If you want to read a novel that is genuine, realistic, a little idiosyncratic, with an abundance of heart, grab onto Kent Haruf's latest, "Eventide."
Haruf concedes that the smashing success of his last novel, "Plainsong" (published in 1999), changed his lifestyle a bit, but not his outlook. Instead of teaching creative writing at Southern Illinois University, he now writes full time.
Actually, he writes in the morning and spends the afternoon hiking, riding his horse or "messing around" in his greenhouse, he said by phone from his Colorado home.
Even though he began writing in his 20s, the 61-year-old Haruf was 41 before he published his first book, "The Tie that Binds." That was followed by "Where You Once Belonged." Both books were well-received critically but — unlike his third book, "Plainsong" — were not commercial successes.
He has no idea why he has suddenly hit the big time. "Plainsong" is now out in paperback, and a version of the story was dramatized on television recently as a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production.
Haruf said he was unimpressed with the TV movie. "They dumbed the story down and took the sting out of it, and they made buffoons of the old men." (The book focuses on Raymond and Harold McPheron, rancher brothers who take into their home a young woman who has a baby out of wedlock.)
"Hallmark included the barest revelations of the story," Haruf said. "I think they didn't want to offend anyone. Hemingway had it right — the way you should treat Hollywood is to throw your book across the California state line and then drive away."
As a young man, Haruf had intended to be a biology teacher but was immediately attracted to literature classes. "I served an apprenticeship for a long time. I'm a slow writer. I need to feel compelled to write. I don't give much credence to inspiration. Writing is the hardest thing I do, and it doesn't get any easier. Nothing is formed in my mind yet for my next novel. I have to fill up between books."
The son of a Methodist minister, Haruf spent some time working on ranches and listening to his father tell stories about the badlands of South Dakota. "Those were some of the best memories from my childhood. I love gossip, and I'm an unashamed eavesdropper."
As a result, Haruf has an excellent ear for the way people talk, especially those who live in the fictional Holt County, Colo. He uses dialogue to advance the story and characterize the people in it. "It's important that the characters talk
about something significant. I often take notes of things I hear people say that are distinctive. But dialogue is the most difficult thing I write. In fiction, dialogue is not a tape recording of the way people talk — like the Watergate tapes — but it is a suggestion of natural speech."
Many of Haruf's characters demonstrate a generosity of spirit. "It's a kind of nobility, like Raymond McPheron has, that is utterly admirable. Rose Tyler (who becomes romantically attracted to Raymond) has the same kind of spirit — at least a goodness of heart. Being good-hearted, of course, does not solve everything."
Haruf tries hard to make his stories visual, "to give enough information and carefully chosen details representative of the whole. I don't want to bog the reader down with unnecessary details. Readers tend to skip over unnecessary verbiage anyway. I write each sentence and each paragraph and each chapter over and over until I'm done with it. I try to write simply — but not in a simple-minded way. I try to write directly and clearly. If you can do that and still be eloquent, you've succeeded."
In "Eventide," Haruf is really writing a character study of an entire community, and many of the characters' lives intersect. "They sort of glance off each other."
Haruf is entirely dedicated to writing a compelling story. "I'm not consciously trying to portray an old man in a fair way, but I wanted to do it as completely as I could. In this country, we're so crazy about youth that it seems a distortion to me. But I'm not preaching a sermon either — I'm just writing about people I care about, and some of them are old."
His characters are far from perfect, but most are people of good will who don't hesitate to cross ordinary boundaries.
They are bound to come alive when Haruf reads from his book in Salt Lake City next week.
If you go ...
What: Kent Haruf
Where: Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
How much: free
Phone: 484-9100
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com