| Title | : | Eventide (Plainsong, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0375725768 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780375725760 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 300 |
| Publication | : | First published May 4, 2004 |
| Awards | : | Colorado Book Award Literary Fiction (2005) |
Eventide (Plainsong, #2) Reviews
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WELCOME HOME
Bentornato a casa ogni lettore che in queste pagine ritrova gente e luoghi familiari inventati da questo scrittore che qui da noi si è creato un culto forse neppure solo di nicchia.
Siamo sempre a Holt, paesotto immaginario del Colorado, come già in Plainsong e Benedizione, i capitoli che precedono e seguono in questa trilogia non rigorosa (slegata), e molti personaggi sono gli stessi, a cominciare dai fratelli Harold e Raymond McPheron, da Victoria Roubideaux e la sua piccola Katie (i primi tre tra quelli più apprezzati in Canto della pianura).
Holt sembra un posto che sarebbe piaciuto a Kant, il cielo stellato sopra di me e la legge morale in me.
Un posto dove il punto di vista di chi narra è alto, decisamente dall’alto.
Non è che Haruf usi la lente d’ingrandimento o il microscopio, non lo definirei certo scrittore entomologo: riesce comunque a rendere i suoi personaggi macroscopici nella loro comune e semplice umanità.
Risultato ottenuto con scrittura senza fronzoli e senza ornamenti, tesa a descrivere e raggiungere l’essenziale, la fondamentale struttura della vita (l’osso), e della nostra vita con gli altri, come afferma lui stesso.
Chissà se dipende dal suo metodo di lavoro: quando si siede alla macchina da scrivere ha già in mente il primo paio di frasi, sono queste che danno il tono a quello che segue - da lì è come saltare dal trampolino, un salto che lo conduce fino alla fine della pagina, del capitolo, non smette più di battere, a spazio uno, gli occhi chiusi per cercare la massima concentrazione, lontano da ogni distrazione.
Mi viene da pensare, sempre citando sue parole, che se per uno scrittore, l’iter più ovvio sia “leggere, leggere, leggere, leggere, leggere – e poi, scrivere, scrivere, scrivere”, per come sembrano autentici i suoi personaggi, per Haruf l’iter sia invece vivere, vivere, vivere, vivere, vivere, e subito dopo, scrivere, scrivere, scrivere.
Gli abitanti di questi romanzi sono gente che vive ciascuna nel proprio silenzio e nel proprio isolamento, in case dai pavimenti che si spazzano con scope di saggina (la saggina resa mitica da Capote in Arpa d’erba), case circondate dal vento, schiacciate dal cielo.
Parlano, ma sembrano tacere: quello che dicono, il loro dialogo si intreccia senza discontinuità alle descrizioni di Haruf, uno dentro l’altro in un tutt’uno, parlato ed esposizione. Affascinante.
È proprio vero che la prosa di Haruf ha l’effetto di una pendola che batte il tempo nel silenzio di una casa rivestita di legno, come dice Jonathan Miles recensendo il romanzo nel NYT.
Questa volta la tavolozza di Haruf si arricchisce di colori scuri e minacciosi, per esempio quelli dedicati a Hoyt Raines, ma sono quelli che gli vengono meno bene, traspare la maniera, e perde in sfumature, in grigi.
C’è più sangue del solito in queste pagine.
C’è anche più bontà, ahimé zuccherosa: ho trovato Crepuscolo il romanzo meno compiuto dei tre, sia per l’eccesso di boncuore contrapposto a un eccesso di crudeltà, sia per certi passaggi della trama che sembrano un po’ artificiosi e meccanici.
Anche questa volta il lavoro del traduttore Fabio Cremonesi sembra eccellente (personalmente, però, ho notato qualche ripetizione di troppo), completato dalla piacevole e illuminante consueta breve postfazione.
Nella quale si dice che Haruf sa tenersi lontano dal sentimentalismo corrivo di troppa letteratura di questi anni. Il che, naturalmente, non esclude affatto che sappia restare vicino ai sentimenti, e tanta emozione suscitare nel lettore.
Chi, purtroppo, non sa restare lontano dal sentimentalismo corrivo è la casa editrice NN che in quarta di copertina scrive:
Questo libro è per chi ama guardare la danza delle candele sul muro, per chi ascolta la Pastorale di Beethoven, per chi ricorda quando da bambini ci si arredava una stanza con tutto quello che si trovava in giro, e per chi è rimasto solo, al freddo, per tanto tempo, e oggi ha deciso di rimettersi in gioco e correre il rischio di diventare una persona diversa.
Automatico il mio pensiero vola a:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42PMz...
e anche a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3zF...
per chiudere con
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3buA...
Potevano fare di meglio. Non sarebbe stato difficile.
Tutte le immagini vengono dal film “The Light Between Oceans” di Derek Cianfrance, 2016, con i meravigliosi Michael Fassbender e Alicia Vikander, tratto dal romanzo omonimo di M.L.Stedman. -
Kent Haruf - 1943 - 2014 - image from Colorado Central Magazine - photo by Mike Rosso
Eventide continues Haruf’s depiction of Holt, Colorado, begun in Plainsong, of a small town with a wide range of humanity. Like Plainsong, Eventide is a beautiful work with moving characters, captivating imagery, and a clear view of humanity at its core. It made me cry both for struggles of its characters and the clarity of its writing. Familiar characters from Plainsong, Tom Guthrie, Maggie Jones, Harold and Raymond McPheron, and Victoria Robideaux, are joined by a new roster of characters, young and old, good and bad. A joy to read, and an easy recommendation.
Colorado Central Magazine -
Q & A with Colorado author Kent Haruf - This is an interview that is very much worth checking out
Other Kent Haruf books we have enjoyed
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Our Souls at Night
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Benediction
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Plainsong -
“It was still hot outside, though the sun had begun to lean to the west, and the first intimations of fall were in the air – that smell of dust and dry leaves, that annual lonesomeness that comes of summer closing down.”
Sixteen years ago, when Eventide was first published, if you had walked up to me with this book in your hand and said “Here. Read this. It’s a great book.” I would have said, “What and who is it about? Where does it take place?” You likely would have stated, “Well, it’s about ordinary people, and I can’t really pinpoint an actual plot. I mean, things happen - good and bad, but, well, you know. The setting is Holt, Colorado, a dusty plains kind of town. You know, partly on a cattle ranch and partly in a small, sort of simple village square.” I would have politely smiled and told you that I don’t have much time to read these days as I have two small children at home. Then I would have proceeded to grab a thriller or mystery novel instead. I missed out meeting one of the most gifted savants of the human heart. Four years ago I smartened up and set things right by reading Kent Haruf’s Plainsong and fell instantly in love. It took a pandemic to give me the next swift kick to finally read the second book in the trilogy.
“They came up from the horse barn in the slanted light of early morning. The McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond. Old men approaching an old house at the end of summer.”
From page one, I was delighted to find myself once again in the company of the McPheron brothers. If you haven’t met this unassuming and lovable pair yet, you should grab Plainsong right away and get started before picking up this one. You’ll see some other familiar faces from that book here as well, and meet a few more. What I’ve learned from Kent Haruf is that heroes don’t really come in capes or white collars; they don’t carry magic wands, shapeshift, or stand up on pulpits. They do, however, look like your average human being and yet save lives and defeat villains.
“No. They’re not preachers. But they did save me, I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.”
It’s obvious to me that Haruf valued both the aged as well as the younger members of our society. I don’t know his personal family story, but I would guess that he was either a grandfather himself, or viewed the loving relationship of a grandparent and grandchild secondhand with wonder and gratitude. He understood the impact the elderly and children can have on one another, and that the value of that tie works in both directions. He also knew that families are not always constructed by biological links. They can come in many shapes and sizes, and what holds them together is not necessarily DNA, but love, support, companionship, honesty and understanding. What a wise and enlightened soul. Haruf must have breathed some of his own essence into the creation of the McPheron brothers. But these venerable men aren’t the only superheroes of this story. Children too are guardian angels in disguise as poor, beaten-down and hurting little souls – both to one another as well as to their elders. And yes, women can throw out life preservers as well. Please, please, let me meet Rose Tyler one more time.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough. The prose is unadorned but luminous and extremely affecting. The characters so tangible, you might find yourself looking for them as you go about your day. Perhaps you’ll see one of them at the supermarket. Maybe another will pop up at your local tavern. If you’re fortunate, maybe one will throw you a life raft, too. Or, perhaps you can offer your own to one of them.
“This can be a hard place to be alone in. Well, I suppose any place is.” -
Where I grew up, there was an old bachelor who lived about half a mile farther from town than we did. He lived in a tiny shack of a house and would often drop in to our place on the way to or from town. I will call him Charlie, although everyone always said his first and last names together like they were one. He drove a buggy with a beautiful, older white horse pulling it. The buggy was black and had a cover mounted on risers to keep the sun and rain off. The horse wore ‘blinders’, maybe so it wouldn’t be upset by passing cars and trucks, and its harness was black with shiny silver decorations.
On his way into town Charlie would drop off a bag of crab apples or sometimes a bag of rhubarb and usually a couple of clean plastic containers. Those containers were Mom’s because Charlie never left empty-handed either – he would take home with him another couple of tubs – one with a stew or a casserole and one with maybe a rhubarb crunch dessert or Mom would give him a quart of her canned crab apple fruit or a jar of crab apple jelly. Charlie even drove to church in his horse and buggy and the horse always stood patiently outside waiting for church to be over and Charlie would ride the buggy home.
Eventide. The name of this book alone evokes memories of the senses and of the spirit of country living. Just as in Mr. Haruf’s book, our little community had many difficulties – some poverty, babies showing up from out of nowhere, bad accidents in both vehicles and with farm machinery or hazards, mourning times, and even a couple who never spoke to each other from about their 15 or 20 year Anniversary, except through one of their many children. Still, I don’t think it’s a faulty memory but a truth – the people where I grew up were essentially good and kind-hearted. They helped their neighbours through difficult times and oh, the celebrations. Sports days, fair days, dances, musical and variety concerts, picnics – there was always room in busy lives to set down the work for a few hours and have fun.
In this novel, there are a number of problems and griefs for the residents of Holt and its surrounding areas, too. Yet, they also took time out to socialize, to help each other in any way they could, and to try and resolve difficulties if they could. Kent Haruf has painted a broad landscape of characters in this novel which sets the tone of a small town atmosphere where many people live on farms and ranches outside of the town. We are not invited into this setting; it is set out for us like a beautifully appointed dinner table and we are magnetized to it with souls starved for its sustenance.
Through Kent Haruf’s magnificently simple prose and plain yet powerful dialogue, we fall into the story he offers, into the lives and concerns of the citizens of Holt, and we don’t want to leave. This book calls to an inner need to belong, to be part of someplace, and to do our part. Our hearts can’t help but to respond with a yes. -
This is the follow up to Plainsong, returning to the small town of Holt, Colorado.
A few characters make appearances again along with several new ones. I was thrilled to be back with the McPheron brothers, especially. They rate highly in my list of favorite-ever characters😍
This novel deals a lot with loss, separation, and loneliness of many people in the town.. but also shows the compassion of many.
As with Plainsong, I just loved this! -
It's taken me a while to get here, but I've spent the last two weeks in Kent Haruf's world, reading Plainsong and then Eventide. It's been like a religious experience. His pages are a humble wooden pew in a country chapel, his words are the blessings from the gentlest sermon.
So gentle, this sermon. Nothing is pressed, everything is as it is. There are bad people, and children suffer. But then there are the good.
I used to say that Matthew Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables was the very best (as in most kind, most lovable) character in all of literature. But I hadn't read Haruf's works, and didn't know about the McPheron brothers. They are added to the list, right up there with Matthew. I think if they had met, they would have been friends, tipping their hats and discussing the price of cattle in the general store. What is it with these older, farming bachelors that makes my heart melt?
It could be their dignity, their motherless-ness, their innate goodness. All I know is during a pivotal scene with Harold and Raymond McPheron, I looked up from the page and saw that tears had pooled in the hollow of my neck.
The writing is very direct, very clear, saying just what needs to be said. A clean arrow, right to the heart. The style may remind you of Cormac McCarthy - to me it's like McCarthy, had he found God and realised that the world wasn't so bad after all. This book, like in Plainsong, follows the interconnected stories of several families in Holt, Colorado. I was invested in each one. Each broke my heart a little, but each built it up a little too.
So, it's official. I've joined the club. Me, a gal who doesn't like joining anything, who instinctively resists what is beloved by many. You were all right. I've been won over, I'm besotted, and I'm grateful. -
Letting go, image source:
http://sustainablejill.com/wp-content...
Eventide is the brilliant and perfect follow-up to Plainsong, told in the same, spare language and set a couple of years later. You could read it as a standalone novel, but you'd be missing more than the half you have not read - not so much in terms of plot as equilibrium.
Even though a notable aspect of both books is the lack of backstory, and there are major characters in this who left not so much as a dusty footprint on the pages of Plainsong, while some of the unfinished tracks of Plainsong (e.g. the Beckmans’ vendetta against Tom Guthrie) are untrodden here, they are two halves of a whole.
I read Eventide immediately after finishing Plainsong, and I am so glad I did. I can only review this in relation to that, and neither review stands on its own - another example of the pairs that are a defining feature of both. Benediction is separate, despite GR labelling it as #3. See my reviews:
•
Plainsong (precursor to this) 5*
•
Benediction (a separate story) 5*
Weaning
Whereas Plainsong is primarily about absence, I felt a subtle shift here: Eventide is more about the process of separation and letting go, whether voluntary or not: the adaptation to and acceptance (or not) of the change that follows.
“They never do like it. I can't imagine anything or anybody that would like it. But every living thing in this world gets weaned eventually.”
Although Eventide comes chronologically after Plainsong, in this thematic respect, it almost precedes it. Perhaps we need to feel and acknowledge the pain of loss before we can truly comprehend the impact, and how and why it happened?
At the moment of loss or separation, we don't know the outcome: whether parent or child, lover or friend, we feel only the present agony. Looking back, we see that most thrive, but some falter, a few of them critically. We apply perspective and context to our loss. Does that mitigate the hurt? For the majority, it probably does, but I doubt it offers solace to those who could not successfully transition to independence. Does it make it easier to leave or let go in future? I don’t know.
Hope
Where is the hope that makes this book not just bearable, but wonderful? As with Plainsong, it's from simple, unconditional love and acceptance, sometimes from the least likely sources, but here, there is again an emphasis on process: the slow flowering of once tentative and maybe improbable relationships into something strong and sweet.
There are brand new relationships (good and bad), but those between Victoria, her young daughter, Katie, and the McPherons are most touching of all. They all continue to change and be changed because of each other.
“Her coming had changed matters for them forever. And then… the little girl and her arrival had changed matters once again. So they had grown used to the presence of these new people in their lives. They had become accustomed to the way things had changed and they had got so they liked these new changes and got so they wanted them to continue day after day in the same way.”
Lost in the Familiar
In the dirt, as in snow, tracks and footprints can disappear. The now-familiar tropes of pairs, sleep, red, and the slanted light of the dusty plains are regularly and softly used here, yet I was adrift in a town I thought I knew.
In Plainsong, the focus of each chapter is clear because character names are used as chapter titles. Eventide is the opposite: chapters are numbered, but more significantly, they invariably start with a scattering of pronouns, so I had no initial idea who was being referred to - especially in early chapters, with the possibility of characters I'd not encountered before.
When characters speak, they're as plainspoken here as in Plainsong, but they're not always as honest. Not everyone is quite what they seem: I want to see the best in people, even fictional people, but I anticipated the pain and tragedies to come - and sometimes they did.
Thus, Haruf conjures a complex and disorienting response, with deceptively simple language.
Pairs
Both books are built on the similarities and contrasts of pairs (doubles and opposites) of characters and situations – and the fact the books themselves are a pair. This could be unsubtle, disorienting, and annoying, but instead, it lends uncertainty within the comfort of a familiar framework. For example, the variable amount of clutter in the McPheron kitchen continues to reflect the fluctuating moods of life.
In contrast with everyone in Plainsong, and many in Eventide, little Katie is a chatterbox: “She went on without stopping, talking about whatever came into her mind, with no need for Raymond to remark on any of it at all, though he paid heed.”
There are two obvious contrasts that barely feature in either book: religious versus not, and rich versus poor (an observation, not a criticism).
In Plainsong, I was surprised how little God or the church featured in the lives of Holt's residents, especially the elderly god-like figures of Harold and Raymond McPheron (that may be a fault of my stereotypes of the US in general, and small towns 30 years ago in particular). In Eventide, most of the few occasions church or prayers are mentioned merely demonstrate people's unfamiliarity with either: “Go ahead and eat… unless somebody wants to pray. No one did.”
Eventide has a family on welfare (see below), and that made me realise the almost total absence of anyone wealthy (except perhaps the Beckmans, in Plainsong). Some are more comfortable than others, but no one is really rich. That would be too unsubtle for Haruf.
Welfare
Eventide has a sociological angle that was new. In addition to ordinary people living simple lives, with little of anything to spare, there is a troubled family on welfare, plus their social worker, Rose Tyler.
This was the weakest aspect for me: the characters captivated me, and I cared deeply, but Rose’s actions, and those of other authorities, didn't always seem plausible (maybe that's a difference of 30 years + the Atlantic). More importantly, it didn't quite fit the carefully crafted atmosphere of the two books. I wonder if it was an editorial suggestion, perhaps to respond to those who found Holt's position in time a little too amorphous. Personally, I preferred the slipperiness, as a contrast to the dry dirt that permeates the floorboards, vehicles, clothes, and people.
Nevertheless, the complex tragedies of this family were painfully wrought, in typically plain but powerful terms, and inextricably linked to the theme of the book.
Family
Related to separation is the concept of family, whether bonded by blood (Wallace/Rimes), divided by blood (Wallace/Rimes), or forged in other ways (unofficial adoption, or friendship, like DJ and Dena). As Victoria says of the McPherons, “We’re not related in that way… They saved me”.
Red
As in Plainsong, almost the only colour mentioned (other than the trademark “iron-gray” McPheron hair) is red, but being the second book, it’s more noticeable: the faces of those who work outdoors, a tractor, a type of cow, memories of a dead mother’s nail varnish, stolen lipstick, Guthrie’s pickup, the plunging blouse of a woman, and so on. A bright respite from the dull dirt of the plains.
Towards the end, there is a notable sign of new beginnings, “He drove with the window rolled down, and the night air came in and brought with it the smell of green grass and sage.”
Quotes
• “The silent high plains spread out flat and dark under the bright myriad indifferent stars.”
• “The first intimations of fall were in the air – that smell of dust and dry leaves, that annual lonesomeness that comes of summer closing down.”
• “At school he did willingly and skilfully all that was required of him but didn’t say much of anything to anybody throughout the day.”
• “Their paired images walked beside them in the plate glass storefronts.”
• “He wanted to think of words that would make some difference but there were none in any language he knew that were sufficient to the moment nor that would change a simple thing.”
• “He was pretty set in his ways. They were good ways, though.”
• “But you’ve got to have your own life.”
• “So he was alone now, more alone than he had ever been in life.”
• “A car drove by, its exhaust as white and ragged as wood smoke, before the wind snatched it away.”
• “He looked around and all the people nearby appeared to be having a good time.”
• At a social services centre, “the scarred tedious brightly colored toys” and “the little broken-baked books”.
• “The low afternoon sun streamed in onto the dishes from the unshaded windows. The sunlight was brilliant in the glassware.”
• “The early darkling of a short winter’s day, the sky fading out, the night drawing down.”
• “The stars as clean and bright as if they were no more distant than the next barbed-wire fence post… everything all around him distinct and unhidden.”
• “Don’t you know anything? No ma’am, I don’t believe I do.”
• “Outside the house, beyond the silent room they sat in, the dark began to collect along the street.”
“You might find some manner of interesting trouble to get into.” – Guthrie to Raymond McPheron, echoing what Maggie Jones said in Plainsong to make them consider taking Victoria in. The story comes full(ish) circle. -
I've never lived in a small town, nor even visited a cattle ranch, yet it feels like coming home to return once again to Holt, Colorado and the folks who live there.
The old McPheron brothers are still working the cattle, with the occasional snorty bull, cows with sour dispositions, and calves bawling for their mamas. Harold and Raymond are men of few words. As long as they have been living and working together, not much needs to be said between them, and their companionable silence is just as comfortable as an old shoe.
Like any other town, people come and others leave. It would be hard not to warm up to DJ, the youngster who takes such good care of his grandpa. A gandy dancer in his day, the old man revels in telling his stories on Saturday nights at the local tavern. A mentally challenged couple tries to do the best they can for their kids, but keep coming up short. These and other characters provide a richness to this small serving of life. No mystery, no serial killers, nothing mystical going on here. Just life. -
Wow. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I've been suddenly swept up into a literary vortex of greatness. Oh, wait, I know what I've done. I've read about 300 crappy books in my lifetime and my karma finally came back and whispered, "good books come to those who wait."
Do you love John Steinbeck? Carson McCullers? How about Larry McMurtry? If you love any ONE of these writers, this will probably be a solid 4-star read for you. If you are like me and you love all 3 of them, well, inform your family that you won't be serving dinner.
This is a book which sings a western song, but it translates to any desolate small town. The characters are unique, but familiar, and you connect to them immediately, whether tender, tragic or cruel.
This is no fairy tale, far from it, and several passages are painful to read. But, life's sometimes a wreck, and you can't look away. And, you can't put down a book that's written this well. -
“Eventide” is equally as wonderful- engaging - compassionate- luminous- spare - and emotionally satisfying as “Plainsong”....
I was pulled in immediately from the start.
We meet old and new characters...
with children that will steal and break your heart ...
Life is lonely, sad, filled with tragedy, and filled with love.
The trailer.....
“ Old and dilapidated, it had once been bright turquoise but the color had faded to a dirty yellow in the hot sun and the blasting wind.
Inside, clothes were piled in the corners and a trash bag of empty pop cans we’re leaning against the refrigerator. Her husband sat at the kitchen table drinking Pepsi from a large glass with ice. Before him on a plate where the leftovers of frozen waffles and fried eggs. He was a big heavy black-haired man in outsize sweatpants. His enormous stomach was exposed below his maroon tee-shirt and his huge arms dangled over the back of his chair. He was sitting back resting after breakfast. When his wife came inside he said:
What’d she do? You got that look on your face”.
“Well, she makes me mad. She isn’t supposed to do that”.
“What’s she say?”
“She said she got eighteen kids to pick up. She said she don’t have to wait for Richie and Joy Rae like that”.
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’m calling the principal.
She isn’t allowed to say nothing to us”.
“She isn’t allowed to say nothing to me never, the woman said. I am telling Rose Tyler on her”. (the caseworker)
Lucy Wallace and Betty June Wallace were are on food stamps; part of the Low Energy Assistance Program, LEAP. They received disability checks once a month.
Betty was given a court stipulated order not to have any contact with her daughter Donna. She couldn’t even call her on the phone.
Donna wasn’t Luther’s daughter.
DJ is an 11-year-old orphan. He’s such a wonderful kid ...having to grow up before his time. He takes care of his 75-year-old grandfather with such heartfelt sincerity -I wanted to take care of him!
The setting, the story, the characters, the dialogue...
It just all works!
Kent Haruf was a genuine masterful storyteller with a deep understanding about life. -
It was with some regret that I turned the last page of “Eventide”, knowing there were no more volumes left for me to read in the “Plainsong trilogy”. The citizens of Holt, with their daily struggles and the simplicity of their rural living, have become a sort of cobbled family where I feel welcome and cozy, and they have tugged at my heartstrings in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.
Precisely in this volume, the concept of family is at the front stage of the story; it shifts and morphs continually as we encounter an orphaned boy of eleven living with his old grandfather, a single mother of two girls dealing with the absence of her husband, a mentally impaired couple who fight to keep their unconventional family together and two rough farmers who open their home to a pregnant teenager who has no place to go.
As these stories unfold and entwine, all the voices mingle melodiously and grant equal prominence to the pace of the narration, which progresses with an escalating elegiac tone that suits the finely drawn landscape of lifestyles, personalities and the backdrop of the “beautiful but not pretty” short-grass prairies of Colorado.
Haruf’s gentleness and faith in the goodness of people is more tangible than ever. The plots are not relevant but the spirit of all-abiding love and sacrifice is. Few words and many silences in between compose the heartfelt pulse of this tale, a tale that happens every day next door if we dare to look and be sympathetic with the tribulations of others, because their tribulations can be our own.
There is a sense of timelessness that permeates the stark prose of this compassionate writer. When the final pages of this book close a chapter in the lives of these characters, the reader is not expecting a neat closure, because real life does seldom have such an orderly conclusion and this book reads like real life.
When the characters are left on their own to forge their destinies, only the wind remains in the picture frame, howling in the Holt countryside at dusk time. And while the sun sets, some lives move forward and others are left stranded, entangled in the maze of adverse circumstances and random injustice, but an all-pervading sense of roundness and promise is what fills the vision of the reader, and the smell of soapweed and dry soil and cattle grazing is what fills his nostrils, and a redemptive hymn to the miracle of life that will lull him till he falls asleep. -
I love Kent Haruf for the same reasons I love Elizabeth Strout, Michael Cunningham and Larry McMurtry; their stunning and inspiring writing, their humanity and honesty and most of all for the love they show for their characters.
That love, I believe, is the reason why their characters get under your skin and you feel as compelled to read about the “bad guys” as much as you do about the “good ones”. And that love is also the reason why all these authors became as well regarded as they are and people are still going to care about their stories even in a thousand years from now; because these are stories about what and who we all are: a big #ucking but wonderful mess!
Another thing that strikes me about Mr. Haruf’s writing (and all the authors I mentioned above) is their outstanding descriptions of the world around their characters. To me, those descriptions not only help a lot on getting inside the character’s mind but also deepen our understanding about their feelings and their place in the world. Tell me what they see and how they perceive it and I’ll tell you exactly who I think they are.
Here’s a good example of it:
They drove along the blacktop. The narrow highway looked empty and forlorn ahead in the lights of the pickup. The wind blew across the flat open sandy ground, across the wheat fields and corn stubble and across the native pastures where dark herds of cattle grazed in the night. On either side of the highway farmhouses were set off by faint blue yardlights, the houses all scattered and isolated in the dark country, and far ahead down the highway the streetlights of Holt were a mere shimmer on the low horizon.
I don’t know about you, but for me a beautiful passage like this one says a lot not only about whoever was driving in the night but also about myself and humankind in general.
Is there anything in life more relatable than loneliness? -
So beautiful - maybe even slightly better than
Plainsong. Haruf writes from the heart and in doing so he touches ours.
He features good people and bad people but that's how life is. Some of his characters make you want to reach out and give them a hug, others you would like to be your best friends. All of them are memorable and provide food for thought after the book has finished.
There are some really sad moments in
Eventide - I was mopping up tears over one momentous death. And then there are the beautiful moments when people reach out to others and help them through life's tougher times.
This book is just plain beautiful and I am sad already because there is only one more. -
There's an awful lot of loneliness in this world, and meanness and cruelty and feelings of inadequacy and various other things that make being human feel like running the gauntlet just trying to make it day to day. So many things out of our control, events that can't be helped or made better; but then again, there are those people who try in their own small way to lend a hand, or an ear, or maybe just a look between two friends, to light the darkness with little pinpoints of hope.
The reason Kent Haruf is such a beloved author is that he shows us that decency and kindness do exist. In the guise of regular, hard-working characters, who do their jobs and not only take care of their own, but reach out when needed to others, and sometimes realize that helping themselves is necessary when nothing else will do. And he does it in such deceptively simple prose that we don't even see where he's taking us until we get there, and that this is a beautiful world in spite of the bad things, because the good things will always count for more.
Two more things from this incredible book.
1. A quote: "They never do like it, he said. I can't imagine anything or anybody that would like it. But every living thing in this world gets weaned eventually".
2. This novel contains the most romantic and tender love scene I have ever read. -
Kent Haruf is among the most down-to-earth writers I have ever encountered. His books are simple and beautifully written, but also complex and gritty. He introduces you to people who become embedded in your heart, then he lets you witness the way life can tear at good people, how the evil people can sometimes win the battle, but he gives you to understand that they will never win the war. Why? Because the good people are always out there fighting, showing up, standing firm. He spares you none of the pain, but he also shows you the love and kindness.
The thing I love the most about Haruf is how true he is. Not a single word, not a single character, not a single situation feels contrived or out of place or false. You could be rubbing elbows with any of these people any time. There is a kind of hope in that knowledge that is hard to describe. If he told me each of them was based upon a real person he knows, I would not be the least doubtful.
I fell completely in love with the McPheron brothers in Plainsong. I was so excited to know that they would be included in Eventide as well. The book opens, They came up from the horse barn in the slanted light of early morning. The McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond. Believe me when I say I smiled broadly and felt like I was in the company of friends.
One other thing Haruf is the master of is realistically depicting children. I find this is a rare talent. Few writers can project a child’s thoughts without error. Haruf’s children react as children, not small adults and not empty minds. They aren’t bundles of innocence but there are many things that occur that they do not completely understand, they are strong and vulnerable at the instant, and they are always individuals and not types.
Eventide might even exceed Plainsong in many ways, and it could stand alone as a read, but it would reduce its impact not to read these books in tandem. They are part of a whole that should not be separated or missed. -
****4.5 Stars**** I'm sad...my last Kent Haruf novel. I'm going to miss the McPheron brothers. Review to follow.
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4.5 I know I am reading a great book when I continue to think about the characters during the day, even when I am not reading. I feel like I know these people in this story and I was worried and sad with them. At one point I was angry with them. There are also good times in this story. I loved the small town feel of Holt, Colorado. I felt like I was there. Excellent writing, great story! I look forward to book 3. Highly recommend.
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Harold and Raymond McPlieron with their foster daughter, Victoria Robideaux and her little baby daughter continues life on the cattle ranch near the rural town, Holt, in Colorado.
As life is slowly pacing along on the tracks of history, new people enter their lives, and old ones leave. The rich colors of rural life, in both culture and language spread out in this book like the autumn leaves in a forest of humanity. There is heartbreak and happiness; the good and the bad, and a story line to tie it all together for the follow up book.
There is a bit of a cliffhanger ending, as well as a recommendation to read Plainsong first to make sense of this one. However, as a stand-alone it is a very good read about the loss of innocence and the endearing humanity in which it is played out to the end. Family is not always a genetic-event.
I had myself a very good book in hand here. How I love the language in this book! :-)) Looking forward to the next one. -
It don't seem to matter at all what we like. It's how things are.
It doesn't matter where this quote is, the context, or who said it. This is the essence of what Kent Haruf expresses in his exquisite books: what life as a human is really like, all the goodness and the almost intolerable pain. There is no excess in his writing. He takes my breath away, makes my heart pound, and my soul sing — all at the same time.
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Well, one problem with giving the first book of a series 5 stars (Plainsong) is, if the second book is better there is nowhere to go. This story was better.
Eventide (Plainsong, #2) by the amazing Kent Haruf continues the story of the characters we discovered in Plainsong, living their lives on the Denver Plains in fictional Holt County. Haruf describes the town of Holt and its surrounds beautifully, I found myself totally immersed in this description of the place, I could really feel it.
The McPheron Brothers just have to be the two nicest, kind-hearted, wonderfully easy, kind people you could ever meet. I will always remember how one of the brothers spent time with the young boy DJ, past-midnight who was clearly upset, just to make sure he was okay and not alone. He was so generous with his time, and so kind.
This book is largely about loneliness and alienation, most of the characters in this story experience either or both. I found Eventide more confronting than Plainsong, and some of the violence was high level, and the subject matter distressing. Also, the hopelessness of some people's circumstances, often due to no fault of their own, comes through clearly and sadly - the sobering fact that Everything is not going to be all right is reinforced. How true.
As well as the Brothers, Rose was another of my favourites - such a sensitive, giving woman and the love-scene was quite emotional and beautifully written.
This book made me cry in a couple of places and there were also half a dozen times I found myself with my hand on my mouth just anticipating what was going to happen next. Haruf covers the spectrum of human behaviour from evil to kindness very skilfully, this journey is amazing.
Wonderful.
5 Stars -
I do not need to write about Kent Haruf's beautiful prose nor his uncanny ability to bring to life the inhabitants of a small town in CO, called Holt. Every friend of mine on GR has either read Haruf and knows these things or has read other reviews which expound upon these aspects of Haruf's writings.
I appreciated all of these but, after reading Eventide I had expectations for this book, the next in a series, which were disappointed.
Disappointed is hardly the word for what I felt by the death of one of the McPheron brothers which grieved me and carried a sad pall over the rest of the book. Yes, something positive comes out of this death but still..... I had fallen in love with these brothers and had looked forward to spending time with both of them seeing what came next.
Characters from Plainsong made appearances and new characters were introduced. What I was waiting for was for a plot or a character to carry through the entire novel instead of skipping around to different characters' lives. I was waiting for this until the very end of the book which came on so abruptly I was stunned.
The series of snap shots of lives of both known and newly introduced characters living in Holt was very well done and I appreciate the art of what Haruf accomplished. Unfortunately, I wanted something different from the novel. A minority opinion and unfair, I know. -
[3.25] I like the way Haruf uses spare, almost poetic language to convey the world of Holt, Colorado. From the opening pages, I settled in, looking forward to the journey.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed - and I know this is an outlier opinion of a beloved novel. There is too much black and white and not enough depth. We have awkward, noble Raymond; beautiful and loyal Victoria; the helpless and downtrodden Wallace family; the abusive and violent Hoyt, Rose, the social worker with a heart of gold and the neglected but promising D.J. I didn't really get to know any of them. Plus there are several other characters introduced and left hanging - i.e. the troubled but kind server at the bar. Perhaps they are in the next book? Sorry to all the fans- it just didn't resonate with me as I had hoped/expected. -
Superb. Haruf writes so beautifully, his spare, honed language perfect. Stories have a kind of rhythm to them, and Haruf’s writing is hypnotic. Somehow, the lull of the writing evokes the turning of the seasons. Life goes on, whatever happens.This is not a book to rush through, but savour. I often found myself rereading sections and pondering them. This is a love letter to Holt, Colorado. Not the passionate, dizzy, fallen-in-love , blind to all faults love; the deep all encompassing quiet love that develops over time, taking in the flaws and the cracks and loving it all anyway. Recommended but start with Plainsong.
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Digital audiobook performed by George Hearn
Continuing the story of the residents of fictional Holt, Colorado, the novel features some of the same characters that readers came to love in Plainsong. The McPheron brothers see Victoria Roubideaux move off their ranch to begin college; Maggie Jones once again displays the compassion and good sense that make her such a wonderful teacher; Tom Guthrie and his boys make an appearance as well. And social worker Rose Tyler finds that the burden of helping people who sometimes cannot be helped is made a little easier with a strong shoulder to cry on. New characters move the story of the town and its residents forward: a young boy helps his aged grandfather, a woman with two girls tries to find her way now that her husband has left, and a couple with limited resources have difficulty caring for their two children.
Life can be hard in Holt. Accidents cause injury and death. Alcohol fuels violent tendencies and foolish behavior. Misunderstandings lead to wounded egos and bruised sensibilities. Then again, there are scenes of tenderness and caring that touch my heart and give me faith in humankind. People rise to the occasion and help one another without thought to payback or obligation. Couples find humor in their situation, or reach out to comfort one another. People make hard decisions and move forward with courage and grace in the face of adversity.
And I just have to comment on how Haruf paints the landscape. I felt the bitter wind of a December midnight, saw the weak sunlight on wide open fields, smelled the squalor of an unkempt trailer, or relished in the sights and sounds of a spring afternoon.
I came late to the party when it comes to reading Haruf. But better late than never. As I came to the end of this novel I found myself mourning his passing all over again. A week or so after I finished listening to the audio, I picked up the text and read it again, cover to cover.
George Hearn does a fine job narrating the audiobook. He has the perfect pace and tone for this quiet novel. He really brings these characters to life; I particularly love how he voices the McPheron brothers. -
There's nothing better and nothing worse than having a family.
When you get along or can relate to one another, there's a sense of togetherness, a sense of love. When they lie, manipulate or batter you, they are the antithesis of what's needed for that familial love to succeed.
It doesn't matter if we have money or only a handful of pennies to our name, we all grieve to a certain extent. That grief comes out in many ways.
We all wonder what we could've done to make things better for ourselves or someone else. We ask questions like:
Can my life be better if I try?
Am I stricken with this loneliness that rubs off on everyone that encounters me?
Will this torment lie within me infecting my relationships with people forever?
Can my grief ever truly go away?
I know no other way, how can I live?
This simple, yet emotive book portrays the common impoverished to lower middle class American. I've known these characters and these characters have known me. -
I think people who live in cities would see the people of Holt, Colorado as a bunch of hicks. In this, we see that small town people can have some of the same kinds of troubles as those facing people in cities, especially the poorer parts of cities. In this there is a couple with children who are on welfare and a grandfather is caring for his grandson. Harold and Raymond McPheron, those remarkable bachelor brothers, are featured again.
The characterizations are superb. I'm sorry I didn't read this sooner after finishing
Plainsong, but I found that I had remembered the important relationships - or, at least, remembered enough about them. There is more loneliness in this than in Plainsong. And there is evidence of child abuse which I think I could have done without.
I've had this on my shelf for some time and I spend the first half being sorry I hadn't picked it up sooner. And then I read into the night. I am bothered that nothing seems to get resolved, but maybe that is the point. Life happens, nothing is ever tidy. Still, I was left wanting and cannot find more than 4-stars. -
Kent Haruf writes beautifully. This follow up novel to Plainsong is still located in the high plains of Colorado in the farming town of Holt and many of the old characters return, with some new ones as well.
This was hard to read in that it is one of the saddest books I've ever read. Children and old people doing it very tough, along with some in the middle. Some kind of tragedy or trauma affects most all of the characters in different, but powerful ways. They will stay with me for a very long time. It will take me a while to go on to the third and final novel in this series. Kent Haruf and his elegant writing are sadly missed. -
Quietly, you can hear Kent Haruf's sparse but wise words on community, love, family and fortitude. It's a no nonsense, simple rhythm of life everywhere, not just in Holt, Colorado. A beautiful reflection of human life. So beautiful.
-
Offertorio
Ho finito di leggere le ultime pagine in macchina, mentre andavo al lavoro.
Non mi succedeva da molto tempo di aver questa urgenza, di provare questo desiderio, irresistibile, di prolungare la permanenza fra le pagine e i protagonisti di una storia, di restare immersa, completamente, nelle loro vite e nell'atmosfera avvolgente di Holt.
Non perché quella di Crepuscolo sia una storia travolgente, non perché la vita a Holt sia risparmiata dalla crudeltà o dalla violenza, ma perché (come scrive nella ormai consueta breve e bella postfazione il suo traduttore Fabio Cremonesi) è un romanzo dove la vita è piena, palpabile.
Una vita in Fa maggiore (il Re minore, scrive Cremonesi, è quello che il critico Valerio Fiandra accosta a "Benedizione"), aggiunge, accostandolo alla Pastorale di Beethoven; una vita in cui, del suo scorrere, colpiscono anche questa volta la quiete, ma sopratutto, la gentilezza della scrittura di Kent Haruf, che sembra levigare le sue storie come un ebanista fa con le sue sculture, o con il mobilio, capace di impedire alle schegge di legno di infilarsi nella pelle di chi le accarezza.
Fanno male alcune storie della pianura di Holt, ma le parole di Haruf confortano, aprono spiragli, offrono appigli, accarezzano sempre, ma senza offrire consolazione illusoria o una visione buonista della vita, senza offrire a tutti riscatto o redenzione.
Sono grata per quest'incontro prolungato (e non diviso) in tre atti, perché Kent Haruf ha saputo raccontarmi lo svolgere della vita con pacatezza, mostrarmi il dolore senza indugiare, scavare nell'esistenza ("fino all'osso, più vicino possibile all'essenza della vita stessa") fino a mostrarmene le radici, parlare anche per me quando ho riconosciuto, in storie completamente diverse dalle mie, pensieri e parole che sono stati anche i miei.
C'è un barlume, quasi sempre, una fiammella, che riscalda dal gelo, una possibilità, che si rivela a volte solo al crepuscolo delle nostre vite, sembra dirci, ancora quando (come in Benedizione) scrive già sapendo di essere condannato a morte dalla sua malattia.
Resta con noi, resta con me, sembra dire Haruf, Abide with me, fast falls the eventide; ma la luce, la luce, è dentro ciascuno di noi, negli incontri che possiamo fare, nella gentilezza di chi, all'improvviso, può strapparci dalle tenebre e dal male, da quello che all'improvviso la vita stessa può offrirci.
Non so se KH fosse religioso, probabilmente lo era, ma mi piace sottolineare che se è vero quanto notato dalla mia amica Anna, e cioè che i titoli dei tre romanzi che compongono la trilogia della pianura - Playsong, Eventide, Benediction - fanno riferimento a tre momenti di preghiera o di culto - come Haruf non offra mai al lettore la via di fuga della religione, il conforto, semplicistico, forse, di saper accettare con la Fede quelli che umanamente e con la ragione non si riesce a spiegare.
Offre in cambio la vita terrena, con i suoi doni e con i suoi dolori, l'umanità con tutte le sue sfaccettature, la miseria e la ricchezza interiore, offre l'amicizia e la solidarietà, offre la Natura con la enne maiuscola, unica in grado, sempre, di sovvertire ciò che l'uomo ha disposto per lei: le bestie si fanno addomesticare, ma sono imprevedibili, il cielo è limpido e l'aria cristallina, ma il vento gelido e la neve per molti mesi non danno tregua, i campi ricoperti di yucca e di Artemisia offrono distese di colore rasserenanti, ma il caldo torrido è sempre in agguato.
Natura che include anche gli uomini e le donne di Holt, ma anche e soprattutto i bambini e gli adolescenti, che sembrano ricalcare, sin dal principio, un sentiero già tracciato, un destino capace di mostrarci, o anche solo di lasciarci intuire, già quello che saranno da adulti.
Forse, se Haruf non ci avesse lasciato prematuramente, avremmo potuto potuto scoprirlo.
Forse, saremmo tornati ancora una volta a Holt, Colorado, a lasciare il nostro sguardo perdersi nei cieli sterminati sopra gli altopiani.
Forse.
«Lei lo guardò. I capelli grigio ferro rigidi sulla testa, la faccia rossa per tutti gli anni passati a lavorare all'aria aperta. Eppure riusciva a vedere la gentilezza in lui. Si rannicchiò contro la sua spalla.»
Ritorno a casa, ritorno a Holt.
Sono rimasta a lungo in ginocchio accanto a loro, «un vecchio e il suo vecchio fratello sprofondati nella terra soffice tra le assi di un recinto sotto un nuvoloso cielo di ottobre».
Sono tornata a Holt, e non è stato un ritorno indolore.
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What this book imparts is a quintessential view of American agrarian working class people. It is set in Colorado and speaks of small town life, I would guess in the 1970s or 80s. (One family has a microwave.) It is not plot oriented, so if you want lots to happen, look elsewhere. The picture it draws is astoundingly perceptive. The characters have very ordinary lives, but it is the perfection with which they are drawn that is so fantastic.
I cannot think of another book that delivers such astoundingly perfect dialogs. The sentences are short. What these characters say to each other is what ordinary people DO say to each other. The sentences are often composed of one or two words, or just a phrase. The dialogs are varied – between two elderly brothers, between the husband and wife of a family on welfare, a social worker and those she is trying to help, between children, between friends and enemies, the rants of a child abuser. Absolutely all of these dialogs are pitch-perfect. Either Kent Haruf, the author, has a fantastic memory for conversations he has heard or he has used a tape recorder.
The narration by George Hearn, could simply not be better. He delivers the dialogs with perfect pacing. His pauses speak volumes.
This book is the second of a trilogy. The first one is
Plainsong. I read that years and years ago and gave it too four stars.
Benediction follows “Eventide”, but I have not chosen to pick that up immediately. I want to explain why because I believe it says something about what you can expect from this book. I need a break; I can take only so much. While there is subdued humor in the lines, the book essentially shows the struggle of daily life for many, many ordinary people. Their lives do have moments of happiness. The nice things are rather mundane, but still very beautiful….but maybe you have to look hard to see them. Also, the audiobook format of “Benediction” has a different narrator, and I absolutely cannot imagine listening to a similarly told story with a less competent narrator. The three books are stand-alones; they do not have to be read together, so I will wait! This was so special I don’t want to lessen my appreciation of it with another.
Have I explained properly so you know what this book offers you? Great writing about ordinary people. Superb dialogs. You will come to love some of the characters. For me it was Raymond.
