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Books : The Rain Before it Falls
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The Rain Before it Falls by: Jonathan Coe List Price: £7.99 Childrens Toy Shop Price: £4.45 You Save: £3.54 (44%)Prices subject to change. |
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Binding: Paperback EAN: 9780141033211 ISBN: 0141033215 Label: Penguin Manufacturer: Penguin Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: June 05, 2008 Publisher: Penguin Studio: Penguin Sales Rank: 6693 Related Items: Related Items:      see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Highly disappointingMore than two thirds into the story,Rosamond the woman who tells the story in the book begins a chapter with the following words: "Thank goodness! I am growing tired of this story, and you must be exhausted,listening to me chatter on for hours on end. (....) It will be over now,all over , very soon.A relief all round ,I am sure." There is not much to add really , this is exactly how I felt after 200 pages - rarely have I witnesed a more contrived story and as little character development as in this book . As a great admirer of Coe's previous work I can only advise readers to stay away from this one and read any other of his books which are all great (especially House of sleep,The rotter's club and What a carve up). Rating:  - A little contrived for my tasteThe story told here is moderately interesting, rather than page-turningly exciting, and I found the device of the old lady telling it, prompted by a series of photos, somewhat contrived and unconvincing. Perhaps it is because the point of view is limited - it's effectively told in the first person - and because it 'tells rather than shows'. The story is topped and tailed by a description of Gill, the recipient of the tapes, listening to them with her own daughters, and there is a brief interval featuring them, too. To start with I had hopes of interesting links being made between the tale told and the current day, but this was not to be; all there is at the end is Gill having a rather feeble glimpse of a pattern in things... I got to the ... Read More: Rating: - A photographic storyThe best thing about this novel is its layout: we start with a chapter or so of background, narrated in the third person, and then move onto a series of tapes left by a childless aunt by way of explaining the family background to a younger relative who cannot to be traced. Each section of the tale is hung off a photograph, described in detail by the late aunt (as her intended listener is blind). We, of course, can't see these photos, but neither can the family members who are listening in (they haven't unearthed them yet). Midway through, we come up for air with a bit more third-person narration, and we get a little more of this at the end too, to sew things up. So much for the device by which the tale was told. Was the tale any ... Read More: Rating:  - Evocative and well crafted...Having previously read "What A Carve Up!" and "The House Of Sleep", I expected Jonathan Coe's latest to be more quality fiction laced with his slightly mischievous, surreal edge. So, that "Before The Rain Falls" is a more traditional, straightforward (although no less memorable) book came initially as a bit of a shock. Still, I found it a moving and enjoyable novel. The switch from first to third person narratively is handled deftly throughout and, without wishing to give anything away, using a series of old photographs to unfold the narrative was a slightly teasing, but very clever, plot device. For anyone who has looked through an old photograph album that has laid dormant for several years, you know how the feeling of nostalgia ... Read More: Rating: - Disappointing male stereo types were not up to the jobJ Coe is male but he is hard on his own sex - the men in this book are not the best. Perhaps one or two are ok types but they lie low. The big secret of Rosamund is not so very shocking and the only thing slightly iffy is whether she did did do what Beatrix thought she saw her do.. Ungrateful, damaged, hard and frightening women abound, luckily slightly to the left of the Executrice herself. A multi layered story that was worth the telling with plenty of delightful period detail to set the scenes. Satisfying and enjoyable, the dissection of various mother / daughter relationships was worth the trouble. The setting out of their feelings was accepting and understanding. I went on thinking about it all afterwards (read it overnight) and will read it again ... Read More: |
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