Plainsong

Kent Haruf

I picked this up based on the Rev's and Ee Lin's recommendation and I can see why they liked it so much. The location is a farming community in Colorado and ... I was about to write that the setting is present-day, and it probably is, I'm not certain we're ever told. The novel kicks off with a pregnant teen fleeing her own home and seeking sanctuary with one of her teachers. Seeking a more permanent solution for the young Victoria than her own cramped accommodation the teacher stations her with a couple of farming brothers a short way out of town. Now, I'd heard this novel summarised as "pregnant teenager obtains sanctuary with two solitary farming brothers" and I had assumed it would crackle with sexual tension but, in fact, the two elderly McPherons' crackling days are long over. Instead the brothers are just two good honest old stock men with plenty of heart. This collision between two entirely different species, Victoria and the McPherons, could so easily have been overplayed but instead is nicely handled.

It's beautifully written, the style is very restrained, the farming landscape is evoked in just a few quick brush strokes and the dialogue is convincing. Because Kent Haruf packs so much into so few words, a couple of the longer chapters would work, I think, on their own as short stories. Or even poems.

But I'm wondering why it took me so long to get through and why I haven't scored it higher. Perhaps it did remind me too much of a short story collection. Or perhaps I just prefer my America a bit crazier, more Carl Hiaasen, more John Irving than this quiet, plain, finely executed novel.