Customer Reviews

Some Rain Must Fall

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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.

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.

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!

Fictional tales in long form, novels or novellas, usually work best with strong character development and steady plotting. Short stories, on the other hand, are usually the best place to explore really experimental ideas in ways that longer works don't really allow, or to play with the form of storytelling. Michel Faber's short story collection "Some Rain Must Fall" is a nearly perfect example of what short stories can be -- these tiny nuggets of brilliance each offer up a different glimpse into the ideas that drive the author, beyond what his novels show.

"Some Rain Must Fall" is a remarkably varied collection. Some stories aren't especially interesting for their ideas, but are more experiments in form, like the marginally successful "In Case of Vertigo," the only letdown in the book. Others are sharply original and frighteningly whimsical, such as "Fish," a tale about a world in which fish of all shapes and sizes have taken to the air and left the seas empty. Some, like "Some Rain Must Fall" or "Somewhere Warm and Comfortable" are fairly simple and straightforward, but compelling and deeply disturbing in their way. Others are mindbending in concept, like "Toy Story" (a young boy who discovers a new planet that he plays with and observes in his room) and "Nina's Hand" (told entirely from the perspective of a woman's right hand on its last day). A couple can be read as political statements, such as my favorite story in the collection, the wry and heartfelt "The Tunnel of Love," a story that dares to compare feminism with pornography, with thought-provoking results.

Nearly all of the stories found in this book are clever, keenly-observed, original, and well worth reading. Those who have read Faber in long novel form (such as the excellent "Under the Skin" or "The Crimson Petal and the White") will find that this collection is different from what you might expect based on those books, but very rewarding and enjoyable. Those new to Faber's work would do well to give this book a try as a peek into what this author is capable of. This is Faber when he's a little more playful, trying on different ideas and giving us a glimpse of what he can really do.

As short story collections go, there are few by any author quite like this one.

Michael Faber first captivated me with his novel, The Crimson Petal and The White. In his collection of short stories entitled, Some Rain Must Fall he again demonstrates his flair for character development and incredibly descriptive writing. However, what struck me in this collection is that he writes about the modern day headlines that dog society. Obesity, eating disorders, violence in schools, and abortion. Faber goes beyond the "Jerry Springer" circus media and portrays victims as real people with lives much like our own. He constantly demonstrates to us the beauty of life and the ugliness of it all.
In his short story collection, Some Rain Must Fall, Faber also explores characters of many different ages and backgrounds. He is able as a writer to convey their mannerisms, train if thought, choice and motivations. A master of the inner mind, he is always effective.
Overall, I found these short stories to be intense snapshots of modern day peril. Farber is a master of narration. His writing is easy to read, and yet he has a contemporary style all his own, with a bit of a jagged edge to it. Like life itself - shiny and pretty sometimes; sooty and dirty too.

If you looking for a newer writer to fall for - he is it.

I read Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White first, was so pleased with his style that I picked up this short story collection. I enjoyed it very much, as the stories have the same style, but show off his ability in many different arenas besides the victorian England setting of Crimson Petal. Plots ranging from the fantastical "Fish" to the grapes of wrath-ish "Accountability" to the karma deliverance in "Sheep" that I think we'd all like to hand out some times.

This book precedes Faber debut novel (Under the Skin) and shares with it a certian love of the bizzare. Numerous surprise endings, grotesque plots, and strange "goings on" abound. If you liked Under the Skin, you'll appreciate these stories too.

There's no denying that Faber is a good writer - not great, just good - but is that really enough? I enjoyed all of the short stories in this book, but only two or three really made me sit back and reflect on the quality of what I had just read.

The stories take one of two paths. They generally open up with something weird, a weird first sentence (After fours hours and seventeen minutes there was a raindrop, and Ivan sprang to life) then become normal, or they start out normal (Upstairs, a strange man was going through her things) and end up weird. Not a bad thing, certainly, but it was sort of depressing to know what style the story would take based upon its first sentence, or at the very least, the first paragraph.

The weird stories were enjoyable, but the normal ones were better. Faber has a very down-to-earth grip on reality, the dialogues, internal thoughts and actions of the characters all reflect this. Even when something very strange is going on (fish flying through the air, for example), a mother still has enough sense of order to want to arrange her daughter's clothes properly. At times this works really well in the weird stories, but it generally works phenomenally well in the normal ones. Probably the most normal - a sweet story about a man falling in love with a woman while working at a porno shop - was the best. The second last story, I put it down and said, wow. It wasn't earth-shattering, it didn't want to and won't change the world, but it was very nice and would resonate with most adults.

My main complaint would be the inconsistency. Faber has a flair for description and a broad imagination, surely then he could have written a 'weird' short story book and a 'normal' one, keeping the two flavours distinct? But they were all bunched together and I felt myself jarred out of the reading experience at the sudden and absolute change of tone, pace and style, which is never a good thing.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There were flaws, to be sure, but I never regretted a new page. Not a single story struck me as boring, or superfluous, and apart from the weird/normal inconsistency, the book was a good adventure into Faber's mind. I'm curious to see if he can pull off a larger book (especially considering one of his books is huge), as a lot of the stories didn't have traditional endings at all.

As other reviewers have noted, this collection of serial prize-winner Michel Faber's short fiction is dazzling in its variety. Touching domestic dramas sit comfortably along side Ballard-like sci-fi; straightforward three-act storytelling suddenly switches into Calvino-style abstraction. Others, like "Sheep" and "The Tunnel of Love" could happily be extended and developed into quirky comic screenplays ("Sheep" especially). Anyone who enjoyed Faber's novels, and even those who didn't, will find plenty to smile about here. If there is a weakness it's characterization, which is often eschewed in favour of essay-like musings, cleverness in structure, or a cute narrative device. Yet, ironically, female characters are Faber's strong suit. Those stories which take an interesting woman and elaborate her inner and outer experience - such as the title story here, "Nina's Hand", "The Red Cement Truck" and his novella "The Hundred and Ninety-nine Steps" - are his best. Australian readers might also note the similarity to Peter Carey's short fiction which often leans towards the fabulist. Anyone who enjoys Faber's "The Crust of Hell" should certainly seek out Carey's "Kristu-Du" (available in his "Collected Stories" published by Faber & Faber and UQP) for a similar take on African colonialism.