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thebobsphere's review
3.0
The first thing one will notice about Horizontal Rain is that it’s a masculine book. By this I do not mean a macho, testosterone fuelled, alcohol, punch up fest. Rather the book is an exploration on how the male mind works, giving both positive and negative perspectives.
The narrator is a man soon approaching his 30’s, he has a degree and works as a barman and in a film archive of sorts. The book opens with his latest partner leaving him while one of his close male acquaintances moves in. This leads to clashing viewpoints ; the friend has a more bullish approach to life that are typical to males of my generation : do not show emotion, do not reflect about one’s actions while the narrator has a slightly more sensitive view.
Things change when the narrator meets another girl and then begins to question his way of thinking. At first he wants a non-committal relationship but the relationship becomes more serious and the narrator thinks about change. Saying that he still lapses but is forgiven.
Horizontal Rain’s simple narration disguises the more complex issues at hand, namely the two worlds that the narrator is caught in between : the slovenly friend or a woman who is making him see things in a different light. Generally such books put me off but I will admit that I did like it, although I didn’t really relate to it but I did see it as an interesting on the way a male mind might work.
The narrator is a man soon approaching his 30’s, he has a degree and works as a barman and in a film archive of sorts. The book opens with his latest partner leaving him while one of his close male acquaintances moves in. This leads to clashing viewpoints ; the friend has a more bullish approach to life that are typical to males of my generation : do not show emotion, do not reflect about one’s actions while the narrator has a slightly more sensitive view.
Things change when the narrator meets another girl and then begins to question his way of thinking. At first he wants a non-committal relationship but the relationship becomes more serious and the narrator thinks about change. Saying that he still lapses but is forgiven.
Horizontal Rain’s simple narration disguises the more complex issues at hand, namely the two worlds that the narrator is caught in between : the slovenly friend or a woman who is making him see things in a different light. Generally such books put me off but I will admit that I did like it, although I didn’t really relate to it but I did see it as an interesting on the way a male mind might work.
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