Rating: 
Summary: Nothing but good and a whole lot of nothing else
Review: I gladly fell into the trance woven by Haruf in this book. He shares such a feel and empathy for each character. I want to send him a note saying thanks for the experience of joy without the encumberance of deep misery that makes modern literature sometimes difficult to swallow. There could be no better title-Plainsong. Thanks for not ending in a death swamp of surprise, gore, or cliffhangers. Thanks for not overdoing it. It's not a perfect book, but neither am I and neither are his characters and neither are the places he writes about. The world from which he writes is simply imperfect as well, giving Kent the artistic freedom and Freudian allowance to share that with us. Thank you again for the experience and without shock. Just like the title says, and then some, and less some. How often can one judge a book by it's title alone?
Rating: 
Summary: Plainsong = Bad Book...........Plainsong + Vodka= Good Book!
Review: I had to read plainsong for school and it was a horrible book. It's boring and has no depth. As others have said, this book is littered with nothing but useless information and too much sex. Some sex is relevant to a book- however too much sex is just like an erotic story. I warn anyone who has to read this book- drink massive amounts of alcohol before reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A Slice of American Pie
Review: I agree with the professional reviewers in that the book is an enticing slice of rural, small-town America. The author has been there: He has seen cattle separated from the herd, witnessed life on an isolated farm, been a young boy on the loose trying to figure it all out, and experienced the cruelty of the restless teenager.My only quibble is with occasional lapses in wording. The author overuses the word "about"...."about 10:30," "about ten feet from here..." And his time sequences are infrequently off kilter, as when Victoria goes out to the barn at 5:00 to report her labor pains,
but the three of them then "waited the rest of the afternoon" to make a decision about the inevitable hospital trip. Time seems to be very important to Haruf, as if he constantly reworked time sequences, but there needs to be a tad more editing. Generally, a very good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't try to make a short story into a novel
Review: I can't recall what drew me to buy this book, but I guess the cover reviews were enticing (on my copy, Roddy Doyle gave great praise). I have to say I was disappointed in the novel itself. I could'nt find a story to get into and there was a deal of contrivance in linking the rather disjointed episodes that make up the whole. In the end I decided it was either a writing exercise (Haruf is an academic after all) or a short story puffed up beyond its entitlement. While I'm not entirely put off reading more by the author, I will take the time to look beyond the reviews in future.
Rating:
Summary: Plainwasteoftime
Review: After reading all 334 of your customer reviews,there's not much left to critique. However, I found the reading of the reviews more enjoyable than the reading of the book. It appears that your selection was intentionally weighted on the favorable end. I routinely brouse your reviews looking for good books but will be wary from now on. It was the negative reviews that impressed me as being written by discerning readers;the favorable ones were as sophmoric as the book itself. (There is no rating available for "starless"?) I nominate Plainsong for the Worst Book of the Year Award. The only emotion I felt from reading the book was a sense of relief when I finally turned the last page and a sense of satisfaction that it was a library book!
Rating:
Summary: Ho Hum
Review: I was really disappointed in this book. I guess it's supposed to be a portrait of small town life in America, but to me it was just dull and dated. I found the characters to be lifeless cliches. Instead of getting absorbed in the story, I would say to myself "Oh, so this is the part where the author's trying to drive home the harshness of rural life" or whatever point the author was heavy-handedly driving at. It's also quite predictable. Gee, once the sick old loner gives the kids her house key, do you suppose they'll find her dead??? Please. The worst disappointment was how utterly unengaging the pregnant girl is - as lifeless and uninteresting as cardboard.
Rating:
Summary: He knows his territory
Review: Having lived around small rural towns myself, this rings true. The characters seem to drift in and out of events that eventually force them to move ahead in new directions. The McPheron brothers are brought into the mainstream of life through their relationship with Victoria. Victoria seems to be so helpless that she can't rebel against her past, yet her baby brings her to a sense of responsibility and purpose. The two Guthrie boys are introduced to the evil that happens to people through no fault of their own. Ella needs help, and why didn't someone recognize this? As a former teacher, I don't know why the problem Guthrie had with the Beckmans was not handled better. The principal seems to have been a total wimp in face of parental anger (not a total surprise!). As a matter of fact, teachers haven't been allowed to rack up a student against a row of lockers for thirty years, even in a place like Holt. The sexual encounters seem to be included as a bow to popular expectation; none of these teachers was very discreet, and I find that very surprising. Even in these liberal times, most teachers would be smart enough to outwit, at least for a while, the nosiness of a small town. Any reader who has qualms over the description of the horse autopsy needs to understand that this is part of farm or ranch life, and not as offensive (to me, at least) as graphic descriptions of depredations against humans, which one encounters in some crime novels. In spite of the flaws, I find this novel well written in that it evokes a time and place with sparseness yet preciseness of detail, and at the end the characters have moved outward and upward to a higher plane of understanding of themselves and their world. It is at once realistic and idealistic, and I find it a pleasant surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Great title for a well written, simple book
Review: I thought this book was really good. I had a hard time getting into it and I found it frustrating that the author did not use quotation marks. I was drawn in and really enjoyed the writing and learning about the characters. I won't go into the plot since others always do that but I feel this is definitely worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE do not buy this book
Review: I had to quit reading this book shortly after I started. This is the worst book I have every had the misfortune of getting. It is the most depressing, worthless book I have ever come across. I will not make the mistake of reading anything by this author again.
Rating:
Summary: Go away toward simplicity...
Review: Take a long walk down a country lane, particularly a lane out along the plains and the prairie. Hope that it is cold - a bit - but enough for you to enjoy the sound of the wind as it dances around you. Then consider the meaning of Simplicity. Think of how simple things are most profound; how the deepest wells lie unadorned along the rocky paths of insignificance; how still waters run deep. This novel - this plain song - brings together all these graceful images in a most subtle way. A man lonely for a life once lived; a woman trapped in the black night of eternal sadness; a young girl thrust into a heartless world thinking all the while about the joys it will bring her; and most beautifully, the rhyme and rhythm of a brother's love, of two old men or two young boys forever wrapped up in each other's destiny. Kent Haruf has created a world within these pages that will always be refreshing to anyone in need of a respite from the wrangling world, or a cold drink from the deepest of wells.
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