids in making the narrative more accessible to the reader. The characters mostly evoke sympathy, even delight, as do a pair of elderly, bachelor farmers. In Minnesota Garrison Keillor would make them Norwegian. A much put-upon school teacher with a pathetic wife fading into terminal mental illness, a pair of immensely engaging sons (who remind me of my twin grandsons), and a friendly ("very friendly," as it turns out) woman teacher fill the important slots in the cast. Regretably, we also learn what abominable things high school boys often are--say I who once was one. The taut, astringent prose entirely suits the novel. Only the mannered omission of quotation marks marred my satisfaction with the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An unadorned beauty
Review: I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Haruf read from Plainsong this month at the One Book AZ book festival in Phoenix. The organization chooses a book, each April, that they encourage all Arizonan's to read. This year, Plainsong was the worthy recipient.

As he read from the chapter which has a teacher, Maggie Jones, asking the old bachelor farming McPheron brothers to take in a pregnant 17 year old Victoria Rubideaux, I was instantly engaged. Haruf has a gift of enabling the reader to envision his cast of characters and the desolate Colorado plains on which they reside as richly as if they were watching it unfold before them. Plainsong walks you through the lives of several individuals and exposes you to the grief, pain, fear, joy and sometimes mundaneness they experience. While their situations may not be envious, Haruf maintains their dignity in sharing their stories and does so by writing simply and without exaggeration. Many authors attempting such direct and honest storytelling would faulter, yet Haruf succeeds.

Simply written, the story covers a wealth of complicated situations and unconventional definitions of family. To fill the pages with fancy words would have detracted from the elements and not allowed the reader to accurately view the rawness and beauty that life brings.

While I do not believe everyone will appreciate Haruf's style, I, for one, am a new fan.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Plain Old Song
Review: I had been meaning to read Kent Haruf's "Plainsong" for some time. So when this National Book Award finalist was chosen as the One Book AZ selection of the year, I thought there was no better time to finally get around to it. But as often seems the case, the anticipation of reading a "chosen" book only seems to lead to disappointment. While this is certainly nothing terribly wrong with this "slice of life" tale of life in a fictional small town in Colorado, Haruf's work just did not do much for me. Normally I am eager to finish a book ' but with just one more sitting left -- it took me nearly a week to find the time to come back and read the closing chapters. As with most of the book, the "plain" ending was a bit underwhelming. While I do not feel novels need to be wrapped up in a nice tidy package, "Plainsong" provides minimal closure. With the exception of the old rancher brothers, I did not see a whole lot of growth in the characters over the course of the novel. In the end, they still strike me as a bunch of losers who could stand a good talking to from Dr. Phil. But maybe that is the point.

That said, the book is a pretty quick read and well-written. The only technical quibble I have, as other reviewers have noted, is Haruf's abandonment of quotation marks for dialogue. Although this did not personally pose a huge reading hurdle, I still found myself constantly distracted by their absence. Haruf is adept at creating a small-town feel, but overall I just did not feel a whole lot of satisfaction after finishing "Plainsong." Not awful, not awesome ' just okay.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My review of Plainsong
Review: watch as three stories tangle themselves into each other about over coming difficulties and finding happiness. Feel the life of a pregnant teenager in highschool that is in highschool that has been abandoned by her family and her boyfriend. Feel the confusion of the two young boys being left with their father by their mother for a reason that they cannot understand. Feel the sadness of a dedicated highschool teacher as his wife leaves him. Feel the anger as the highschool teacher finds out about his two younger sons being molested. This book makes you think about these difficulties and that they actually happen in some peoples every day lives. The best part of the book is that it is so profound in description, that it almost makes you feel the same way that the character is feeling at that moment.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good read, with a slow start
Review: Plainsong, was truly one of the better books I have read.
When I first bought the book I tried to read it but found the start long and drawn out. Later, when I started reading Plainsong again, I found the book to be very good, I couldn't put it down. It is a very slow starting book, but if you give it time, its excellent. Mr. Haruf is amazing! Plainsong has so much emotion and feeling it actually made me cry. The way that everything is described in this book is unsurpassed by most authors. I think most people are able to identify with at least one of the characters.

If you are looking for a good book to read on those cold winter days curled up in a blanket, or in bed, then this book is for you, but if you're looking for a book to read on the train, subway or bus, you will probably have some trouble focusing your attention on this book.

~Happy reading!~

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good read with a slow start
Review: Plainsong, was truly one of the better books I have read.
When I first bought the book I tried to read it but found the start long and drawn out. Later, when I started reading it again, I found it to be very good, I couldn't put it down. It is a very slow starting book, but if you give it time, Plainsong is an excellent read.

Mr. Haruf is amazing! This book has so much emotion and feeling it actually made me cry. The way that everything is described in this book is unsurpassed by most authors. I think most people are able to identify with at least one of the characters.

If you are looking for a good book to read on those cold winter days curled up in a blanket, or in bed, then this book is for you, but if you're looking for a book to read on the train, subway or bus, you will probably have some trouble following this book.

~Happy Reading!~

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: very Plain
Review: This is a plain story in a plain book. The lack of quote("") marks makes reading the dialogue a bit more of a challenge.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A little slow to start, but worth it.
Review: I wanted to read this book because it's going to be the feature book for "One Book". It started a little slow, but I grew to love the characters. I ordered it in the unabridged version in CD format as I listen to books on my one hour commute each day. I found myself sitting in the car, unable to turn it off, in several places. Make the effort, you'll love it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Plainsong
Review: I did not care for this book at all. i thought that it was boaring and it took to much of my time. i do not recomend this book to anyone, unlsess you like really boaring books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Delightful and Charming
Review: Plainsong is one of those books you can't escape - no matter what, you keep hearing about it. Unlike some of those Oprah books, however, it actually deserves all the hype. Haruf has written a charming, believable novel about people and how their lives are effected by each other.

I was reluctant to read Plainsong myself because every description I heard of the book made it sound stupid (the basic description of the novel is that it revolves around the inhabitants of a small town and how their lives touch, particularily a teenage girl who gets pregnant), but when I finally did start it, I finished it in one day. The story *is* good, believe it or not, but that's not what matters -- it's how Haruf writes it. As other people have said, reading Plainsong is like eating a warm piece of homemade apple pie. It's got a good story, it isn't too long or descriptive, and all the characters seem real. This book won't be going on my top 10 favorite book list, but it is a book that I will recommend to other people.

Ultimately, Plainsong is a book your mom will love, but surprisingly enough, you may just love it too.


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