I hope this post works out — I’m “blogging” from Arizona and the connection is a bit dicey… No state from Melanie Jones yet, so I’m going out on my own again. Since I recently spent the weekend in Colorado, I am picking Kent Haruf to represent the Rocky Mountain State.
I read Haruf’s Plainsong years ago and just loved its quiet, moving prose. I recommended it to a few folks who thought it was a little slow, but the McPheron brothers nestled into my heart and reside there still. This review from Salon.com does the novel justice:
Reading Kent Haruf’s new novel is like being in an expertly piloted small plane, finding yourself flying low and smooth over the suddenly wondrous world below. “Plainsong” (which was recently nominated for a National Book Award) lays out a year in the life of Holt, an unremarkable small town in the High Plains east of Denver. The cast includes a high school history teacher who stands up to ominous pressure to pass a failing student; two small boys whose mother is gradually disappearing into depression; a shy 17-year-old girl whose mother has found out she’s pregnant and kicked her out; and two grizzled bachelor brothers whose life revolves around their cattle. These characters are as varied as they come, and yet in alternating chapters Haruf tells each of their stories with the same steady, unstrained rhythm and generous, unflinching tone, so that the unexpected intersections of his character’s lives come to seem not just interesting but deeply, reassuringly right.
I love how this review describes Haruf’s “generous, unflinching tone” — which seems paradoxical, yet is so true. I also agree that the interactions between the characters — especially between the bachelors and the pregnant girl are “interesting, but deeply reassuringly right.”
As an aside, if you enjoyed the movie Sweetland, then this novel is for you!
Melanie Jones agreed with my choice! Here is her review of Plainsong:
Kent Haruf’s book Plainsong is true to its namesake, a “simple and unadorned melody or air” that is tender in its portrayal of three families in Holt, Colo. Tom Guthrie, a local history teacher, must shield his young sons when his wife becomes clinically depressed. Victoria, a pregnant teenager, is evicted by her mother, and the McPheron brothers begin to reconsider their lifelong bachelorhood on their cattle farm. Tying them all together is Maggie Jones, a warm yet pragmatic teacher who is determined to make their lives intersect.
Haruf molds his characters without judgment or hyperbole. Victoria, when asked why she had sex with a boy she barely knew, explains, “Once he said I had beautiful eyes.” When Maggie agrees that they are pretty, she replies, “But nobody ever told me.”
Haruf manages to blend such achingly honest scenes with an environment both stark and nuanced, painting fall and winter in the Great Plains of Colorado as a land where “corral dust rose in the cold air … like brown clouds of gnats” and the star-crowded sky looks “hard and pure.” Here, patches of snow sit among blue mounds of sandhill and dead sunflowers drop their loaded heads onto the black-top roads. In this atmosphere we find a land at once modernized and rural, brisk and dusty, where ice clings to the edge of sand-colored mountains.
Curious about the other states we’ve covered?
First, from Melanie Jones:
Alabama: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (check out my To Kill A Mockingbird Sample Kit!)
Michigan: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides
Alaska: The Man Who Swam With Beavers by Nancy Lord
Arizona: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
North Dakota: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Vermont: The Secret Historyby Donna Tartt
Hawaii: Heads by Harry by Lois-ann Yamanaka
And I went out on my own for…
Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston
Minnesota: In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien
Wisconsin: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton
Louisiana: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Jones’ pick) and The Awakening by Kate Chopin (my pick)
Wondering where your state is? Coming soon… 50 States, 50 Books List
I remember reading that book – plainsong – a few years back – I enjoyed it too!
I have never reading this book but will have to check it out since I am from Colorado. Thanks
Thank you for the comments! Cheryl — I would love to hear what you think once you read it. Is there another author/title you would have chosen to represent your state?
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Hi,
I’d like to submit another book/author for Colorado. Her name is Teresa Funke and the title of the book is Dancing in Combat Boots.
From Teresa’s Bio on here website:
Teresa R. Funke is the author of Remember Wake, an award-winning novel based on a true story from WWII. She is also the author of Dancing in Combat Boots: Stories of American Women in WWII and Doing My Part, the first book in the Home-Front Heroes series for middle grade readers.
Teresa has worked as a researcher for PBS and several museums and written dozens of articles. Her essays and short stories have appeared in numerous commercial and literary magazines and anthologies including Calyx, Crab Orchard Review, 2003 Fish Short Story Prize Anthology, Tampa Review, In Posse Review’s Ethnic Anthology on Web del Sol, Under the Sun, U.S. Catholic, Adoption Today and several others. Two of her essays have been listed as Notable Essays of 2002 and 2004 by the prestigious Best American Essays series.
A popular speaker, presenter and writer’s coach, Teresa is also the host of the writers’ videos The Write Series. Her anticipated six-part workshop, That Book Inside You: How to Write It, Publish It, Sell It launches in Fall, 2007.
You can read the summary of Dancing in Combat Boots at http://www.teresafunke.com/dancing.htm. There are two short stories that take place in Colorado in this book.
Cheers,
Christelle
Thank you, Christelle! Funke’s work sounds very interesting — I’ll check it out…
Hi Kristen,
yes Teresa Funke’s work is very interesting especially because the stories of women during World War II are not often told. She’s collecting stories from members of the WWII generation on her website, so you should send her your stories or your family or friends’ stories. Teresa also speaks to book clubs for free either in person on via the phone if they are outside her area. You can find the information to contact her about book club appearances here: http://www.teresafunke.com/clubs.htm
Thanks for a great blog. I am in a book club and we’re always looking for new books to read. The 50 States 50 Books is a great them for that
Christelle
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