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Rough Music
 
 

Rough Music (Paperback)

by Patrick Gale (Author) "She walked across the sand carrying a shoe in either hand, drawn forward as much by the great blue moon up ahead as by the..." (more)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Rough Music + Friendly Fire + A Sweet Obscurity
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: HarperPerennial; New edition edition (2 Jul 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 000655220X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006552208
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 15,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Gale, Patrick
    #78 in  Books > Children's Books > Education > GCSE > English > Literature

Product Description

Review

'Like the sea he describes so well, Patrick Gale's clear, unforced prose sucks one in effortlessly ! he is excellent at the telling detail and description.' Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail 'There are no false notes in this book.' Marie Claire '"Rough Music" ! is an astute, sensitive and at times tragically uncomfortable meditation on sex, lies and family!. a fabulously unnerving book! a hugely compelling writer.' Independent on Sunday 'It would be churlish to divulge more of the plot, suffice to say that it is as ingenious in design as it is generous in spirit.' Sunday Express 'Patrick Gale's novels grip tightly, like swaddling clothes, stunning the reader into a state of lolling, contented absorption. How does he do it?' TLS '"Rough Music", like its predecessors, belongs to a broad canon of works by English rural moralists. Think Austen, Hardy or Murdoch ! His plots -- seemingly effortless, but closely structured -- resemble Iris Murdoch's ! Gripping, elegant and wise.' Independent


Product Description

A subtle and entertaining tragicomic love story. Julian as a small boy is taken on the perfect Cornish holiday. When glamorous American cousins unexpectedly swell the party, however, emotions run high and events spiral out of control. Though he has been brought up in the forbidding shadow of the prison his father runs, though his parents are neither as normal nor as happy as he supposes, Julian's world view is the sunnily selfish, accepting one of boyhood. It is only when he becomes a man -- seemingly at ease with love, with his sexuality, with his ghosts -- that the traumatic effects of that distant summer rise up to challenge his defiant assertion that he is happy and always has been.

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She walked across the sand carrying a shoe in either hand, drawn forward as much by the great blue moon up ahead as by the sound of the breaking waves. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

46 Reviews
5 star:
 (23)
4 star:
 (15)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (46 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Family Holidays with a Twist, 19 May 2003
By A Customer
I bought this book two years ago because it was about Cornwall, and a part of Cornwall I know. It was unputdownable! I wasn't expecting it to be about gay men, and mothers having affairs with brothers-in-law. I was intrigued with each step back and forth the author took me. Reliving the family holiday in the 60's with the journey taking all night because the M4/M5 hadn't been built! then the up to date holiday with the role reversal - son looking after parents. Quite fascinating and now I've bought the latest Patrick Gale to read on holiday.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED THIS BOOK!, 6 Dec 2001
By A Customer
From the first few pages I was utterly captivated as the author drew me back into a long forgotten childhood. Gale's descriptive style of the Cornish sea and surroundings had me entranced and I was instantly intrigued by the obvious mysteries surrounding the characters. I especially enjoyed the way he used two storylines, one set in the past and one in the present, in each alternate chapter. This book was poignant and thought provoking - the description of Frances's descent into Alzheimers particularly moving. Absorbing, compelling and wonderful, I recommend this book to everyone.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, 6 Aug 2001
By A Customer
This is a beautifully crafted book in which two generational strands alternate, gradually interweave and finally converge. The characters are entirely credible and perceptively drawn, especially the mother and the main character as a young boy who evokes universal feelings of childhood. A book which is both touching and wise. Utterly absorbing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The best so far...
I have read four novels by Patrick Gale so far and, in my opinion, this is the best of the four (the others being 'Aerodynamics of Pork', 'Facts of Life' and 'Facing the Tank')... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Iain C. Davidson

5.0 out of 5 stars Tender and sensual
Rough Music is a tender and sensual novel depicting a marriage and family. It can only add to the growing reputation of Patrick Gale as one of the finest writers of modern... Read more
Published 1 month ago by E. Shaw

5.0 out of 5 stars Smooth Passage for Rough Music
This is the second book I've read by Patrick Gale, the first being 'Notes From An Exhibition'. Both are well written in an apparently simple style, that nevertheless conveys an... Read more
Published 2 months ago by David Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars Best read in ages
I took this book on holiday, and couldn't put it down. He keeps you guessing until the end, def. the best I have read since the Kite runner.
Published 2 months ago by K. Pollard

4.0 out of 5 stars One beach house one family
This story is split into two but it involves all the same characters staying at two beach houses Beachcomber and Blue House, each chapter tells us, the reader what beach house we... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Joanne D'Arcy

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, wonderful Patrick Gale
I am on my third Patrick Gale novel in as many weeks. He writes soooooooo well about family tensions and dynamics. This is incredibly reminiscent of childhood....loving it.
Published 4 months ago by Suzipong

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous read
Rough Music
A fantastic book that I couldn't put down, after reading a few of Patrick Gales other books was the best I have read.
Published 5 months ago by V. Parker

3.0 out of 5 stars Rough Music
I had only read Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale previously, but thoroughly enjoyed that, so was looking forward to reading this one. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Cornish Maid

3.0 out of 5 stars Confusing, a good read, but ultimately unsatisfactory.
This is such an odd book. It starts out promisingly, particularly the characters of John and Frances. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lucy Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and very enjoyable
I bought this book because I heard it being discussed on the local radio in their weekly book review slot and the reviewer said he was actually reading it at the time and couldn't... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Anne Davis

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