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Title: Too plain
Review: Kent Haruf's third novel Plainsong wants to be a modest book, judging by the title. And it is. It depicts the disintegration of several dysfunctional families in the little town of Holt, Colorado, and then the seemingly random formation of new and better units. The prose is laconic yet it creates rather beautiful, subdued portrayal of everyday life in the smalltown. Problem is that it is also rather pretentious in its solemnity, and cannot really hide the fact that this story is painfully plain as analysis of the domestic problems in today's society. There are several nicely done scenes, but Haruf likes his world black and white, resulting in good guys that are so very good and bad guys that are so very bad. Ending is also too saccharine, almost reactionary in its firm appraisal of traditional family values. Disney will not need to change a word if they ever make a movie out of this.
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