Our Souls at Night

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
(Alfred A. Knopf, 2012)

 I am one of those readers who, when I discover an author I admire, reads every book that person has ever written. That is what I have done with Haruf. I have been teaching Plainsong, the first in his Holt, Colorado, series of books since it came out in 2000, and every semester when I re-read it and share it with my students, I find something more to admire. I enjoyed the second book, Eventide (2005) because it continued the story of the McPheron brothers and their relationship with the young, single mother, Victoria Roubideau, but I was disappointed at first with Benediction (2014). It did not continue the stories of my favorite Haruf characters, and it was about a man dying of cancer as well as the individual sufferings of many of the other characters. There was very little of Haruf’s subtle humor that I enjoyed in his other works, and I thought to myself, “This book is really depressing.”  The hardest parts to read were the specific details of Dad Lewis’s dying, and Mary’s crying and rocking herself afterward, saying, “I am not ready! I thought I was. But I am not ready! Not yet!” (244). However, when I discovered that Haruf, too, was dying of lung cancer, I reread the book and felt a stronger empathy with Dad Lewis and his wife Mary. In Tell It Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola, Scott Walker explains that “life comes down to some simple things,” and it is “comforting to have such stories told to us with style, the way a writer has found to an individual expression of a personal truth”(127). Writing not only helps an author face reality and come to terms with it, but it also guides readers in understanding their own struggles. Dying is one of those personal truths we all must deal with some day, and Haruf’s story is comforting. A couple of days before his death, Dad tells Mary, “I’m tired. I want to go on. I need to let you be. So you can have some peace and rest” (225). That night, he wakes and see his mother, father, and others who have already died sitting in his bedroom. They have come to see him before he dies and reassure him, “We’ll be waiting for you” (226). However, Haruf does not become maudlin here, for when Dad asks, “Where is it you’re waiting for me?” his mother replies, “Oh, you know . . . Don’t be worried” (227).

When I heard that Kent Haruf had written one final book as he was dying, I purchased it as soon as it became available. Having read several articles about Our Souls at Night, I knew what to expect and what not to expect. Neither my beloved McPheron brothers nor Victoria, Maggie, or Guthrie would be in this novel, and the plot would center around two new characters, a widow and a widower, both seventy years old and lonely. Addie Moore decides to disregard what the people in the small, rural town of Holt will say and approaches Louis Waters with a proposition. “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” (5). Although the novel is not a literal account of the Haruf marriage, Jennifer Maloney explains in her Wall Street Journal article “Kent Haruf’s Last Chapter” (15 May 2015) that the novel is Haruf and his wife’s love story, for their favorite times were lying together in bed at night and talking. Cathy Haruf told Maloney, “We would lie there and hold hands and talk. There wasn’t anything we never discussed.”

So Addie and Louis decide to spend their nights together. Of course, nothing can ever be that easy, and the couple faces censure not only from many of the townspeople but also from their grown children. For all of the book’s simplicity, not only in style and diction but also in plot structure, Our Souls at Night has amazing character development. Within a few short scenes, most often through conversations between Addie and Louis about their past lives while lying together in bed at night, I began to care deeply about these two characters and felt a strong empathy with them. Haruf’s genius as a writer is to take ordinary people living ordinary lives and make them extraordinary.

from Kent Haruf’s Facebook Timeline

STOP HERE if you haven’t read the novel, and you don’t want to know how the story ends; however, it is something I just have to write about. You can come back and read it later and tell me if you agree or disagree!

For me, endings are the hardest part of writing, whether it is fiction, nonfiction, or even a scholarly article. Not only is it the point or the impression that the writer wants to emphasize, but it must also satisfy readers by logically evolving from events in the plot as well as the characters’ development. It must have, as my old professor Dr. Gundy reiterated, MAGNITUDE. Even more important, I think, a good ending must have an emotional impact on the reader (or in the case of a scholarly work, intellectual impact).

Throughout Our Souls at Night, Addie Moore is adamant that she no longer cares about what the people of Holt think about her. “I made up my mind I’m not going to pay attention to what people think. I’ve done that too long–all my life. I’m not going to live that way any more” (8). When gossip spreads throughout the town about their relationship, Addie decides to jolt the townspeople even more when she suggests to Louis that they go downtown on the busiest day of the week, walk arm in arm down main street in broad daylight, and have lunch together at the Holt Cafe. Moreover, they select a table in the middle of the room, and sit by side, holding hands. At this point in the narrative, I am applauding the couple, pleased that they are leading their lives for themselves, not for others. Even when Louis’s daughter hears about it and protests, they remain steadfast in their unusual relationship. Holly is embarassed, and she tells Louis that he is acting like a teenager. When he discusses her failed relationships, she retorts, “Let me be, Daddy. I’ll live my own life.” Louis replies, “That goes for both of us” (53). At this point in the narrative, I am applauding the couple, pleased that they are leading their lives for themselves, not for others.

Then, Addie’s son and his wife separate, and Gene brings six-year-old Jamie to spend the summer with his grandmother. For a while, Addie and Louis sleep in their separate houses until Jamie forms a strong bond with Louis, who shows him some baby mice, lets him help with chores and odd jobs, finds him a dog, and teaches him to play ball. For the first time, it appears, Jamie has a stable, happy life, and Addie and Louis resume their sleeping arrangements and even go camping together. The three form a very close bond, and Jamie is the happiest he has ever been in his young life.

However, when Gene finds out about his mother’s nighttime relationship, he is furious, insulting Louis about his past life, and assuming that he is a dirty old man who is after his mother’s money. When Gene and his wife try to work problems out in their marriage, they take Jamie back home with them, and Louis and Addie continue to enjoy their simple times together. Suddenly, Gene returns to Holt and demands that the two stop seeing each other, and that Jamie should never see Louis again. Worse, when Addie calls, Gene refuses to let her talk to Jamie, and she can hear her grandson sobbing in the background. When she tries to call him herself, he begins crying, saying he will be punished if her talks with her. Addie is heartbroken, and it changes her relationship with Louis. Addie confides in Louis, “I can’t so this any more, she said. . . . I have to have contact and some kind of life with my grandson. He is the only one left to me. My son and his wife mean little to me now. That is all broken. I don’t think they or I will ever get over it. But I still want my grandson. This summer made that clear.” Louis understands, knowing the love between Jamie and his grandmother. “He’ll outlive me,” Addie explains. “He’ll be with me when I die.” (166).

Shortly after they separate, Addie falls and breaks her hip, Gene has her taken to a hospital in Denver, and then moved into an assisted living home in his town. Gene still forbids Louis from seeing his mother, and she acquiesces. Jamie visits frequently, especially when his parents resume arguing and yelling, and Addie knows that she has made the right decision to be nearby for her grandson. However, she is still so lonely. Finally, Addie calls Louis, needing to talk to someone in the night, “For as long as we can. For as long as it lasts.” Haruf ends with the image of Addie looking out the window and seeing her reflection in the glass and “the dark behind it” (179).

This was not the conclusion that I wanted! In Plainsong,  Haruf ends the novel on Memorial Day with the major characters, now an unconventional family, gathering for supper. Although not all of the individual problems have been solved, the scene is peaceful, and the future promising. Not so in Our Souls at Night. I wanted Addie to stay with Louis so that she, too, could have peace and comfort. As she had done her whole life, she sacrifices her happiness to provide stability for her family.

The ending haunted me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was the only honest way that Haruf could have finished the story. He foreshadows the ending with the death of Addie’s friend, Ruth. Addie makes all of the arrangements, and only a few people attend her funeral.  She has no family, only a distant niece who inherits everything, sells Ruth’s house, and does not want her aunt’s ashes. She and Louis scatter the ashes in Ruth’s back yard. Ruth’s death has a strong impact on Addie, who asks Louis, “What is going to happen to us?” (109).  As close as Addie is to Louis, he is not family, and in the end, as the old proverb goes, “blood is thicker than water.” If Addie had returned to Holt and Louis, and if Louis had preceded her in death, her fate would have been similar to Ruth’s–neighbors arranging her funeral and no one caring about her ashes or final resting place.

More important, however, is that Addie will provide Jamie with the love and stability he needs, and he will love and care for her until she dies. If I had to make a choice between doing what was best for me or what was best for my children or grandchildren, I would not hesitate either. Haruf chose a real-life ending, not a story-book one, and I admire him for that.

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4 thoughts on “Our Souls at Night

  1. You got me hooked on Haruf during undergrad, so I’m excited to read this one. Like you, I loved the story of the brothers and Victoria in both books. Thanks for sending out this post; I’ve ordered it and can’t wait to read it.

    • Okay, so I just finished “Our Souls at Night.” It really captured some of the angst of aging without being maudlin. Excellent read.

      • Glad you liked it. I don’t think it would go over for most of my general studies students, though.

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