Where You Once Belonged

Who is Jack Burdette? Why did he disappear from Holt and then come back eight years later? These questions soon become secondary, for Haruf’s writing draws us in and plunges us into the everyday life of the small Colorado town, as the great American writer tells us about Jack’s life from his childhood onwards. His story is intertwined with those of many others, forming a whole web of relationships and stories that fill the imaginary city with emotions, memories, and feelings. It gives us a sense of nostalgia, making us feel as though we were going back to a place we have been to many times in recent years. Then there are moments that disrupt everyday life – rumours and shocks, events that mark the lives of the protagonists and that, delicately and poetically, give the novel its rhythm. A car on the railroad tracks contains what was once a man; we see the tears of a girl silently weeping in a bathroom, while the ceiling fan continues to spin; dancing goes on until dawn in search of expiation; we sense the accusatorial looks of the whole town and the motionless air under the stars on a cool summer evening. We return to Holt once again, for the last time, trying to make out the mountains on the horizon, which can sometimes be seen on a clear day. La strada di casa Kent Haruf NNE, 2020