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The Rain Before It Falls
by
Jonathan Coe
As a young girl, Rosamond is sent to Shropshire to escape the Blitz. Here, in the countryside, she forms a close bond with her older cousin, Beatrix, a young woman haunted by anger and resentment.
Sixty years later, just before her death, Rosamond records her memories on cassettes, addressing them to a distant cousin—a near stranger-named Imogen. As Gill, her beloved niece,...more
Sixty years later, just before her death, Rosamond records her memories on cassettes, addressing them to a distant cousin—a near stranger-named Imogen. As Gill, her beloved niece,...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
March 11th 2008
by Knopf
(first published January 1st 2007)
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The title of this novel, "The Rain Before It Falls," is a metaphor for those things that exist just beyond our experience, patterns that elude us, meanings we can't yet grasp. Coe uses as narrator the voice of a woman, Rosamond, describing twenty family photos into a tape recorder, before she takes pills and ends her life. Rosamond tells the story of four women, mothers and daughters, and the tragedy that silently passes from one to another. This melancholy book powerfully traces the...more
This beautifully written book takes the form of an oral narrative, recorded on a set of cassettes discovered beside the body of Rosamund, an elderly woman who has killed herself rather than let cancer do the job for her. It's the story of Rosamund's entanglement with her cousin Beatrix, a thoroughly self-centred and manipulative individual,and several generations of Beatrix's family.
As Rosamund's niece, Gill, listens to the tapes, she learns of the emotional disaster area that was ...more
As Rosamund's niece, Gill, listens to the tapes, she learns of the emotional disaster area that was ...more
Gosh, so interesting, such a strong bluesy mood to it, even if a bit slight as indeed the critics complain. But just so beautifully sustained and with such a cool feeling of the experimental about it--I wonder if Coe is feeling more experimental these days since his biography of B.S. Johnson? Anyhow, I read in a Guardian review that Coe took his inspiration from the novels of Rosamond Lehmann--which makes me want to go back and read Lehmann all over again (ahh, Dusty Answer). I found myself fasc...more
Difficult to rate and review. In the end I was a little bit disappointed. Big mysteries are announced but eventually not revealed. A lot of characters appear on the show and I recommand a written diagram for all the daughters, grand-daughters, uncles and aunts from several generations and decades. Though I did not quite understand for what purpose Coe made it as complicated as he did. He could have dropped at least 50 % of his staff without spoiling the plot. But maybe this is not a solid argume...more
Incredibly beautiful and melancholy, which seems to be quite the undercurrent in Jonathan Coe's books that I've read. I devoured this book in the course of a few days, and it was well-worth it.
The book is about a family tragedy carried down through generations, and the woman who was connected to the family, much to the effect of the events haunting her deeply later.
Jonathan Coe is adept at telling human dramas that could easily seem quaint with another writer, but he mak...more
The book is about a family tragedy carried down through generations, and the woman who was connected to the family, much to the effect of the events haunting her deeply later.
Jonathan Coe is adept at telling human dramas that could easily seem quaint with another writer, but he mak...more
I liked this better than The Closed Circle and The Rotters Club, but not as much as What a Carve Up, Like a Fiery Elephant or the The House of Sleep.
Perhaps because I've read so much Jonathan Coe at this stage, I'm overly familiar and never engaged with the characters as being anything other than his latest fictional inventions. For what was a very sad story, I never got weepy.
But I thought the central theme - misery being handed down the generations, deepening like a c...more
Perhaps because I've read so much Jonathan Coe at this stage, I'm overly familiar and never engaged with the characters as being anything other than his latest fictional inventions. For what was a very sad story, I never got weepy.
But I thought the central theme - misery being handed down the generations, deepening like a c...more
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La storia di una famiglia, spesso problematica, raccontata attraverso la decrizione di alcune fotografie scattate nell'arco di un mezzo secolo.
Ogni fotografia è un "quadro": riporta alla memoria visi, atteggiamenti, luoghi, ma soprattutto situazioni e sentimenti vissuti quasi sempre in prima persona dalla voce narrante.
È una storia nella storia: inizia ai giorni nostri, ma ti fa piombare, all'improvviso, in un periodo storico precedente.
Nella prima parte ho accusato una certa fatica a ...more
Ogni fotografia è un "quadro": riporta alla memoria visi, atteggiamenti, luoghi, ma soprattutto situazioni e sentimenti vissuti quasi sempre in prima persona dalla voce narrante.
È una storia nella storia: inizia ai giorni nostri, ma ti fa piombare, all'improvviso, in un periodo storico precedente.
Nella prima parte ho accusato una certa fatica a ...more
Che tristezza. E’ il sentimento che mi rimane tra le dita chiudendo l’ultima pagina di questo libro.
La storia di quattro generazione di donne. Legate da un vincolo di parentela e soprattutto dall’assenza di amore familiare. Assenza di affetti che ha portato, generazione in generazione, a scelte sbagliate, estreme, rapporti superficiali e mendaci. Almeno fino all’ultima nata, Imogen. Figlia di tutti questi errori. L’unica ad essere marchiata fin da piccola da un episodio violento che le cambierà...more
La storia di quattro generazione di donne. Legate da un vincolo di parentela e soprattutto dall’assenza di amore familiare. Assenza di affetti che ha portato, generazione in generazione, a scelte sbagliate, estreme, rapporti superficiali e mendaci. Almeno fino all’ultima nata, Imogen. Figlia di tutti questi errori. L’unica ad essere marchiata fin da piccola da un episodio violento che le cambierà...more
Read the STOP SMILING review of The Rain Before it Falls:
Jonathan Coe’s The Rain Before It Falls is told largely in the words of the elderly Rosamund, who records the narrative on four audiocassettes while consuming a fatal dose of Valium and Scotch at her home in Shropshire, England. In her will, she has instructed her niece Gill to track down her cousin Beatrix’s granddaughter, Imogen, and deliver the tapes to her. The objective is to give Imogen “a sense of where you came from, and ...more
Jonathan Coe’s The Rain Before It Falls is told largely in the words of the elderly Rosamund, who records the narrative on four audiocassettes while consuming a fatal dose of Valium and Scotch at her home in Shropshire, England. In her will, she has instructed her niece Gill to track down her cousin Beatrix’s granddaughter, Imogen, and deliver the tapes to her. The objective is to give Imogen “a sense of where you came from, and ...more
My review of this wonderful book:
The Rain Before It Falls
By Jonathan Coe (Knopf, 256 pages, $23.95)
From its cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion, this new novel from Jonathan Coe—his eighth—is a triumph. The Rain Before It Falls starts as a kind of autobiography of Rosamond, not written but recorded on an aging cassette recorder, in the days before her suicide (suf...more
The Rain Before It Falls
By Jonathan Coe (Knopf, 256 pages, $23.95)
From its cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion, this new novel from Jonathan Coe—his eighth—is a triumph. The Rain Before It Falls starts as a kind of autobiography of Rosamond, not written but recorded on an aging cassette recorder, in the days before her suicide (suf...more
This is an enormously readable novel from the author of The Rotters Club, The House of Sleep and and What a carve up! I have read each of those three novel and was left fairly cold by the first, and loved the second two - this one I also thoroughly enjoyed. I read it in no time, as it's not very big and is pretty hard to put down.
The story is told in the voice of Rosamund as she prepares to die - wishing to tell her distant lost relation Imogen about her family and how she came int...more
The story is told in the voice of Rosamund as she prepares to die - wishing to tell her distant lost relation Imogen about her family and how she came int...more
I read these two books, The Rain Before It Falls, and Pieces of the Left Hand, last month and really enjoyed both of them. The first story, purchased on impulse at Target (I now know that Target was targeting just me with this book: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/books/...), consisted of vignettes told to a tape recorder by Rosamond. Rosamond uses old pictures to tell the story, mostly chronologically, of her family and her life. There are shocking events that take place, and as you read alon...more
I needed a day to process this book after finishing it. This is hands down, one of the most well-written novels I have read in a long time. The character depth is astounding! I felt as though I knew these people, that their story could have been in my family.
Jonathan Coe's highly acclaimed "The Rain Before It Falls" is an epic tale of love, loss and above all family. When Gill finds out her Aunt has passed away she is left to deal with her estate. What she finds is a series o...more
Jonathan Coe's highly acclaimed "The Rain Before It Falls" is an epic tale of love, loss and above all family. When Gill finds out her Aunt has passed away she is left to deal with her estate. What she finds is a series o...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A big disappointment, as I used to love Coe's books.
Every so often, I find a "literary" writer who is iconoclastic, fresh and brave, who isn't afraid to tackle political or social issues, who writes engrossing, page-turning plots, who uses language in a dazzling but contemporary and unpretentious way and who writes with a cynical, brilliant sense of humour. Then, after a few books, which are dismissed by literary critics as "juvenile" and "lacking in weight"...more
Every so often, I find a "literary" writer who is iconoclastic, fresh and brave, who isn't afraid to tackle political or social issues, who writes engrossing, page-turning plots, who uses language in a dazzling but contemporary and unpretentious way and who writes with a cynical, brilliant sense of humour. Then, after a few books, which are dismissed by literary critics as "juvenile" and "lacking in weight"...more
Não há que enganar: Jonathan Coe merece mais destaque. Depois de ler "A casa do sono" não fui capaz de resistir quando encontrei este livro na FNAC a metade do preço (mesmo sabendo que a pilha de livros na minha mesinha de cabeceira corre o risco de chegar ao tecto).
A história é muito bem contada embora tenha começado por achar entediante que a narradora fosse fazer a descrição de 20 fotografias, pareceu-me um número excessivo e deduzi que se tornasse muito repetitivo. Mas não. A ...more
A história é muito bem contada embora tenha começado por achar entediante que a narradora fosse fazer a descrição de 20 fotografias, pareceu-me um número excessivo e deduzi que se tornasse muito repetitivo. Mas não. A ...more
A welcome return to form for Jonathan Coe - I thought the Rotters Club was a bit of a turkey, and avoided its sequel. A lot more conventional than a lot of his other work, this is a look back through the history of a family, and the effects of bad parenting down the generations. Rare, too, for such a touchy-feely book to be written by a male author.
Much of the narrative consists of descriptions of old photographs for the benefit of a blind character - I thought this was highly effecti...more
Much of the narrative consists of descriptions of old photographs for the benefit of a blind character - I thought this was highly effecti...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Photographies d'un drame familial.
Jonathan Coe signe ici un roman intimiste, qui nous convie dans les aveux d'une vieille dame sur son lit de mort. Cette dernière Rosamund, nous conduit par la description de photos à travers l'histoire douloureuse mais bien réelle de sa cousine, et des liens indéfectibles qui les ont réunis, dans la joie, la peine et la douleur.
Ce livre construit subtilement les profils psychologiques des personnages de la famille, tissant au fil des descrip...more
Jonathan Coe signe ici un roman intimiste, qui nous convie dans les aveux d'une vieille dame sur son lit de mort. Cette dernière Rosamund, nous conduit par la description de photos à travers l'histoire douloureuse mais bien réelle de sa cousine, et des liens indéfectibles qui les ont réunis, dans la joie, la peine et la douleur.
Ce livre construit subtilement les profils psychologiques des personnages de la famille, tissant au fil des descrip...more
I raced through this one: started it at about 4 p.m., went to bed with it finished the same day, and that is always a good sign. This is well written and the way that the story is structured is very neat. A lot of the text is supposedly a transcript of a tape recording made in the last days/hours of a woman intent on self-euthanasia. These were far too coherent and tidy to ring true as transcripts, they had clearly been very carefully written. The way in which carefully selected snapshots from t...more
After a bit of a dry spell I treated myself to this book after 'discovering' Coe only earlier this year. I adored what a carve up, and really enjoyed House of sleep. His nack for revealing plot with suspense, his character building and the way he can get away with frankly ludicrous plot lines all add up to a great read. This is a very different fish, however...
There are a few glimmers of Jonathan Coe here, but overall it feels like a book written by A.N.Other. If you covered the auth...more
There are a few glimmers of Jonathan Coe here, but overall it feels like a book written by A.N.Other. If you covered the auth...more
Another reading group, and yet again one I've never encountered before. The basic setup - an old woman wants to send a long-lost relative the family story, via picking twenty or so langmark photographs of her life and describing them, on tape, to that relative, trusting that after her death, the tapes will be delivered to her. Sounds a bit constructed? Well - yes, and that's exactly the problem. Every box necessary is dutifully checked, and yet, and yet, I can't really get a connection to the bo...more
Je viens de finir ce livre et j'avoue qu'il m'a énormément plu. Auparavant, je ne connaissais absolument pas Jonathan Coe et j'ai découvert un grand écrivain. Un roman fort tout en finesse et en psychologie.
Et bien moi, j'aime la pluie avant qu'elle tombe....more
Tu sais, ma chérie, avant qu'elle tombe, ce n'est pas vraiment de la pluie.
Qu'est-ce que c'est alors ?
C'est de l'humidité, rien de plus. De l'humidité dans les nuages.
tu comprend
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 trick...more
Romanzo a cui ci si affeziona.
Trovo davvero eccezionale la capacità di Coe di scavare tanto a fondo nell'animo dei personaggi dei suoi libri.
Sensibilità e efferazione, devastazione e delicatezza: in questa ragnatela di legami tutti al femminile restano contemporaneamente impigliati sentimenti e idee del tutto contrastanti. D'altronde, come afferma più volte la stessa Rosamond nel corso del suo racconto: "...la vita comincia ad avere senso solo quando ti rendi conto che a volte - s...more
Trovo davvero eccezionale la capacità di Coe di scavare tanto a fondo nell'animo dei personaggi dei suoi libri.
Sensibilità e efferazione, devastazione e delicatezza: in questa ragnatela di legami tutti al femminile restano contemporaneamente impigliati sentimenti e idee del tutto contrastanti. D'altronde, come afferma più volte la stessa Rosamond nel corso del suo racconto: "...la vita comincia ad avere senso solo quando ti rendi conto che a volte - s...more
The rain before it falls it is not really rain... Rain only is rain when it falls, and, it is just because of that, that the rain when it do not exist properly is so beautiful. Happiness could be something kind of that: something that is beautiful even when it is not real. We dream about being happy, we make plans, we all have dreams, but life is not always following the script that we plan.
The message is beautiful, but the reading is tiring. It is not a long book, but its narrative is mo...more
The message is beautiful, but the reading is tiring. It is not a long book, but its narrative is mo...more
I haven’t read any of Coe’s work before and this book received mixed reviews from Amazon (I never read the reviews until I’ve finished a book), with many people comparing it unfavourably to other books by him.
However, as a first experience I have to say it was a good one and I really enjoyed it.
Coe’s writing is very fluid and it made it hard for me to put down. I kept reading “a little more” to find out what would happen next. I shall certainly be looking out for more of this author’s work.
However, as a first experience I have to say it was a good one and I really enjoyed it.
Coe’s writing is very fluid and it made it hard for me to put down. I kept reading “a little more” to find out what would happen next. I shall certainly be looking out for more of this author’s work.
Not your usual Coe's novel. Less brilliant and witty than What a Carve Up!, although it is also the tale of a family and it deals with family relationships, cursed generations and secrets, and certainly not as funny. Yet the book has its moments of grace, some parts are really well put –not the mothers/daughters stuff but the dark side of a friendship, the lovely idea behind the title, the use of photographs and how they reveal and hide the truth at once– other parts are just touching. So not a ...more
L'anziana zia Rosamond è morta nella sua solitaria abitazione nello Shropshire, dopo un'intensa vita di ricordi.
Terminato il funerale, la nipote Gill, mettendo a posto la casa dell'anziana, s'imbatte in alcune cassette presumibilmente registrate dalla zia poco prima di morire, e che costituiscono parte del lascito destinato alla misteriosa Imogen, nominata da Rosamond nel suo testamento...
http://ghettodeilettori.blogspot.com/200...
Terminato il funerale, la nipote Gill, mettendo a posto la casa dell'anziana, s'imbatte in alcune cassette presumibilmente registrate dalla zia poco prima di morire, e che costituiscono parte del lascito destinato alla misteriosa Imogen, nominata da Rosamond nel suo testamento...
http://ghettodeilettori.blogspot.com/200...
Esta es una novela deliciosa de principio a fin. Resulta un placer adentrarse en la historia de Rosamond, en los recuerdos más importantes de su vida. Esta es una novela de sentimientos a flor de piel, que te atrapa desde las primeras páginas y te mantiene en vilo hasta su final, que tras terminar de leer, sólo puedes cerrar el libro suavemente y suspirar con la tristeza que conlleva el tener que abandonar a personajes tan entrañables y humanos, sobre todo la querida Rosamond.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a C...more
More about Jonathan Coe...
Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a C...more
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“I like the rain before it falls. of course there is no such thing, she said. That's why it's my favorite. Something can still make you happy, can't it, even if it isn't real.”
—
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