The Plain Sense of Things

by Pamela Carter Joern

In prose as clean and beautiful as the stark prairie setting, The Plain Sense of Things tells the stories of three generations of a western Nebraska family. These tales of sorrow and hope are connected by the sinews of need and flawed love that keep families together. A farm wife struggles to support her children after the death of her second husband; a young woman grapples with the shift from girlhood to motherhood; World War II wreaks havoc on those left behind; and a failing farmstead breaks a family’s heart. Amid hardship and change, these interwoven stories illuminate the resilience and dignity―and the subtle sweetness―of a life lived in clear view of the plain sense of things.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Book Club

221 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel in stories (although my library labeled it "short stories") told from the perspective of various people from several generations in a family. The voices are all distinctive and convincing, and her writing drew me in from the first page. I loved her first novel, and I was not at all disappointed in this second book. I'm looking forward to more from Joern in the future. It says something that she's the only writer with two books in the Flyover Fiction series. Small presses don't take major risks, especially these days. They must have had a pretty good sense that her work would succeed (and I assume her first book did well, too!).

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is story of a family of Nebraska prairie farmers beginning in the 30s and ending in the late 70s. Each chapter describes a member of the family and how they cope with changing historical events of the time. The prose was beautiful, the characters so believable, and the description of the Nebraska heartland so right on. I loved the book. It's not a fast paced book, but it's one that I found myself, as I read, quietly transformed into another place and time, with a family I somehow had become a part of.

[Margaret Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me back to my family's farms outside Stanton, Nebraska. It was easy to imagine different relatives experiencing a life I didn't consider and gives possible explanations for their personalities. I thought of my grandfather, a silent man sitting in his chair. He was a hard father and probably not the best husband. We just never know what goes on behind closed doors and in people's minds. This was a very touching book for me.

[Rrshively · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel made of loosely connected stories of an extended family starting in 1931 and ending in the late 70's is very realistic. It takes place on the high plains of Nebraska and is true to the characters and setting of everywhere on the high plains. It is very well written but in places can be depressing as real life can be. I liked the ending very much.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to read about the wide open spaces of Nebraska so I picked this up at the library. The book covers different members of a NE extended family from pre-WWII to after the war. It's not the cheeriest collection, but it's a good Nebraska read.

[Donna]

About the dynamics of 3 generations of a rural Nebraska family. For such a short book, there were too many characters to keep track of and the story a bit depressing. Joern's THE FLOOR OF THE SKY was a great book. This one was a disappointment.

[annebeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book in short stories. Family history in rural Nebraska across the 20th century. Very sweet and sad.

[Carol Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Another great family saga set on the plains of Nebraska. Captivates the love, disdain and hard work of a life made out of the land.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clean writitng style. I couldn't put this one down.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailing of the "hard-scrabble life" through many different pairs of eyes in an accumulating series of short stories. Perhaps the understated, undemonstrative life is worth living.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely novel. The first 3/4 pulled me through very quickly, but I was a little disappointed in the ending, which felt like a too-quick wrap-up. Overall, a good fast read.

[Josephine Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this writers' style, terse, not overwordy but telling the story and letting the reader fill in. The book carried over several generations amd times beginning in 1930 with a grandfather and grandson and ending with the grandfathers' three grandchildren, two sons and a daughters who move far away from the Great Plains. Their mother was devoted to her husband and worked when he didn't. He had problems adjusting to modern life and cared more about the land, always the land plus was a wonderful mechanic. His two sons grew up with his great mechanical skills, but with their mothers' work ethic, good sense and stick toits. The book ends with the grown kids and their kids. Grandmother and Grandfather have died. A good story of the Great Plains people who lived in the big emptiness, but with its own beauty. Billy who moved to Florida with his grandmother, but then Grandma moved back to live with her twice widowed daughter when the daughters' children were grown and gone. The coming together of the families when there was a death or a wedding. Good book about down to earth, non pretentious people. Much like Willa Cather novels.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quietly moving novel follows various members of an extended family in rural western Nebraska from the 1930s through the 1950s, with a couple of short concluding chapters set in the 1970s, as the third generation, which has grown and scattered, returns to the community. Written in a very understated way about routine day-to-day hardscrabble lives, it understates both the family dysfunction that so many writers would overdo and the small, redemptive moments as well. Not much drama here, so some readers will undoubtedly fail to appreciate it, but it's pretty engaging nonetheless. For my librarian friends, there's a brief scene set in a public library where 11-year-old Molly encounters a stereotypical "ancient librarian. Miss Alsted's hair coils in a tight bun with hairpins that stick out like miniature croquet hoops. Hose seams crawl up the backs of her legs, and she wears black, tied oxfords with heels. Molly stares at those shoes and thinks that she wouldn't mind being a librarian. Books all day. Quiet. Witch's shoes that fly you out the window. And whoever sticks up a library?"

[Paulette]

Good startrib review. MN writer. "The ways the heart weathers chronic hardship"

[Sherry Beth Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a complicated read for me. First, I was frustrated at how Gramps rode the train. The route made no sense. I spent the next 86 pages trying to nail down where this Elmyra was. Once I discovered where Elmyra was, the train route still makes no sense. Why would he go to Cheyenne to get to eastern Colorado when the train runs south pretty much from Elmyra to Brush then Ft. Morgan? (at least the track scars do- and there are fewer train tracks now then there were in the 1930s.) If the Cheyenne route did exist, he would have had to ride three different trains to get straight south of where he started. It's not like he did anything in Cheyenne, except reminisce. I guess I like my fiction to feel accurate.

Next, my great great grandfather's name was Thomas Preston, and he lived 50 miles from there. It was just weird for me to read about a family with my last name. It was a me thing.

Finally, present tense? How many writers use present tense? According to Reddit, most present tense books involve immediacy, and this one really doesn't. It's a family saga, not a thriller, or a romance.

That being said, this book would be very discussable, the characters are complex, particularly Jake, as simple as he seems. Was he a dreamer, or just stuck? A hippie or a bum? I do love that he took an electrical correspondence course through UNL Extension.

Sibling relationships and differences abound, as do parent/child relationships. I'm not sure any of the characters are particularly likeable, and some folks have a hard time reading about people they don't much like, I have discovered. (Yesteryear). It's hard to know who to cheer for when each chapter is from a different POV.

I made a list of characters early on, as I could see that it was going to become an issue (18 or so). I recommend all readers make a list, as some of the generations become blurry. This might have been easily done by the publisher. Honestly, I don't think all of the characters served a purpose except maybe to add to a widow's stress, or a sense of missed opportunities.

I say four stars due to the things listed above, but most of it doesn't really take away from the story in the long run, it's just my experience with the story.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was meh. I did finish it because I wanted to see how it ended, but it was basically a series of vignettes from the life of a farm family. It was a bit all over the place and some characters were introduced, only to be forgotten by the next chapter or so. The focus was mostly on the 1940s/50s, and by the end of the book, the years were being rushed through.

[Nina Shevchuk-Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book haunts the reader; in each chapter, a character comes into focus, their moments of struggle intimately and thoroughly drawn, then recedes, their place taken by another member of one extended family. The story follows three generations connected by blood, marriage, and land, on their orbits of poverty, resentment, and ultimate survival.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good, quick read. The main appeal is that it was set in western Nebraska, an area that I have lived in for my whole life. Interesting span of 3 generations

[Lanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book followed members of the same family for half a century through their hardships living in Nebraska. It was snippets of each life, so it was hard to really get to know the characters (with the possible exception of Alice) and empathize with them. It was just ok for me... a quick read but nothing spectacular.

[Elsie]

This is the story of three generations of an ordinary family beginning in 1930