Beautifully simple

Kent Haruf's 1999 novel Plainsong is a quietly beautiful tale about seven residents of a small Colorado plains town whose lives intertwine (improbably and otherwise) and grow richer because they're thrown together. They include a pregnant high school girl whose mother kicks her out; two old ranching brothers who've lived together on one farm all their lives; two young boys, also brothers, whose troubled mother moves away; and two high school teachers, one a woman, the other a man who happens to be the father of the two boys.

The book's front matter defines the word "plainsong" as "any simple and unadorned melody or air." The title aptly fits the book in two important ways: first, the story is about the apparently simple, quiet lives of seemingly ordinary characters; second, the author tells his story using plain, unpretentious language. In addition, he effectively chooses not to use quotation marks to set off the dialogue. At first I found this confusing, but soon enough, I realized that it fits: the author chose his writing style wisely.

My favorite characters are the two old ranching brothers. They seem to be gruff, elderly, hardened bachelors, but they adapt to their new lives wonderfully well. All seven of the main characters are decent people with good values, but don't let that scare you off ... read the book anyway. You'll be glad you did.