Book: Benediction by Kent Haruf

Benediction is a lovely novel as were Mr. Haruf's previous books (Plainsong and Eventide). The place is the high plains east of Denver in the small town of Holt, Colorado. The characters are Dad Lewis, his wife and his daughter. Dad is dying of cancer. He is a good man who owned a hardware store and worked hard his whole life; he was solid, stable...a good man. But his life was not without heartbreak.

The end of his life is a tale of days passing as he sits by a window looking out over his yard. He receives visits from a pastor, a neighbor, a few good friends. The ways of living in a small town are written in beautiful prose but simply, effectively. The author also shows us glimpses of the lives of those who visit Dad, both their present and their past. So this is also a novel also of those on the periphery, making it rich and satisfying.

But it isn't cloying or simplistic...just a fine mix of sweetness and sadness in the manner of other authors who do this so well. Wendell Berry comes to mind. To read it is a respite from the larger world of information overload, TV commercials, our devices, our restlessness.