Plainsong

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I desperately wanted to like this book. It came highly recommended from two friends, and it was a National Book Award finalist. However, for me, it was not a winner. Haruf’s gift is his ability to set a scene – I could see the dusty cowboy boots, hear the rumble of a diesel truck on the gravel, and smell the fresh hay mingling with the cool night air. What lacks in Haruf’s writing are his characters. The writing leads you in, captivates your every sense, and then leaves you looking around wondering where you are supposed to go next – except that you never get there. I waited the whole book for back-stories on the main characters –why they were the way they were – the characters deserved that development. But those stories never came. Ultimately, I felt very unfulfilled at the end of the book, almost to the point that I wish I had put it down and imagined my own paths for the characters.

That said, “Plainsong” does capture the feeling of a very sleepy, very ordinary country town. The book is simply a snapshot of their lives. The title is apropos both for the location and the people it represents.

I would not recommend this book based on my reading, but I think in this situation, I am the exception, not the rule. I do think that Haruf would write excellent short stories, and I would recommend those without question. I don’t know if he writes short stories, but his agent should tell him to consider it. Haruf would be brilliant at it. Then maybe, I wouldn’t expect so much of the characters, and I wouldn’t leave feeling like I only had seen the middle of the movie with no hope of seeing the beginning or the end.