![]() The best thing about this book is the characterization. This happens to be one of them." love this! ![]() "There are a few books that take you deep into their world and detach you from reality. They look at it with a sense of being at peace with whatever has come to pass and show hope for the future that holds good things, if not the best. You would expect a book like this to be melancholy, but it truly is not even though often they reminisce their past which has not been the best. What follows is their nights together when they sleep, talk and reflect upon the past. Sleeping together in the companionship of old age seems like a perfect fit for both of them. You can listen to the podcast here.True, lonely have they both been after the demise of their respective spouses. ![]() The panel discussing the book loved it unanimously, a rare thing. Though not a fan of talk radio, I happened to listen to an episode of Pat Kenny’s Easons Book Club on his Newstalk radio show. I stumbled across the book by unusual means for me. And at the heart of the book, Addie and Louis are two lovely, flawed and recognisable people who keep you rooting for them throughout. It’s made all the more poignant knowing it was written by someone who had run out of time to enjoy those small everyday gifts. The sparseness of this deeply moving story really complements the unassuming nature of the characters. What at times is simply a listing of the mundane becomes an homage to life’s simple pleasures – a camping trip with Addie’s grandson a particular joy. This is a world where everyone has their place and you don’t dare go against the grain. Needless to say, it doesn’t remain that way, as before long they’re the talk of the town, with the scandalised townspeople – not to mention Addie’s son – shocked at the brazenness of their arrangement. Their relationship is beautifully uncomplicated, two people finding comfort in each other. When would you want to start?Īs they get to know each other, holding hands in bed in the dark and sharing their tales, we learn about their lives – with all the losses, disappointments and betrayals that make up very ordinary lives.Īddie and Louis’s arrangement may be unusual but while reading it, you think, why shouldn’t they have a little happiness together? It seems as if both have found contentment for the first times in their lives, their friendship gradually developing into something deeper. No use at all to myself or anybody else.īut I think I could sleep again if there were someone else in bed with me. I end up taking pills to go to sleep and reading too late and then I feel groggy the next day. ![]() Lying down in bed together and you staying the night. I’m talking about getting through the night. She explains that she finds the loneliness of her empty home too much to bear and proposes an arrangement – that he come to her house and sleep with her at night, strictly to keep one another company: In the opening pages, she pays a visit to her widower neighbour Louis Waters, who she knows only vaguely. Haruf’s writing is stripped bare, the resulting book concise and profoundly truthful. The story immediately cuts to the chase – as does 70-year-old widow Addie Moore, a regular, respectable lady in small-town Holt. It’s a gorgeous book, deceptively simple in style, and the work of someone with a clear insight into what matters in life and what does not. Our Souls at Night is the final novel by American author Kent Haruf, published after his death from cancer in 2014. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |