Customer Reviews

Horizontal Rain: Memoirs From Middle Earth

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This easy read is like spending the evening in a coffee house with Mona-Lia. It's a gentle, personal tale that doesn't blink at ugly truths, but overall affirms that love of life and creative spirits can not only survive, they can prosper in the world of internet and high-pressure jobs. I was disappointed that there wasn't much detail about Mark's work as a compositor on the films, but the technical aspects are covered in books like The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy and Gollum: A Behind the Scenes Guide of the Making of Gollum (The Lord of the Rings).

In Horizontal Rain you have the pleasure of becoming someone else. Through the eyes and feelings of the writer Mona Lea Ventress you get take on a great adventure to another country and to another world. This is an easy read book with a lot of heart and depth. It eases you into seeing through the eyes of another and gives you a taste of what it could be like to follow your dreams without being heavy handed or pretentious.A warmhearted good read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book on many levels. I chose "weather" as a metaphor inspired by how the author plays with climatic conditions throughout the narrative - from poetry to television-speak. With an easy, non-conspicuous tone, she also teaches the reader quite a bit about a fascinating part of the world, New Zealand, and lets her quirky and sophisticated humour fly at times as we get to know her character, the many personalities coming in and out of the picture, her partner, her dogs, her daily surroundings, several neighboring countries, and even her LA-does-New-Zealand wardrobe. I love the comfort of being able to see into people's lives, thoughts, art, and human weather, from the quiet of my own sofa. While reading, I traveled through countries, jobs, love, crisis, and very different states of nature's forces. It had a funny kind of grip on me, I actually didn't want to put it down. Perhaps it was because the parts that were truly lived by the author and her partner give the book a spirit that connects with the reader on a very intimate, human level. Then again, maybe I just really dug the weather reports.

Somewhere within the first chapter I went from reading a story to being curled up on my sofa with an old friend, hearing her tell me about what had been going on in her life since we were last together. Woven through descriptions of Monalia's adventures and observations, is a message of inspiration. Dreams can be realized. Reading this book is a relaxing, lovely reminder of that.

This book was an easy & fun read. Very uncomplicated material. The author painted vivid & colorful visuals with her words. Good for those in need of a mental holiday.