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Title: Plainsong by KENT HARUF ISBN: 0-375-70585-6 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 22 August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.87 (365 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: "plain" is right
Comment: Sometimes simplicity can be more beautiful than complexity, when all the excess details are stripped away and you have the unadorned essence of a thing. I feel like this is what the author was trying to do in Plainsong, but unfortunately it didn't work. It turned out to be a drab, uninteresting portrait of life in Anytown, USA. Reading Plainsong, I got the feeling that I had read it before. The scenes and people were all standard and predictable. The characters and their conflicts seemed one-dimensional, cut out for their roles in a novel (the teenage girl with the abusive boyfriend, the single dad trying to raise two innocent boys, the heart-of-gold neighbor, the crusty old farmers...) The result was that I had lost interest in them after their first introduction, because they were so plain and familiar, almost cliche. I don't need a novel to be full of excitement and bizarre plot twists, which is why I thought I'd like an understated, quiet book like this. But Plainsong had nothing original or interesting to say about its characters' plain, ordinary lives. It was like a black & white photograph of the great plains - if it's done right it can be beautiful in its simplicity, but if it's not done well, it's just a gray snapshot of a flat landscape. Plainsong was the latter for me.
Rating: 5
Summary: Deserves more than 5 stars.
Comment: This novel was just simply amazing. The past few books that I have read were extremely dissapointing. Plainsong has been on my list of books to read for months, but until now I put other stories in front of it. I should have picked this novel first.
The novel is not simply based on one character but a handful. Maggies Jones is a teacher in the small town of Holt, CO. She is close to and the sometimes girlfriend of fellow teacher and single parent Guthrie. Guthrie is raising two boys by himself because his wife leaves him and moves to Denver. Throughout the novel we gain the perspective of Guthrie's kids Bobby & Ike. The last characters that grace the reader is a 17 yr old pregnant girl named Victoria Roubideaux. Her mother leaves her with no where to go, and she turns to Maggie Jones to help her. Maggie asks two elderly farmers to take Victoria in.
This is a compelling novel, and I am greatful that I read it. I found myself laughing throughout the book because of the extremely comical situtations. A 17 yr old pregnant girl living with 2 elderly brothers can make for an interesting story.
Kent Haruf brings an amazing story to light, and his characters are simply beautiful. They are all well rounded, and don't always make the decisions they should. This story is a true test of how one person can grow up without a close family, and in the end find the family they always needed through other people. The ending of this book brings all the characters together, and the reader will be able to see how their stories are linked. This is a feel good novel that helps the reader to understand that sometimes what we lack in life can be filled through people we least expected. Simply put, every day is a building block to something better. I couldn't put this down because I continually had a smile on my face when reading it. I would read this novel again.
Rating: 1
Summary: choppy
Comment: The story was choppy and hard to follow. I had to put the book down after 10 pages. The writing style reminded me of the camera work on NYPDBlue, too keen to show the reader everything at once rather than what is pertinent.
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Title: Eventide by KENT HARUF ISBN: 0375411585 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Tie That Binds by KENT HARUF ISBN: 0375724389 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 21 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Where You Once Belonged by KENT HARUF ISBN: 0375708707 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 21 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger ISBN: 0802139256 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 20 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Three Junes by JULIA GLASS ISBN: 0385721420 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 22 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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