Rating: 
Summary: A Satisfying Read
Review: There are several in-depth reviews here that cover many of this novel's strengths. Personally, I often find myself dissatisfied with many modern novel's endings. This one was complete and gratifying. After sharing his characters with us successfully throughout the story, Haruf doesn't let readers down in the last few pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Just terrible.
Review: This book was absolute agony to read. It was terribly written and *terribly* boring.
Rating: 
Summary: a bit blended
Review: here's a story of the country, a story where people birth cattle, use tree trimmers to perform an autospy on a horse, and live lives as plain yet parodoxically complex as the wind. it's a fine story, character driven; the plot does no spectacular turns; it's soft, gentle.
the one problem i found is that the character guthrie could also be one of the mcpheron brothers. they're not quite as distinct as i like characters to be.
it's a quick read, and worth the time; you'll feel like you've just taken a drive in a convertable through the western plains.
Rating:
Summary: "The simple in the complex."
Review: Plainsong is as complex a book as you get. You gain an intimate knowledge of each character and see their world they live in with vivid detail. However, I believe that the strength of the book lies in its simple structure.There are eight main characters -- Guthrie, Ella (his wife), Ike and Bobby (his two boys), Harold and Raymond (the McPheron brothers), Victoria Roubideaux, and Maggie Jones. We meet them one at a time, each having their own chapters. None of them are perfect. But as the book progresses, the lines between the chapters blur. The characters enter and interact in each other's small worlds -- helping to push each other closer to perfection. But you get a sense that none of the characters seek the fairy tale "happily ever after." All they seem to want is for things to turn out alright in the end. Holt, Colorado seems an analogue to our world, our towns. And this book seems an analogue to our own life. I give it only four stars, though, because I was disappointed at the ending. Some threads of the story are left undone. The biggest question I was left with was: What was wrong with Ella? Did her condition have anything to do with the dent in Guthrie's pickup truck? And we, the reader, never do find out. Maybe that is the point. I just think we have gained the privledge to certain information after following these characters through 300 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, unpretentious book
Review: For me, some of the best writers are the ones who live by the "less is more" credo as Kent Haruf would seem to do. His simple, unadorned language is evocative of middle-America sensibilities and breathes life into the many different characters who make up this story, ranging from two abandoned young boys to a pregnant teenaged girl who goes to live with two aging, bachelor farmers, among others. Haruf passes no judgement on his characters and you too will grow to accept them exactly as they are, warts and all. That acceptance, after all, is what makes small town America go 'round and you'll want to visit Holt County again in another Haruf book.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick enjoyable read, until the end drops off
Review: I read this in three hours. The writing was compelling, as was the character development (until the very end). Guthrie, his wife and young sons are self-absorbed, as is Victoria. The brothers McPheron and Mrs. Maggie Jones are the only other-focused characters. I expected things to come together better at the end, instead of feeling like Haruf thought, "ooh, 300 pages, I'd better end this NOW!" It didn't make sense, and the end felt contrived. I didn't understand how they all got together in the final chapter (it would have worked better had it been called Epilogue instead of Holt). I was expecting maybe some kind of tragedy or something that would make the characters rally together and persevere, realize their commonalities, and find they needed each other. But everyone had their own life, and didn't take any initiative to make a difference. The end was a downer, and I'd expected to finish the book feeling good.
Rating:
Summary: You'll love the bachelor ranchers
Review: The definition for Plainsong is: Any simple and unadorned melody or air. This definition fits PLAINSONG perfectly. It's about simple folks and their musical small-town lives in Holt, Colorado.
PLAINSONG is divided into chapters named after the main characters. Tom Guthrie is an American History teacher with a clinically depressed wife.
Ike and Bobby Guthrie are Tom's sons. They have a magical paper route that gives the reader a panorama of Holt and some of the mystical characters who live there. "They were nine and ten, with dark brown hair and unmarked faces, and cheeks that were still as pure and dear as a girl's." You'll love these two; they'll so innocent and humble, you'll want to adopt them. They do steal their fathers cigarettes, however, and smoke them out in the country.
Victoria Roubideaux is one of Guthrie's students. She's pregnant and her mother kicks her out of the house. One of her teachers, Maggie Jones, arranges for her to stay with the McPheron brothers, two old bachelor ranchers with hearts as big as Colorado. They're the real stars of the book.
Guthrie's wife leaves him; he has problems with one of his male students, who takes a swing at him. The parents take the boy's side. There's a fight scene, during which you'll want to jump inside the book and take a few swings yourself.
One of the most touching scenes is when the McPheron brothers go with Victoria to buy a crib for the new baby. There's humor, too. Victoria's worried about having hurt the baby. She's done some drinking and smoked some marijuana. To make her feel better, Raymond tells her about a heifer he had that swallowed a length of barbed wire and somehow managed not to hurt the calf. Later, Harold confronts him. "Where in the hell did you come up with that? I don't remember any such thing."
"I made it up."
"You made it up," Harold said. He regarded his brother, who was staring out into the room. "What else you going to make up?"
"Whatever I have to."
I skimmed over this book again to try do it justice. It took me four hours. I read over some of the scenes again, bawling like a baby. If this book doesn't make you cry, you haven't got a heart.
Rating:
Summary: plain, flat unadorned and lovely
Review: As flat, plain and lovely as can be. Yes, the characters are as flat as their high plains, but there are mountains of trouble lurking for each, troubles that aren't entirely resolved by novel's end. And, besides, what's wrong with some loveable bachelor farmers who really don't turn out to be perverts? And what's wrong with a pregnant teen who ends up being a mostly quiet seventeen year old who tidies up the farmers' home. Never really got to hear her voice, but when you call a book "Plainsong," why should I expect her to discover the strengths of her implied native ancestry or to transcend the smallmindedness of small town life? I'm glad that nonesuch BS occured. The book sets out to be a plainsong about plain, decent people and it succeeds. I didn't find myself wondering whether the farmers were dull cardboard stereotypes of rural life and why in the hell Bobby and Ike went out to the old men's house. Maybe I enjoyed it particularly because we're all in a mood to like simple heroism and decency after September 11. Maybe I enjoyed it because the author so clearly achieved what he set out to do: write a spare, unadorned tale about plain, decent people. Whatever the reason, I loved the book and would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Plainsong sings!
Review: A gentle slow moving story of plain folks learning to deal with real life. Not exciting, but I found I missed the charactures when it was over.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Plainsong is beautifully written. This book takes hold of the reader and never lets them go. Haruf weaves a story masterfully using a writing style that demonstrates urgency and peace. Through the story we start to feel for the characters, see their desparation, isolation and heartbreak. The development of Victoria and the McPherson brothers is the highlight of the book. It's been a while since I've read the book, but I still can't help thinking about the characters. One of my favorites.
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