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- General fiction - |
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Where You Once Belonged |
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 Where You Once Belonged byKent Haruf Random House Canada (Vintage Books) 176 pages, March 2000 Reviewed by Robert Tolins Read our review of The Tie That Binds by the same author Pat Arbuckle and Jack Burdette are friends from a small, quiet town in Colorado. Pat, the first person narrator of this tale, is a responsible, sensitive and diligent man, son of the publisher of the local paper. Jack is the product of a broken home; strong, hard drinking and self-indulgent, yet charismatic and well liked by the men in town, and adored by a local girl whose life’s dream is to become his wife. Flaws in Jack’s character, in combination with his strong physical presence and dynamic personality, control not only his destiny, but also the destinies of everyone around him, including Pat. They go off to college together, but Jack is expelled on suspicion of theft from a fellow student. They both wind up back in the small town of Holt. Pat edits the local paper and Jack manages the grain elevator co-op. Again, Jack’s impulsiveness causes harm when he is sent to a conference of co-op managers and returns married to Jessie Miller, a woman who he meets there at an information booth. His long time girl friend is devastated and quickly disappears. Ultimately, Jack’s character leads to a devastating violation of the trust of the entire town and everyone supposedly dear to him. The consequences are violent and destructive. This is a beautifully written and engaging novella. The characters are etched with impeccable precision, and masterful use of foreshadowing keeps the reader interested in spite of the apparent lack of a central theme or purpose to the story. The prose is both readable and lyrical, in an admirably spare and economical manner. It is a tribute to the author’s skills that the reader’s attention is held until the very end, even though the book seems to deliver no final message other than futility and resignation to the notion that "character is fate." Though one may be left somewhat puzzled as to what the story is intended to convey, the situation and people are fixed in one’s mind, and there is much to ponder. Above all, the author’s skill truly makes the book a worthwhile read. |
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