The Long Rain: A Novel
by Peter Gadol
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter GadolEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-05-05
ISBN: 0312263546
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of The Long Rain: A Novel
Book Review: Love Wine? Read on . . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
My daughter suggested this book to me specifically because of my interest in wine. Gadol has influence over his descriptive license and he takes advantage of it. At times, he certainly made me feel that I was at the vineyard tending the vines and trellises, harvesting in the open air, crushing the cab or bottling the brew. There are instances however that I felt the prose to be too introspective and emotional. I have to admit, once or twice I felt like jumping off of the rock that overlooks the valley myself. While I was interested in most of the conversations, I also found myself longing for more and better dialogue. Some of the twists in the plot were very interesting while others were set up transparently. All in all, The Long Rain is an enjoyable book and one that I would suggest to readers who love wine and a good fiction.
Summary of The Long Rain: A Novel
Lawyer Jason Dark has finally gotten his life together - he has revived his father's dying vineyard and happily reunited with his wife and son. But one rainy night as he drives recklessly along a mountain road, Jason accidentally hits and kills a young man. When he tells no one, the death is pinned on a drifter. In an attempt to save the innocent man, Jason decides to defend him in court. But the case takes an unexpected twist - one which will haunt Jason for the rest of his days.
Jason Dark's life is going far better than he expected. He has revived both his family's small California winery and his dead relationship with his wife. Even his teenage son seems content. But he still dreams, inexplicably, of disappearing and is compelled to take secret, solo drives at the day's end. When Jason skids into a boy one night, he procrastinates about turning himself in, persuading himself that the truth will change nothing: the youth is dead, and now he needs to protect his family. "I don't remember why I had decided that I couldn't confide in the woman who was rubbing my hands with her hands, trying to warm me up. I don't recall what exactly I was thinking, but I can remember the heaviness that suddenly weighed me down, like my arms were stone, like my legs were stone, and I do remember that I had to slide down to the floor of the bathroom. This was the moment when I began to lie." Peter Gadol is up to the constraints of the literate, internal thriller, as well as the hard task of enlisting the reader's (occasionally frustrated) sympathy for this fallen man. He is also good on physical labor--composing energetic, loving descriptions of vineyard tensions and nature's fickleness. Even if The Long Rain contains a few too many coincidences, doublings, and easy solutions, it provokes one to consider the fragility of relationships, the quick development of doubt and portrayal, and the inevitability of disaster.
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