- Hardcover: 246 pages
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (October 1984)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0030719798
- ISBN-13: 978-0030719790
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.2 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"An impressive, expertly crafted work of sensitivity and detail. . . . Powerful." --Los Angeles Times Book Review
"[A] fine first novel that dramatically and accurately explores the lives of people who work the land in the stark American Middle West." --The New York Times Book Review
"Kent Haruf writes so wonderfully. . . . His characters live, and the voice of his narrator reverberates after the last page: humorous, ironic, loving." --The Christian Science Monitor
"Haruf's gifts as a writer go beyond choreography. He has caught his prairie people with the skill of Wright Morris, the prairie itself with the sweeping eye of Willa Cather. . . . [I]t's nearly impossible to believe this is his first novel." --Rocky Mountain News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"[A] fine first novel that dramatically and accurately explores the lives of people who work the land in the stark American Middle West." --The New York Times Book Review
"Kent Haruf writes so wonderfully. . . . His characters live, and the voice of his narrator reverberates after the last page: humorous, ironic, loving." --The Christian Science Monitor
"Haruf's gifts as a writer go beyond choreography. He has caught his prairie people with the skill of Wright Morris, the prairie itself with the sweeping eye of Willa Cather. . . . [I]t's nearly impossible to believe this is his first novel." --Rocky Mountain News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
In his critically acclaimed first novel, Kent Haruf delivers the sweeping tale of eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough. Narrated by her neighbour, Edith`s tragedies unfold: a tough childhood, a mother`s death, a violence that leaves a father dependent on his children, forever enraged. She is a woman who sacrifices everything in the name of family - until she is forced to reclaim her freedom in one dramatic and unexpected gesture. Breathtaking and truthful, The Tie That Binds is a powerful tribute to the demands of rural life, and to the tenacity of the human spirit.
`Plainsong is beautifully crafted, alive and quietly magnificent. I read it in one mesmerising sitting. I had no choice; it wouldn`t let me go` Roddy Doyle
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Clear Eye to Duty,
By
This review is from: The Tie That Binds (Paperback)
Fifteen years before he wrote his masterpiece Plainsong, Kent Haruf produced this gem. The Tie That Binds will surely find readers as a result of Plainsong, a fine story about brothers and loneliness and tenacity in the High Plains community of Holt, Colorado. Haruf's first novel also features the relationship between siblings, the dutiful Edith Goodnough and her simple brother Lyman, both children of failed homesteaders condemned to a hard life on a dryland farm south of Holt. She is, in the words of the narrator, Sanders Roscoe, her admiring neighbor from the adjacent ranch, a person who "continued to endure by plain courage and a clear eye to duty." In her 80 years, Edith has known 4 men well - her own flawed father and his feckless son Lyman - and another father and son, John and Sanders Roscoe, who are the only persons in the world who truly understand her courage, incredible sense of duty, and beauty. But, as Sanders says "understanding it doesn't mean liking it". Edith's story is haunting yet inspirational. Sanders wonderful narration is filled with the stoic truths of the Great Plains: "Life ain't fair" and "If you can't understand it, you just have to accept it" and "It wasn't anybody's fault. It happened; that's all." The tenor of The Tie That Binds is reminiscent of a two very different classics of the Plains: Larry McMurtry's "Last Picture Show" and Ole Rolvaag's "Giants in the Earth." Having grown up on the Eastern Colorado plains, I swear I know many of the characters. They are as genuine as the real article and every bit as tragic. Five stars without reservation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
You FELT the emotions of this book...,
By Winter Wonderland (Midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Tie That Binds (Paperback)
The author did a great job of conveying the frustration and loneliness of the characters. The voice of the story-teller was hard to follow occasionally, but overall I would encourage the reading of this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new fan,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Tie That Binds (Paperback)
I am a new fan of Haruf & Holt County. I have read this book & Where you once belonged. Next is Plain Song. This was a great book. It was a very fun, fast read. Once I started, I didn't want to put the book down. There really aren't any big surprises in the book, if you are looking for a murder mystery, which i kind of thought it would be. However, there were some surprises in the unfoldings of the lives of the characters, amazement of what it was like to be them. I recommend this book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
