Some Rain Must Fall [Paperback]

Michel Faber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000

Michael Faber's first collection of short stories reveals and extraordinarily vivid imagination, a deep love of language and an adventurous versatility. Playful, yet profoundly moving, wickedly satirical yet sincerely humane, these tales never fail to strike unexpected chords.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who were fascinated by Under the Skin, Faber's cleverly grotesque social satire about human animals, will find plenty more where that came from in this beguilingly bizarre collection of 15 short stories. Faber works from a number of different conceits, one of his favorites being to take an ordinary perspective and reverse it, which he does with great imagination in "Toy Story," a whimsical yarn about a wandering young God who finds a ball-shaped planet earth to play with while rummaging in the rubbish. He takes an analogous approach in "Sheep," a tongue-in-cheek meditation about the nature of art in which five New York City artists are spirited away to Scotland under false pretenses for a visit to the nonexistent Alternative Centre of the World. Occasionally the conceits get away from him, though, most notably in "Accountability," a strange, over-the-top account of a poverty-stricken woman facing an abortion: she writes a detailed financial request to NASA after reading about the $23-million toilet required for the mission. "Nina's Hand" has similar problems, as it is told exclusively and somewhat obsessively from the viewpoint of a young woman's hand. As entertaining and interesting as Faber can be, solid character development is relatively rare in these stories. In "The Tunnel of Love," however, the quality of characterizations matches that of the premise, as an unemployed young ad man who takes a job hustling patrons at a porn theater falls in love with the woman who runs the theater's bookshop. That story represents the best work of a fast-developing talent, in a collection well stocked with impressive stylistic snapshots. (Aug.)Forecast: This is a nice counterpoint to Arthur Bradford's higher-profile Dogwalker (Knopf; Forecasts, July 23), rivaling it in weirdness but favoring sophistication over carefully calibrated innocence. Bradford buyers might be happily steered toward it.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"Young writers are meant to have a strong, individual new voice. Michel Faber doesn't: he has a whole host of them. . . . Some Rain Must Fall has an astonishing variety of themes, characters, and styles."-Duncan McLean

"You don't often see satire stirred with so humane a hand, or tragedy handled with so light a touch."-The Guardian (London)

"His sense of wonder and big-heartedness calls to mind the better stories of Ray Bradbury, and he has a wonderful ability to push a whimsy to its extreme with magical results."-The Independent (London)

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Canongate Pub Ltd; First Edition. PB original edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862418232
• ISBN-13: 978-0862418236
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,693,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of A Kind, August 23, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Some Rain Must Fall: And Other Stories (Paperback)

I found Michel Faber's Novel, "Under The Skin", to be both disturbing, wildly inventive, and unique. I could think of no one to compare his work to then, and now after reading his first collection of short stories, "Some Rain Must Fall", I still can gather no comparisons. There are stories that taken alone might lend them to be classified as similar to this person's work, or another's collection of short stories. However taken as a whole the works in this volume encompass so vast a range, from pure imagination, to a short story that reads as a documentary of a profession, no one else comes to mind.

There is a story of a teacher, a specialist who commands three times the normal rate for running a classroom. The start of the story is seemingly harmless, and then it progresses steadily to a horrific experience. Another begins and quickly becomes surreal, however the change is so subtle you might read it more than once to be sure it all is not a metaphor as opposed to a severe form of retribution.

Other stories focus on a narrower field of a person or two, and how presumptions that are made almost unconsciously can have life altering effects. This latter theme may not sound new, however the setting for his story and those that inhabit it are definitely not what would be called a traditional venue.

Mr. Faber is about as far from the traditional as a writer can get, and still be understood. "Under The Skin", pushed the envelope for me to grasp what he had in mind, but it nevertheless was powerful and unsettling. His workings on the fringes of his imagination seem to naturally produce a story of a most interesting Universe. However with at least one tale he seems to condemn another extreme branch of expression without compromise. I agree with what he had one character write, whether the Author agrees, who knows?

Like nothing you have probably read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Broader and better than my first impression, August 3, 2001

By 

Edward A. Campbell "Eideard" (Santa Fe, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Rain Must Fall: And Other Stories (Paperback)

UNDER THE SKIN was the first work of Michel Faber I have read. Recently, searching for the shining lights of contemporary science fiction, a review in Netsurfer Digest found that book for me. A delightful find. The only new talent on a par with William Gibson has been my refrain.

I pre-ordered this current edition of Faber's short stories and it arrived a day ago. Now that I'm half-way through, I have to correct myself in mid-flight of enjoyment and say that he's a talent partaking of all possible directions of the writer's craft -- unchallenged by any theme or context.

The reviewer cited in Publisher's Weekly has led too narrow a life -- or has too confined a brainpan! When Faber can leap from a sentient and egregious bit of anatomy [Nina's Hand] to a self-defeating family on a mission of dead-end science, self-destruction and deception [The Crust of Hell] -- from a painful single day's tale seen through the eyes of an unknowing kid brother [Somewhere Warm and Comfortable] to the crisis-solving anodyne cum mother and teacher in the feature story [Some Rain Must Fall] -- Faber is the sort of young talent I will worry about and watch for in the coming years. I hope he can steer clear of type-casting editors and agents, writer's block and, of course, TV and screenplays. The latter of which are bound to land in his lap when some improbable director spies out his work and wants to cram it into whichever medium. It can be done; but, the world of that sort of production is more dangerous than any desert in the Horn of Africa.

Well, this is a Friday. My day to listen to music and read. Faber has made it the very best Friday since my semi-retirement a year ago.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one word can describe Faber's works...refreshing., August 9, 2001

By 

Steven Vesper (Burlington Twp, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Rain Must Fall: And Other Stories (Paperback)

Reading a Michel Faber story is like taking a dip in a pool on a hot summer day. His style of writing is so original, it makes everything he writes a truly enjoyable read. I was referred to Faber through Amazon for his novel "Under the Skin". I thoroughly enjoyed that book, but once I tried to explain to friends why, I couldn't. I came to realize that the story itself was interesting, but not the reason why I enjoyed the novel. The reason was Faber's ability to connect a reader to a character in his novel and his unique style in developing a story.

Faber's collection of short stories further displays his writing skills. I am fascinated by how he can develop a story and its characters in so few words. I totally recommend this collection of short stories. They are original, thought provoking and entertaining. If you are sick of the same old stuff, Faber is the author for you. I can not wait to see what he has to offer us next!