Our Souls at Night by Kent HarufMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the other books of Haruf that I had read earlier, and in reviewing them one aspect that stood out was their sense of place. You really feel the rural atmosphere, the most-ways declining some-ways adapting small town, the independent farmers, the acknowledgement that travel is required to go places. In “Our Souls at Night”, Haruf writes a different story. I didn’t get the sense of place as strongly here, but likely because it was a short book and something needed to be left out. His story contained the requisite pathos. For me, it made me feel sad for the characters facing their aging and their loss of spouses while they still have the freedom to be independent actors in their own lives. (view spoiler) It can be an exceptionally sad story. Haruf wrote it so the reader can take solace in the raging against the light, as it were, between those life stages, but to my mind the sadness that bookends this story won out. If you want a story that elicits strong emotions, especially if you are concerned about aging, this isn’t a bad choice.
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