The Rain Before it Falls
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Product Description
Review
A hauntingly melancholy tale of love and loss...a moving exploration of the inheritance of unhappiness, and the devestating consequences it can have for future generations (Daily Mail )
Potent and melancholy, like a short, sad song (The Guardian )
A male writer who can enter such traditionally female territory and aquit himself with such aplomb (The Sunday Telegraph )
Potent and melancholy, like a short, sad song (The Guardian )
A male writer who can enter such traditionally female territory and aquit himself with such aplomb (The Sunday Telegraph )
Product Description
'What I want you to have, Imogen, above all, is a sense of your own history; a sense of where you come from, and of the forces that made you.'
Rosamund lies dying in her remote Shropshire home. But before she does so, she has one last task: to put on tape not just her own story but the story of the young blind girl, her cousin's granddaughter, who turned up mysteriously at her party all those years ago. This is a story of generations, of the relationships within a family - and of what goes to make a child. Called "the best English novelist of his generation" by Nick Hornby, Jonathan Coe extends his range in this magnificent account of a Shropshire family in the last half of the twentieth century.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was interested to read the review already given here , as my experience of reading this book was totally different.
It's odd to hear someone complain about the print size - true, it is a little bigger than that used in most books I have read, but it's not that big. And the truth is, I got so absorbed in the story that after a few pages I really didn't notice it.
Virtually the whole narrative is made up of a series of photographs, each one described in detail by the narrator, Rosamond. Her death at the beginning of the novel instigates several questions - her niece is instructed to contact Imogen, a little girl who Rosamond lost touch with years before. Over the course of the book, Rosamond's story starts to emerge from the series of photographs, and you start to learn more about the things that happened to her and who Imogen is. This sounds like a tricksy device but in fact it works really well - you are only given pieces at a time, which makes the whole thing even more compelling.
I absolutely loved this book - it's so beautifully written, with characters that you really care about. It's a bit shorter than some of Jonathan Coe's other books, but the brevity goes really well with how elegant and sophisticated it is. It's definitely worth reading - I'd recommend it to anybody thinking about buying it .
It's odd to hear someone complain about the print size - true, it is a little bigger than that used in most books I have read, but it's not that big. And the truth is, I got so absorbed in the story that after a few pages I really didn't notice it.
Virtually the whole narrative is made up of a series of photographs, each one described in detail by the narrator, Rosamond. Her death at the beginning of the novel instigates several questions - her niece is instructed to contact Imogen, a little girl who Rosamond lost touch with years before. Over the course of the book, Rosamond's story starts to emerge from the series of photographs, and you start to learn more about the things that happened to her and who Imogen is. This sounds like a tricksy device but in fact it works really well - you are only given pieces at a time, which makes the whole thing even more compelling.
I absolutely loved this book - it's so beautifully written, with characters that you really care about. It's a bit shorter than some of Jonathan Coe's other books, but the brevity goes really well with how elegant and sophisticated it is. It's definitely worth reading - I'd recommend it to anybody thinking about buying it .
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jonathan Coe's latest book is slim, but crams in much of what it is to be human. The story cleverly engages all the senses - a dying woman leaves an audio description of 12 photographs she wants a relative to imagine, so she can feel her own sense of history and place. As a result - the books engages the reader on many levels as the story unfolds and is brought vividly to life by Coe's wonderful, evocative prose.
Although I'd agree with other reviewers that is quite different from Coe's other books, one things remains true: he writes about the sense of time and place better than almost any other writer I can think of. With this one, he's been compared in some reviews to Ian McEwan - unfair in my opinion - as Coe is a much better writer.
Although I'd agree with other reviewers that is quite different from Coe's other books, one things remains true: he writes about the sense of time and place better than almost any other writer I can think of. With this one, he's been compared in some reviews to Ian McEwan - unfair in my opinion - as Coe is a much better writer.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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 and memory over takes you - and he replicates that feeling well here.
I've always found Coe an unusual, but always interesting and entertaining writer and "Before The Rain Falls" is well worth a read.
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 and memory over takes you - and he replicates that feeling well here.
I've always found Coe an unusual, but always interesting and entertaining writer and "Before The Rain Falls" is well worth a read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dull indeed!!
Like many other people who have reviewed this book I was awed by Coe as a writer when I first read 'What a carve up' some years ago. I had rarely read such an original book. Read more
Published 24 days ago by H. Lacroix
A lovely novel
This is a fairly slim book (by Coe's standards) but none the worse for that.
Rosamond, an elderly woman, has died, and has left behind her some tapes and photographs to... Read more
Rosamond, an elderly woman, has died, and has left behind her some tapes and photographs to... Read more
Published 5 months ago by F. M. M. Stott
Tedious, cliched, not engaging
This was a great disappointment after Jonathan Coe's other books. Our reading group gave it an average score of 3. Read more
Published 10 months ago by hassocksgirl
masterpiece
I've read all of Coe's books and this has been my favourite, perhaps because it is about family and (in the main part) Shropshire, two things I love. Read more
Published 15 months ago by smudge
Grasp hold of happiness
This was my first Jonathan Coe novel. Let me say straight away that his structure and style are very engaging and that this is a beautifully readable and enjoyable novel. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Allie
The Rain before it falls
Having previously read the excellent "Rotters Club", this book by Jonathan Coe is rather different in style. Read more
Published 20 months ago by rach
Soooooooooooo slow
I found this book to be really slow, tedious at times. I could have put it down half way through and never picked it up again. Read more
Published 20 months ago by A. Fleming
excellent
I loved this book. Coe's way with prose is skillful and unobtrusive; he is a master of the English language. Read more
Published 21 months ago by S. E. Wilde
Just another novel
'The rain before it falls' was the second book of J.Coe that I read (the first was the excellent 'What a carve up'). Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by Kiousis Dimitrios
Familial hatred, neglect and damage
The device by which we receive this story is deliberately distanced and perhaps as a male writer, writing about lesbian relationships and with few, if any sympathetic male... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by Eileen Shaw
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