Overview:
Kent Haruf is known for the seeming simplicity of his writing and how he lets his characters come alive on their own terms instead of his. This allows the reader to understand the characters quirks and motivations in a way that reminds us of relationships with real people. We don't know everything about someone the first time we meet them, instead we learn what they want us to know and draw other conclusions from their actions and what other people let us know about them. In Where You Once Belonged, that is exactly how I grew to know Jack Burdette and the people in Holt, Colorado whose lives he so deeply affected.
Setting dominates Haruf's brief, unhappy novel of stilted lives and desperate actions. Holt is a small wheat-farming community in rural Colorado, its people passive observers of life as if living it were for others. The flat, dusty land that surrounds the town engulfs it in a prison of calm. Narrator Pat Arbuckle, editor of the local newspaper, records the action but is himself unable to act. His counterpart, Jack Burdette, is pure motion. A former local football hero long used to being observed and having his way, he operates on instinct and nearly destroys the town, which is no match for his cunning and brute force. This is an effective second novel from the author of The Tie That Binds.
Like Plainsong and The Tie That Binds, the reader is drawn into a seemingly simple story that simmers with local personality and an undercurrent of conflict. Slowly, Haruf lets you in on the complexities and even when the story here doesn't seem as compelling as his later work, you know there's more going on than you're being told. That Haruf can make the reader believe it's for the better not to know is a testament to his unique storytelling style.
ENJOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Sincerelyours
And Blessed Are The Ones Who Care For Their Fellow Men!
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