The Gift of Rain in Around the World

Jan 23, 2013 Lilisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: around-the-world-2016-lilisa-s-chal, ylto-challenge, 2016, 1, favorites, malaysia, historical-fiction, 2, around-the-world-2022-lilisa, 2022

Breathtaking in its scope and stunningly impactful in its storyline, The Gift of Rain is set in Penang, Malaysia in the twilight years of the British Empire and the onslaught of the Japanese army as British forces flee that country during World War II.

The story centers around Philip Hutton, son of Noel Hutton from one of Penang’s wealthiest British trading families and a Chinese mother, whose father disowned her following her marriage. Never having felt like he fit in with the local community - Breathtaking in its scope and stunningly impactful in its storyline, The Gift of Rain is set in Penang, Malaysia in the twilight years of the British Empire and the onslaught of the Japanese army as British forces flee that country during World War II.

The story centers around Philip Hutton, son of Noel Hutton from one of Penang’s wealthiest British trading families and a Chinese mother, whose father disowned her following her marriage. Never having felt like he fit in with the local community - neither British, nor Chinese, but somewhere in between, Philip is befriended by Endo-San, a Japanese diplomat stationed in Penang, who soon becomes his sensei. Philip becomes immersed in Japanese culture, language and the art of aikijutsu, much against his family’s wishes and amid the community’s disdain for the Japanese. Philip has never felt so connected to someone before and theirs is a beautiful relationship between sensei-student.

But the winds of war are fast approaching and Philip and his family’s lives are at stake as the Japanese army overruns the country and Endo-San is exposed as a Japanese spy. Forced to survive and to protect his family, Philip is recruited to help the Japanese and turns traitor to his community. Shunned by family and friends, he is sickened by the cruel treatment of the Chinese community by the Japanese, and he soon becomes a turncoat, helping the Chinese resistance and saving numerous lives in the bargain, although many more were brutally killed or executed. Not trusted by either side, Philip is an outsider at every turn. As the story culminates – he has to make a heart-wrenching decision – the ultimate test of all – one that calls on everything he’s been taught by Endo-san and one that will test every fiber of his being.

The Gift of Rain is a moving story with eastern mystique and calm fatalism that leads to the inevitable journey of being reborn again and again - have we not often encountered people in our lives that we know we’ve met in a previous existence?

UPDATED January 2022: this is my third read and I feel the same way as I did the first time around. Elegiac, yet uplifting in its embrace of intense heartrending emotions of love, longing, and belonging, this book so captures the vastness and infinity of time. All this from an author who when, in an interview in July 2020 was asked to respond by associating a thought with a list of words, his response to the word “emotion” was “keep it private.” The interview was about his second book The Garden of Evening Mists released as a movie in Asia - link: https://www.unreservedmedia.com/portr... I’ve not seen the movie, but have read the book - another one of my all-time favorites. Tan Twan Eng is writing a third book and I can’t wait for it to be published. ...more

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Dec 15, 2021 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-before-goodreads, asia, audio-books, fiction, historical-fiction, bookcrossing, borrowbox-act-library

I seem to be reading quite a bit of historical fiction where the rich colonists are having a fine old time until something like WW2 happens and changes their lives irretrievably. The Gift of Rain, set in Maylasia, has a different take on it, with a part Malay-Chinese and part English rich kid being trained by a Japanese Martial arts master. His ability to cross boundaries but also never fit in becomes the crux of the beautifully told story.
I read this over 1o years ago, when it was first longli ...more

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Jun 16, 2013 mussolet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: language-english, fav-read-2014, rating-5stars-fiction-nf, region-asia, theme-philosophy, theme-war, country-japan, 2021-sorted, 2024-shelf-challenge

After falling in love with The Garden of Evening Mists last year, I just had to read "The Gift of Rain". And I was not disappointed.

Earlier this month, I've done an analysis of the books I like to read (which was really exhausting, and I don't recommend it unless you really have to for studying or writing purposes), and I learned that what I love most is a fluid, lyrical style of writing, and a powerful setting that shines through in every paragraph. And if there's something that Tan Twan Eng i After falling in love with The Garden of Evening Mists last year, I just had to read "The Gift of Rain". And I was not disappointed.

Earlier this month, I've done an analysis of the books I like to read (which was really exhausting, and I don't recommend it unless you really have to for studying or writing purposes), and I learned that what I love most is a fluid, lyrical style of writing, and a powerful setting that shines through in every paragraph. And if there's something that Tan Twan Eng is absolutely brilliant at, it's these two things.

There is, of course, also the story itself. "The Gift of Rain" is less complex than "The Garden of Evening Mists", and I cannot decide whether that just makes it less convoluted (which is a good thing) or too straight forward. Then again, no matter how compelling the plot, with such slow prose you probably won't hasten through the book anyway. And you can learn a lot about Malay history and some customs (I know I did), so it serves well to savour it.

The characters are a bit reserved, and while I liked some of them, especially Michiko, others remained distant. I still enjoyed reading about them, but there was no sense of immersing yourself in a character like I do with other novels. It makes for an interesting reading experience, and one I've come to appreciate.

If you enjoy the same things that I do, this is the book for you. If not, you might look for something else because I feel that otherwise it will pass you by.
I'll leave you with a quote, so you can decide for yourself if this tone is right for you.

"Memories - they are all the aged have. The young have hopes and dreams, while the old hold the remains of them in their hands and wonder what has happened to their lives. I looked back hard on my life that night, from the moments of my reckless youth, through the painful and tragic years of the war, to the solitary decades after. Yes, I could say that I had lived my life, if not to the full then at least almost to the brim. What more could one ask? Rare is the person whose life overflows. I have lived, I have travelled the world, and now, like a worn out clock, my life is winding down, the hands slowing, stepping out of the flow of time."

...more

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