Simple and unadorned

According to the frontispiece, Plainsong is any simple and unadorned melody or air. Simple and unadorned are terms that perfectly describe this tale of rural/small town life in eastern Colorado. Unadorned not because the lives of its characters are simple, but because Kent Haruf has stripped out all the unnecessary language from this wonderful novel and left the result, like a little gift, to his fortunate readers.

After a lifetime of reading that stretches back more decades than I like to acknowledge, this is the first book I have ever read that is populated by the people I grew up with. I was born and raised only a few miles from the fictional town of Holt, amongst farmers and small town merchants who formed the backbone of the country 50 years ago. Haruf shows that these folks are alive and well, and that they have all the shortcomings and perhaps a few advantages over their urban/suburban brethren.

The core of the story concerns a pregnant teenager who is abandoned by her mother and is in desperate need of help. A sympathetic teacher approaches the McPheron brothers, two aging bachelors who have spent their lives together in the house in which they grew up, tending their land and their livestock and successfully ignoring what lies beyond their little community. Maggie, the teacher, tells them they haven't had enough trouble in their lives and they need somebody to look after besides cattle.

The brothers agree to take in Victoria, and after an awkward beginning they become quite fond and protective of the girl. She reciprocates their affection, out of immense gratitude that she and her baby will be fed and sheltered. The McPherons are devastated when the girl suddenly leaves with the father of the baby, a selfish twit who treats her badly, and elated when she returns, a more mature young woman now prepared to be a mother.

The major subplot revolves around a high school teacher who is left to raise his two small sons after his wife has an emotional breakdown and leaves him. His coping efforts are often inadequate, and we feel his loneliness and pain as he struggles with parental duties and attempts to defend himself against allegations of unfairness to a loutish student.

Haruf's dialogue is absolutely authentic; he has captured the nuances of rural conversation in a totally accurate way. This is the plain language of people I have known all my life. And when he describes vaccinating cattle and assisting the birth of a calf, he has all the details right. He didn't just read about these things–-he's obviously lived them. Special note should be taken of the book's humor-–there are situations and dialogue that cause laughing out loud. The McPherons' attempts to relate to a teenage girl, a creature as foreign to them as a Martian, are precious and often hilarious, and always simple and unadorned.

The downside of life in the country is here as well-–the pettiness, nosiness, and occasional viciousness of people living in an environment where one's every move is observed, noted, and passed on. Yet these obstacles are overcome and a sense of community is achieved, but not without a good deal of effort. Above all, read this book if you enjoy being drawn in by an author of huge talent, absorbed in a story whose characters you will care about and remember for a good long time. Especially ye urban/suburban brethren–-live outside the familiar for a few hours. I guarantee you'll enjoy it.