Plainsong by Kent Haruf - because everyone likes a minimalist (in literature, anyway)

Haruf, Kent.
Plainsong.
New York:
A.A. Knopf, 1999.

For anyone who has ever wanted to experience the feel of smalltown life (in a non-anticy way) this is probably a book you should read. In Kent Haruf's Plainsong, non-urban life is depicted through the eyes, experiences, and interactions of a handful of residents of the community of Holt, Colorado. The novel intertwines the lives of a diverse range of characters: from Gunthrie, the newly divorced high school teacher, to his two young sons to a old pair of bachelor ranchers to the pregnant teenager they reluctantly take in. The story that emerges from these intertwining lives never tries to moralize or create a false reality. Rather it paints a moving picture of smalltown life.

This piece of fiction can only be described as minimalistic. The story is not seen from the front, but rather in glances and peripherally. The story never hits you over the head with the chance meetings and communications of the characters. Rather, the story develops naturally, without an omniscient presence guiding the action. It never lacks passion. It never lacks depth. But it does lack a lot of irrelevant prose and details that would destroy the narration. Haruf's tale is one that doesn't hold you on the edge of your seat, but it will keep you engaged until the very end. And really, what more do you want from a minimalist?