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Title: The Man Who Rained
Author: Ali Shaw
Narrator: Laurel Lefkow
Format: Unabridged
Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
Language: English
Release date: 04-09-12
Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
The Man Who Rained is a work of magic and imagination, a modern-day fable about the elements of love, from the winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize. When Elsa's father is killed in a tornado, all she wants is to escape. For years she has been haunted by a sight once seen from an aeroplane: a tiny, isolated settlement called Thunderstown.
In Thunderstown, they say, the weather can come to life and when Elsa meets Finn Munro, an outcast living in the mountains above the town, she wonders whether she has witnessed just that. For Finn has an incredible secret: He has a thunderstorm inside of him.
Not everyone in town wants happiness for Elsa and Finn. As events turn against them, can they weather the tempest? Can they survive at all?
Members Reviews:
Just okay
I had read Shaw's other book, "The Girl With Glass Feet" and found it just okay, but was wanting to give the author another chance. Unfortunately I felt the same about this one. He has some intriguing ideas but something seems to be missing for me. The writing is off, for one thing, the wording not quite right, and there are inconsistencies in storyline. Perhaps better editing would help. Just a bland okay.
If you haven't read Ali Shaw, you don't know what you're missing!!
Another classic from Ali Shaw. I wish everyone wrote like this instead of endless cycles and series. This is a stand-alone fairy tale. The use of metaphors and imagery is just as compelling as in "The Girl With Glass Feet."
Beautifully Written
I loved this book. I don't think it was quite as good as Shaw's The Girl With Glass Feet, but it was lovely and I tore through it (as did my boyfriend). The way he writes it spell binding and I can't wait for his next book.
A contemporary fantasy. Mystical and unique....
I will first address what this story and its over all mood. It is a magical fantasy rooted in the notional that anything can be possible. Don't search for realism here. It is also nice to read a fantasy tale that is unique and not based on the old hat devices that seem to be all over fiction these days (i.e. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc.)
That being said, it also pains me to critique the story in any kind of utilitarian way, like judging a desert on its nutritional content rather than the taste. Still, I must....
The residents of Thunderstown are perhaps the only element of this story that is somewhat clichéd. The backward, blood-thirsty hicks who represent a hindrance to the enlightened, empathetic protagonists. Except, in this situation, all of the bizarre superstitions and stories that the townsfolk believe in ARE TRUE! They simply choose to fear them rather than be fascinated by them. The heroine, Elsa, makes some pretty remarkably stupid decisions as the story progresses, making one wonder how a person who spent a good chunk of her life in New York City could possibly be so street-dumb (You'll see the moment I'm talking about when you get there).
As for writing style, I like it. It's simple and well crafted, with no unnecessary displays of vocabulary or overly complex sentence structures to prove the author's intelligence (I have seen the opposite A LOT lately). I will say, however, that the author did not do a very good job demonstrating the cultural identities of the various characters. Elsa is American, born and raised in Oklahoma and then New York, yet she calls her mother "Mum" as if it is normal.
