The Precious Ordinary

Dad Lewis is dying. The doctors can do no more for him and he returns to spend his final days at home. He is an old man, keen to tie up life's loose ends but otherwise resigned to his fate. His wife is joined by their grown-up daughter to help care for him as he weakens.

As Dad's life draws to its conclusion we see how it has touched upon the lives of others, the conflicts and overlaps that make up relationships both good and bad. This brings in a small cast of characters, each with their own tale, parts of which will be told as the book unfolds.

Benediction is the third novel that Kent Haruf has set in Holt, Colorado. The first two, Plainsong and Eventide, are two halves of pretty much the same story. This third one takes it in a new direction, with only a passing, but very moving, reference to previous characters. All three show a master storyteller at work.

In simple prose, Haruf manages to captivate and genuinely move the reader (well, this one, at least) without the need to resort to tricks, bombast or pyrotechnics. There is just a story, a story beautifully told.

The way he gets to the core of his characters is breathtaking. He can sum up a lifetime in a couple of sentences, the way Richard Yates would do. He is able to capture, as one character in Benediction calls it, 'the precious ordinary' of the everyday.

I was in awe while reading this quiet masterpiece.

Comments

[Darren Goldsmith]

Will be adding this to the list then! I've never been disappointed with any of the books you've recommended.

[LaDawn]

Going to have to read this and the others given I'm from Colorado.....and they sound marvelous. To the top of the pile!

[Mary Vensel White]

Lovely description, and annoying that I have to wait another month for this to release here! Haruf is a very favorite.

[ray]

Currently reading Plainsong. Am in awe. Can't wait to read his other work.

[Jane]

Another Kent Haruf, get in! Can it be as good as the first two?