book review: the rain before it falls

Just finished a novel in record time: less than 3 days! I haven't picked up a new book since my trip to San Diego a few weeks ago. Every book I've picked up recently was either too close to home, or didn't grab me. This book was a pleasant surprise, as I was not entirely convinced that I was going to read it by perusing the description on the jacket.

I really enjoyed his writing style and turn of phrase. The narrative painted bleak landscapes of family history, colored with an unexpected depth of feeling and complexity. It was like a gray muggy sky for me, moist and heavy, at times cold, then unexpectedly warm.

I finished it on the way to work this morning. It lingers still in my mind, which is always the sign of a good book.

The Rain Before it Falls
by Jonathan Coe

Summary (from Amazon):
"Time seems to collapse in this troubling family saga, more notable for its meditative aspects than for its relatively straightforward story of betrayal and loss. From her deathbed, the elderly Rosamond tells the story of her life and relationships through a series of photographs dating from nineteen-thirties rural England to London in the nineteen-eighties."

movie review: the Fall

I swear, I wanted to see Indiana Jones. I bought the right ticket and everything. I went upstairs, saw the door to the theater closed, then hopped the railing and went in the other theater.

The movie was late, about 20 minutes late starting. That should have tipped me off. The previews rolled on and then the movie started... only... it didn't look like Indiana Jones. The intro was gorgeously shot, overexposed color and slow motion. It looked like an older time, there was a steam engine on train tracks, high above a river. Men shouting, working hard to haul something out of the water. A horse, slumped in straps. Then the title of the movie came up: The Fall

I used my iphone to check out the synopsis to see if I should stay or go. Here is the synopsis:

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman (Pace) begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm (Untaru), a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

So I sat back and watched. It was really quite fanciful at times, and sad at others. I got the same feeling I got when I watched Cinema Paradiso. Touched and enthralled. And I had no idea what I was in for.

I think you should see it too. Here is the trailer.