Story Overview

The setting is the small town of Holt—located in the prairie not too far from Denver. The type of town where people know each other's business and papers are still delivered by boys on bicycles. Yet as much as people know you in a small town, they don't really know you or what goes on behind closed doors or closed mouths. In this small community, we get inside the minds and lives of several Holt residents—all of whom are suffering from some form of loneliness, sadness or isolation.

* Tom Guthrie—a teacher at the local high school whose wife has become distant and unreachable

* Ike and Bobby—Guthrie's two sons, who are confused by their mother's distance and looking for a way to recapture her love and attention

* Victoria Roubideaux—a high school girl who finds herself pregnant and cast out of her home by her mother

* The McPheron Brothers—two older bachelor brothers who live on a farm outside of Holt and keep mostly to themselves.

* Maggie Jones—a single woman who teaches with Guthrie and cares for her elderly father and serves as the glue that begins to bind these individuals together.

Each of these characters alone has a voice that is aching to be heard and understood. And as they move ever closer together to form a type of family of their own, their voices and lives begin to intertwine and harmonize together in a way that is true, touching and beautiful.

My Thoughts

At the start of the book, Kent Haruf provides the definition of plainsong:

The unisonous vocal music used in the Christian church from the earliest times; any simple and unadorned melody or air (e.g., Gregorian chant is type of plainsong).

I didn't fully appreciate the meaning of the title until the end of the book. But upon finishing the book, the title just made so much sense and was so fitting. In the book, each of the character's individual lives comes together to become part of a bigger whole—with each voice complementing and harmonizing with the other voices. At its heart, this book is about seeing a new community being formed from lives that were previously lived separately and parallel.

The book is both simple and subtle. It doesn't hit you over the head with things. Rather, it lets you experience the lives of the characters through simple narration and dialogue. Even the dialogue is unadorned with quotation marks (and sometimes attribution). I could see that some readers might find this book a bit slow-paced or even frustrating. But if you stick with it until the end, you'll appreciate the author's skill in giving you much more that you thought you were getting at first glance.

Frankly, I was surprised at how satisfied I was by the end of the book. I struggled to get into the story for a little bit and found the shifting viewpoints a bit off-putting at first. It was almost like drifting from character to character like a ghost—getting a little bit here, leaving for awhile, and then coming back and getting a little more. Once you adapt to the rhythm of the book, though, it turns into a rich and rewarding read.

My Final Recommendation

I don't think this book is for everybody. If you're the type of reader who likes big, loud, obvious books (i.e., ones that read like a summer blockbuster movie like Transformers), I don't think you would care for Plainsong. However, if you're the type of reader who has patience and an appreciation for slower-building, more subtle books (i.e., ones that read like an art house film), then this book would be perfect for you. Think of Plainsong as a cup of tea—it takes time to steep and brew and you drink it slowly but, at the end, you're filled with warmth and satisfaction.

And for those of you who care about such things, Plainsong was a finalist for the National Book Award.

What a fine book this is. Such a great story that evokes a time and a place so perfectly and entwines several stories seamlessly. Touching and heartwarming without being the least bit schmaltzy.

Plainsong, according to Kent Haruf's epigraph, is "any simple and unadorned melody or air." It's a perfect description of this lovely, rough-edged book, set on the very edge of the Colorado plains. Tom Guthrie is a high school teacher whose wife can't--or won't--get out of bed; the McPherons are two bachelor brothers who know little about the world beyond their farm gate; Victoria Roubideaux is a pregnant 17-year-old with no place to turn. Their lives parallel each other in much the same way any small-town lives would--until Maggie Jones, another teacher, makes them intersect. Even as she tries to draw Guthrie out of his black cloud, she sends Victoria to live with the two elderly McPheron brothers, who know far more about cattle than about teenage girls. Trying to console her when she think she's hurt her baby, the best lie they can come up with is this: "I knew of a heifer we had one time that was carrying a calf, and she got a length of fencewire down her some way and it never hurt her or the calf."
Holt, Colorado, is the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone's business before that business even happens. In a way, that's true of the book, too. There's not a lot of suspense here, plotwise; you can see each narrative twist and turn coming several miles down the pike. What Plainsong has instead is note-perfect dialogue, surrounded by prose that's straightforward yet rich in particulars: "a woman walking a white lapdog on a piece of ribbon," glimpsed from a car window; the boys' mother, her face "as pale as schoolhouse chalk"; the smells of hay and manure, the variations of prairie light. Even the novel's larger questions are sized to a domestic scale. Will Guthrie find love? Will Victoria run away with the father of her baby? Will the McPherons learn to hold a conversation? But in this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and Plainsong manages to capture nothing less than an entire world--fencing pliers, calf-pullers, and all. Kent Haruf has a gorgeous ear, and a knack for rendering the simple complex.

REALLY ENJOYED THE WAY THE BOOK IS STRUCTURED, AS WELL AS THE PLAIN-SPEAKING, YET COMPLEX CHARACTERS.

A story of several 'down home' type people including a pregnant teen, and two rough but very likable bachelor farmers, two abandoned boys and more. Ralistic and sometimes sad, ends on an optimistic note.

Fabulous book -- not normally my style and I adored it. Book 1 in the series.

Absolutely stunning novel set in Eastern Colorado--equally appealing to those who love "literature" and those who love "westerns."

Real good!

Another good book from this author.

A really compelling read. A New York Times Notable Book and A New Yorker Book Award Finalist. I read it for my Book Group and it was a great discussion book.

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An interwoven story of a pregnant high school girl, a lonely teacher, a pair of boys abandoned by their mother and a couple of crusty old bachelor farmers.

Even after displaying the shortcomings of them, the author causes you to emphasize and grow to care about all the characters named.

Good one!

Lovely story of ordinary people facing change and finding unlikely connections -- lyrical prose -- I stopped often to savor a paragraph several times.

Haruf's writing reminded me of other favorite authors : Stephen King and Lawrence Block.Each chapter was about a different character or household. They all live in the same town and their stories overlapped. It was fun to piece together information about the other characters from their differing perspectives.

I didn't expect there to be graphic detail about sex before even the first 1/4th of the book. I was disappointed. The reviews talked about family, but didn't include this. I may be an old "fuddy-duddy" but that's not for me.

"Plainsong" is possibly the most touching and one of the most memorable novels I have ever read. This is an absolutely lovely story that reassures one of the underlying good in human nature. This one stays with you long after finishing the last page.

Wonderfully involving and very touching without being maudlin. A great read ... I recently received the sequel from another swapper. Looking forward to it!

ambitious but never seeming so kent haruf reveals a whole community as he intrveavs the stories of a pregnant high school girl,a lonely tecaher, apair of boys abandoned by their mother,and a couple of crusty bachelor farmers. from simple elements,haruf avhieves a novell of widom and grace.

Loved this one!Sweet and funny family saga.

Enjoyable read about small town life.

Simple and calming, straight-forward. For an easy read, or a gift for a pre-teen.

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