Jeremy's review
Plainsong
by Kent Haruf
Jeremy's review
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Jeremy's review
rating:
recommended for: Midwesterners
I have found no modern author more capable of grasping a dialect as Kent Haruf. The entire culture of western Nebraska/easter Colorado is captured in the pages of "Plainsong".
Haruf uses no quotation marks, which gives the page a stark and clean look that is confusingly unsettling. Much like the bare landscape of the area he writes about, it's as if the sudden clarity of the scene is too stark.
The story is actually the intertwining of three stories. Having a rural, farming family I found the story of the ranching brothers the most interesting, and I was very happy when Haruf brought them back in other novels. Younger readers may enjoy the story of the brother and sister, or the pregnant high school student.
Regardless, the book paints a beautiful and clear picture of how simple lives can be overturned while simple values remain.
After reading this book I actually got to meet Haruf (a man whom I read while working at a publishing house in New York). He was kind enough to ...more
Haruf uses no quotation marks, which gives the page a stark and clean look that is confusingly unsettling. Much like the bare landscape of the area he writes about, it's as if the sudden clarity of the scene is too stark.
The story is actually the intertwining of three stories. Having a rural, farming family I found the story of the ranching brothers the most interesting, and I was very happy when Haruf brought them back in other novels. Younger readers may enjoy the story of the brother and sister, or the pregnant high school student.
Regardless, the book paints a beautiful and clear picture of how simple lives can be overturned while simple values remain.
After reading this book I actually got to meet Haruf (a man whom I read while working at a publishing house in New York). He was kind enough to ...more
