Benediction

Fictional life in Holt Country Colorado has some new characters in the latest book ]Benediction' by Kent Haruf. Therer is 'Dad Lewis', the aging proprietor of the local hardware store. There is also a new preacher in town, the radical Rob Lyle, and their two families make up the backbone of the new novel Benediction.

The novel starts off with a definition of the word 'Benediction'; “the utterance of a blessing, an invocation of blessedness.”  I looked up other definitions of 'Benediction' and confirmed that the 'Benediction' usually comes at the end of a Christian service...but this novel does not feel like an end. There is one major ending in this novel, but most of the plot leaves one hanging, leaving the reader feeling that he only knows a small portion of the story.


The version I read was on 7 cd's as an audio book. The reader, Mark Bramhall is capable and captures the dialect and cadence of rural Colorado well. However, the reader seems to carry a single emotion through the entire reading, one of sadness and loss and of aging. Yes, there are all three of those in the story, but there is more. There is joy in life and place, as evidenced by one remarkable scene where 4 women aged between 8 and 80 decide to skinny dip in a muddy and algae enabled cattle watering hole. There is peace and coming to grips with life aspect to this. The reader could have done a bit more with the joyful aspects of the  book.

The author uses beautiful language and stunning imagery to capture a time and a place and a passing into eternity. I have also ready 'Eventide' and 'Plainsong' (mentioned in a previous post) by the same author and I enjoyed all three. If lovely language and good storytelling are enough for you as reader, then I highly recommend this book, however don't go expecting a book heavy with plot, you won't find that here.

Cheers, NCA

p.s. A recent yahoo post about 10 books for the 21st century every man should read includes mention of three novels by Haruf and two other books I have read. Interestingly, they mention 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy....one of my favorite authors...but I found 'The Road' less interesting then McCarthy's other novels...primarily 'The Border Trilogy' and 'No Country For Old Men'. to be fair,  only 'No Country' was written in the 21st century. I do appreciate someone out there taking 'men' into consideration when mentioning literature....we do exist too...in a world of 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, and Nora Roberts.

A Good Read

I have an eclectic taste in novels. I am addicted to books on tapes that I can 'read' on my way to work. So besides the Swedish Crime novels I mentioned in a previous blog...I have found another type of book that I like.

I am not sure what to call the genre, they are sort of kind, quirky folks (not in the mainstream) doing service to others. These are feel good stories mostly, clean and positive, yet at times brutally realistic.  The theme of these to me is best described as Christian Service to 'do unto' others. Not preachy, more sort of teaching; as in teaching and describing people doing service to need youths.  The best ones of this slightly different genre in my opinion are Plainsong and Eventide by Kent Haruf.

Recently, though, I picked up a book on tape version of "Made in the U.S.A." by Billie Letts. Similar to Plainsong...it speaks toward out of control troubled but redeemable youths being helped on the road to stability by the kindness of out of the usual characters. In Plainsong, the unusual characters were the two awkward but kindhearted McPheron brothers, elderly bachelor ranchers. In "Made in the U.S.A", the helpful character is a crippled ex-Circus performer and his unusual family.

If you are interested in reading something different and positive, I would recommend any of these books.


The version of "Made in the U.S.A." I 'read' was read out loud by Cassandra Morris. Part of the joy of books on tapes is experiencing a really good reader. The reader selected has an impact on how the story is internalized, a great reader enhances the reading experience.  Cassandra Morris really seemed to be perfect for this particular reading. I really enjoyed the experience.

Cheers, nca