The Character of Rain: A Novel [Paperback]

Amelie Nothomb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2003

The Japanese believe that until the age of three children, whether Japanese or not, are gods, each one an okosama, or “lord child.” On their third birthday they fall from grace and join the rest of the human race. In Amélie Nothomb’s new novel The Character of Rain, we learn that divinity is a difficult thing from which to recover.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Character of Rain

“Nothomb potently distills from the state of infancy the intensity of beginnings, the precariousness, the trailed clouds of glory...that grow indistinct as childhood approaches.”--Richard Eder, The New York Times

“Witty and original. Perhaps the best yet from one of Europe’s finest young writers.”--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Fear and Trembling

“Elegantly written, Nothomb demonstrates a shrewd understanding of the intricate ways Japanese relationships are made and spoiled.”--The New York Times Book Review

“Nothomb updates the age-old divide between East and West in this delectable little book.”--O Magazine

“Amélie Nothomb adds humor, the ingredient most often missing in other writers from France of her generation, the ingredient most difficult to translate.--The Los Angeles Times

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312302487
• ISBN-13: 978-0312302481
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story of the Fall, April 14, 2005

By 

Maren Robinson (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Character of Rain: A Novel (Paperback)

"In the beginning was nothing, and this nothing had neither form not substance -it was nothing other than what it was." I read the opening sentence of Amélie Nothomb's, The Character of Rain (Métaphysique des Tubes), and was hooked. I was not disappointed. Using a Japanese belief that children are gods until age 3, at which time they fall and become human Nothomb constructs a brilliant study of infancy. Deeply autobiographical, like all her work, and deeply philosophical, like all her work, what amazed me most was how completely she captured or imagined the self-preoccupation that is early childhood. Any child will believe it is the center of the universe (and why not an infant must be watched and waited on), and yet the same child will experience "the fall," the recognition that he or she is not a god, is not the center of the universe. Nothomb's ability to recognize this essential problem of being a child and tease out of her own experience the joys and pains of existence in a way that is as imminently and entertainingly readable as it is philosophical is where her genius lies. I've never read anything like it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars metaphysical autobiographical tale, April 15, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Character of Rain: A Novel (Hardcover)

In the beginning before there is an Amélie, God exists as a tube eating, breathing, and excreting. However, the creators are a bit unhappy that this baby behaves more like a vegetable so these parents nickname the tube "la Plante". However, two years later la Plante abruptly moves and cries. Then the Tube's Belgium grandma arrives with the most devastating poison known in the universe, white chocolate. The Tube tastes the sweetness and a new conscience has metamorphosed. Life in the tube has turned quite sweetly though the awakening of Amelie makes her realize that paradise will be lost.

This unusual autobiographical tale first is told in the third person until the pivotal moment in history, the infamous chocolate incident, when the plot is written as a first person narrative. Not everyone will want to read this metaphysical story, but those who do will find a clever, witty, and intelligent tale that even makes the earliest of days come across realistically. Except for the title, fans will appreciate Amelie Nothomb's work that does not miss a beat in the translation from the original French MÉTAPHYSIQUE DES TUBES.

Harriet Klausner

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Metaphysics of Tubes", July 3, 2003

By 

R. Mumma (NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Character of Rain: A Novel (Paperback)

I have to believe that it was the publisher, and not the translator, who took the wonderful (and easily translatable)title of the French edition and turned it into something that sounds like the title of a police procedural (set in Seattle starring Andy Garcia, that you would avoid if you were to stumble past it on HBO), rather than the original and beautiful thing it is.

This is one of my favorite books. No summary will do it justice.

I went back to the re-read the French edition (currently known in America as "the freedom edition") and found that the important chapter about the character of rain appears two thirds of the way through the book and it is NOT central. The discussion of tubes at the beginning and end of the book (as related to the godlike infant/narrator and to her pet koi) are the meat of the story.

This is a pet peeve of mine (or more correctly, a black beast [bete noire] of mine). Why the prejudgement among American publishers that their readers will react violently against philosophy? Thank god they didn't spot the Kierkegaardian echoes in her "Stupeur et Tremblements" or they would have found something different than "Fear and Trembling" for the American edition. It's not just here and with Scholastic's change of the Philospher's Stone to the Sorcerer's Stone either; there is a general dumbing down of titles when they cross the Atlantic.

This wonderful book deserves its real title.