Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Summary:
Nothing seems to happen in this tender short novel written by Kent Haruf just a few weeks before dying. Everything is reduced to a minimum: language, actions even punctuation. An imaginary town full of gossip, a man and a woman in their seventies and an extraordinary proposition to make the most of what remains of their days. The book, although brief, is full of loss, failures and regrets, but also hope, love and friendship for the life yet to come.
LRB
Critical perspective:
A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.
In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf's inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters.
Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis's wife. His daughter lives hours away, her son even farther, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in empty houses, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with. But maybe that could change?
As Addie and Louis come to know each other better--their pleasures and their difficulties--a beautiful story of second chances unfolds, making Our Souls at Night the perfect final installment to this beloved writer's enduring contribution to American literature.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/252367/our-souls-at-night-by-kent-haruf/9781101911921
“His great subject was the struggle of decency against small-mindedness, and his rare gift was to make sheer decency a moving subject. . . . [This] novel runs on the dogged insistence that simple elements carry depths, and readers will find much to be grateful for.” —Joan Silber, The New York Times Book Review
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/books/review/our-souls-at-night-by-kent-haruf.html
Author
Celebrated novelist Kent Haruf is best known for his novels about the joy and heartbreak of everyday life on the high plains. A Colorado native, Haruf graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1965, and later went on to teach in the University's English Department. Before he became a published author, Haruf worked a variety of jobs, including teaching English in Turkey as a member of the Peace Corps. His novels have received many awards and have been adapted for stage and screen. His novel Plainsong was chosen for the One Book, One Lincoln reading series in 2002.
https://nebraskaauthors.org/authors/kent-haruf
Reviews by our book club members:
“Ours Souls at Night is an intimate novel, where there is no more action than day-to-day activities, but where the author (Kent Haruf) subtly introduces us to the lives of two neighbor widows in their seventies in a small American town sharing their fears, insecurities and traumas hidden deep within their souls.
Using simple language with short concise sentences and unelaborated dialogues the author very effectively exposes the human need to connect with other souls and grow old with the people we love. The whole novel exudes romance and tenderness. It is the story of two brave old individuals who decide to live behind the opinions of others and focus on enjoying the small pleasures of life with love, empathy, and affection. The book is worth reading calmly and reflexively.”
JLJG
“The American writer Kent Haruf wrote this greatly autobiographical novel when he was about to die, which is reflected in the romantic relationship started bravely by Addie, 70, who proposes his neighbour Louis to come and sleep-not including sex at nights.
They get on nicely, enjoying the simplicity of nature and trying to ignore other people’s remarks, until Gene, Addie’s son, brings his six year old son Jamie to spend the summer, since he had personal and working problems.
The couple not only include the child in their adventure but also give him affection and protection, but Gene does not accept the relation, which will stop when Addie breaks her hip and is taken to live to Denver.
Sadly, after some time, they will only talk to each other on their cell phones. Love or the intimacy they had reached lost the battle against family acceptation. However, some readers see there an open for hope ending.”
CJ
“OUR SOULS AT NIGHT: It is a moving and emotional story, easy to read, with simple and appropriate prose. It deals with the theme of loneliness in adulthood, the misunderstanding and selfishness of children, the rights and wrongs of marriage. It is a song to the desire to live in maturity, to the need to share. Addie Moore is a very brave and determined woman who, at 70 years old, in the countdown of her life, seeks company, first at night, as the title indicates, and then during the day, and is happy, until reality sets in. imposes: gossip, the ingratitude of his son, the fear of losing a loved one (his grandson). Luis is a sensitive man, he lets himself go. As if it were a poem, the tenderness, the love, the frankness, the honesty between them, the sincerity, make these very human characters reach you deeply. That's why the ending has a sad and discouraging aftertaste. Anger at the ingratitude of children, who do not see in their elderly parents the capacity to love, and the dirty morality of a society that destroys any form of love that is not subject to traditional canons. It is also bitter, how Addie changes, how the sense of motherhood, of grandmother's responsibility is imposed on that transgressive woman that she was, while Luis sees it clearly and cannot do anything to avoid it.”
PR
Praise:
“Lateness—and second chances—have always been a theme for Haruf. But here, in a book about love and the aftermath of grief, in his final hours, he has produced his most intense expression of that yet. . . . Packed into less than 200 pages are all the issues late life provokes.” —John Freeman, The Boston Globe
"A fitting close to a storied career, a beautiful rumination on aging, accommodation, and our need to connect. . . . As a meditation on life and forthcoming death, Haruf couldn’t have done any better. He has given us a powerful, pared-down story of two characters who refuse to go gentle into that good night.” —Lynn Rosen, The Philadelphia Enquirer
“A fine and poignant novel that demonstrates that our desire to love and to be loved does not dissolve with age. . . . The story speeds along, almost as if it's a page-turning mystery.” —Joseph Peschel, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Haruf is never sentimental, and the ending—multiple twists packed into the last twenty pages—is gritty, painful and utterly human. . . . His novels are imbued with an affection and understanding that transform the most mundane details into poetry. Like the friendly light shining from Addie's window, Haruf’s final novel is a beacon of hope; he is sorely missed.” —Francesca Wade, Financial Times
“Haruf was knows as a great writer and teacher whose work will endure. . . . The cadence of this book is soft and gentle, filled with shy emotion, as tentative as a young person's first kiss—timeless in its beauty. . . . Addie and Louis find a type of love that, as our society ages, ever more people in the baby boom generation may find is the only kind of love that matters.” —Jim Ewing, The Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“There is so much wisdom in this beautifully pared-back and gentle book. . . a small, quiet gem, written in English so plain that it sparkles.” —Anne Susskind, The Sydney Morning Herald
“Haruf once again banishes doubts. Our souls can surprise us. Beneath the surface of reticent lives—and of Haruf’s calm prose—they prove unexpectedly brave.” —Ann Hulbert, The Atlantic
“Blunt, textured, and dryly humorous. . . this quietly elegiac novel caps a fine, late-blooming and tenacious writing career. . . . Haruf’s gift is to make hay of the unexpected, and it feels like a mercy. . . . This is a novel for just after sunset on a summer’s eve, when the sky is still light and there is much to see, if you are looking.” —Wingate Packard, The Seattle Times
Video: Editor Gary Fisketjon discusses “Our Souls at Night” by novelist Kent Haruf with Book World’s Ron Charles
Read More:
- Article by Ursula K Le Guin : https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/27/our-souls-at-night-kent-haruf-review
- Obituary in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/02/kent-haruf-writer-dies-71-us-novelist
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