Our Souls at Night (Vintage Contemporaries)

This book came early, new, just as promised. I am glad to receive it,good read, good service. Great all around. I ordered this book because I like Kent Haruf's books. Sorry he died. I first read "Plainsong", then "Eventide","Bemediction,"now "Our Souls at Night." The idea of lying on a bed in the dark, not looking at the speaker or the one being spoken to reminds of of Freud's psychoanalysis. Half asleep, half awake, speaking your mind without feeling selfconscious or embarrassed. The two, Addie Moore and Louis Waters, are seventy, widowed and decide on a strange friendship, to go to bed together, no sex, just friendship. There are few books written about characters of that age. The book is tiny, short chapters, not over wordy, but Kent Haruf's books are terse,but this book is even more so. Addie is lonely, needs a friend. James Waters, a retired high school English teacher, fits the bill. He is a decent, kind man. So it all begins. The book is set, as all Haruf's books are, in a small, high plains Colorado town. The two have lived her for over forty years. Neighbore gossip, for shame, terrible for people of that age. It is a town where everybody knows their neighbors. Addie and James live a block apart, but were not friends, just knew each other. James's wife, Diane, knew Addie a little better. The two lie in bed, talk about their lives, their marriages, their spouses and children, get to know each other's pain, dreams, ambitions and heart aches. Then Jamie, Addie's only grandchild, comes to stay with his grandmother for a short time. He's a sweet child, his parents not so much. I didn't like Gene, Addie's son, self righteous, breaking the heart of a little boy and of Addie. This is a sweet story of two who become friends, wanting to grasp some happiness and joy,for the short time they have on this earth. Beautiful, heart breaking, few words, but tells so much. I really enjoyed this read like I like all his books.

Our Souls at Night By Kent Haruf Reviewed by Jay Gilbertson This novel is barely 180 pages long. You can read it in one swoop. But don’t. Relish it. Take slow, easy bites; sit alone and be with author Haruf’s words. They’re gems. Each one selected as carefully as one gets dressed for church or a party or a funeral. I had the pleasure of listening to a talk by local author Nickolas Butler and he had this book in his hands as he took the podium. That was enough validation to read this for me. Need more? Haruf is the author of Benediction, Eventide, Plainsong, The Tie That Binds and Where you Once Belonged. Not only is the story totally and completely compelling, it is, but the writing. Well, here, have a chew on this; “That’s sort of like marriage, isn’t it.” “What is?” “Cold Feet.” “It can be.” “Yes. Well, I’m just going to say it.” “I’m listening,” Louis said. “I wonder if you would consider coming to my house sometimes to sleep with me.” “What? How do you mean?” “I mean we’re both alone. We’ve been by ourselves for too long. For years. I’m lonely. I think you might be too. I wonder if you would come and sleep in the night with me. And talk.” There. That’s what the entire tale is built around. That question. Think about it. All the elderly that are shuffling through big, empty houses on streets like yours and mine. Maybe you know someone like Addie Moore or Louis Waters. We all do. They sit alone in movie theaters and are put in the back, if they even go, of restaurants. You see them at the mall walking in circles. Usually an older woman, but there are a lot of men out there too. Makes you wonder. And of course author Haruf takes it many steps further, this request to sleep together has ramifications. First, one of Addie’s kids has a boy that needs taking care of. A messy relationship isn’t panning out. The boy comes to live with Addie for a while. Add in gossip from nosey neighbors and you have a storm brewing out of, what you first imagined to be no one’s business but two old people trying not to be so alone. Yet, for a while, they find each other. “You’re being too hard on yourself again. Addie said. Who does ever get what they want? It doesn’t seem to happen to many of us if any at all. It’s always two people bumping against each other blindly, acting out of old ideas and dreams and mistaken understandings. Except I still say that this isn’t true of you and me. Not right now. Not today.” There is a hitch, of course. I’m not going to spoil it for you because I know you’re going to read this. It should be on every book club’s list as this is a subject that is going to get more and more discussion as all the Baby Boomers out there find themselves in a very similar situation as Addie and Louis. What will you do? • Email; jay@jaygilbertson.com

This is Haruf's seventh and final novel; it's my first experience with him. His first book, Plainsong was short-listed for a National Book Award; he was a very good writer. "Our Souls" is only 181 pages , so it is a very quick read. Nice pace, warm story. Small town setting in the eastern part of Colorado. Addie and Louis have been neighbors for years and years and their respective spouses are now deceased. She has an interesting proposition for him, and he is willing to try. They become closer and life for them becomes a lot less lonely as they spend more time together. The story is well paced, breezy like the summer weather they are enjoying. The characters are interesting. Addie, Louis, their children, and townspeople are all well drawn. Town tongues wag and the children over react, but Addie and Louis are determined to pay no attention, and life goes on. But eventually a decision is made, one of those self-sacrificing, noble things where another person's life is enriched while two other lives are damaged. Some readers will find that part of the story moving and heroic; I found it a horrible waste and weak. No more Haruf for me.

A peaceful, unpretentious, understated story which will remain with me... I wish I could have been right there with these characters to share with them their tranquil happiness - while it lasted.

So rewarding, absorbing and strengthening. So simple. So why is it hard to describe? Precisely because it's unusual. Our Souls At Night is written in plain, simple language; the dialogue is not multi-layered, but straightforward and blunt. There is no huge drama here, indeed it couldn't really be said to have a plot in the usual sense. An elderly woman makes a proposition to her neighbour and they build a relationship slowly; its progress is marked with very small moments - gardening is done, a meal is cooked, a child is comforted. The language is as simple as Shaker furniture, and has the same sense of being beautifully solid and crafted. It's a wholesome, encouraging book without ever being trite. Its great virtue is its truthfulness; the way that the central characters speak and behave, the way that their relationship waxes and wanes, are completely credible. It is precisely the absence of drama that makes the book such a deep reflection of the ordinary lives that are lived all around us. You'll end it wondering what your own neighbours are doing, and what business it is of yours to wonder at all.

Libro molto divertente

Addie Moore faz uma proposta inesperada ao seu vizinho, Louis Waters, e depois de muito hesitar, faz uma proposta: “Eu gostaria de saber se você consideraria vir à minha casa às vezes para dormir comigo. [...] Quero dizer somos os dois solitários. Estamos sozinhos por muito tempo. Por muitos anos. Estou solitária. Gostaria de saber se você viria e passaria a noite comigo. E conversássemos”. Ela, do alto de muitas décadas de vida e viúva, faz essa proposta a ele, que está nas mesmas condições. Assim começa OUR SOULS AT NIGHT (no Brasil, NOSSAS NOITES, lançado pela Cia das Letras, com tradução de Sonia Moreira), romance postumamente publicado que Kent Haruf escreveu pouco antes de morrer, aos 71 anos, em 2014, por isso não é de se duvidar que as ansiedades e aflições de seus personagens são as mesmas que ele enfrentava com a idade. Seu romance é delicado e preciso em sua percepção de uma sociedade na qual as expectativas de vida é cada vez mais alta, mas que essa mesma sociedade não sabe muito bem o que fazer a uma parcela da população que atinge certa idade. É como se esperassem que vivessem sob algum código do passado, da época de sua criação e juventude, negando-lhe alguns dos direitos que os mais jovens têm. O relacionamento de Addie e Louis, a princípio, pelo menos, não tem nada de romântico. É praticamente um arranjo prático, mas que escandaliza a pequena cidade onde moram no Colorado. Logo a história chega aos ouvidos do filho dela, e se transforma num conflito. É quando o mundo real irrompe e atrapalha o idílio entre o casal de protagonistas. Com uma prosa, ao mesmo tempo, direta mas também poética, Haruf dá conta de laços que unem seus personagens de forma terna, mas também transgressora. Não se espera que eles reencontrem o amor – ou algo parecido – a essa altura de suas vidas, mas eles infringem esses limites, e encontram consolo um no outro.

ロバート・レッドフォードとジェーン・フォンダ主演で映画化されており、映画がよかったので原作も読みました。 主人公二人のやりとりをじっくり味わいながら少しずつ読み進めました。人生の終わりを迎えようとしている2人が、だからこそ、真に大切なものとは何かを迷いなく選択。その率直さと勇気にエールを送りたいと思いました。読み終えるのが惜しいような気持ちでした。 女性である評者にとって、著者が男性であるのもよかった。このような繊細な気持ちを持った男性がいるかもしれない、ということは感動です。著者が女性であったら、この男性はまったく空想の産物のように感じられたかもしれません。 終わりの方で、抗えない世間の常識、みたいなものが出てきて、これはファンタジーだったのか、とも思いました。世間の常識にのっとった交際をしていたら、二人の関係も違ったものになったかもしれません。いろいろなことを考えさせられました。読んでしみじみ、よかった、と思った小説です。