- Paperback: 1 pages
- Publisher: Ace (MM); Reissue edition (Jan 25 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0441007562
- ISBN-13: 978-0441007561
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.4 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 68 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,040,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The central conceit of this elegant, accomplished contemporary ghost story is that fuentesAsprings in which children have been ritually drownedAare portals of inexact time travel. A byproduct of the ritual, and of time-traveling, is that memory is cast off in the form of a crystal stone, which allows its holder to experience the cast-off memory, which "might be transferred to living flesh." Hale Appleton, leader of the Societas Fraternia, a spiritualist cult, creates one such crystal in 1884. The stone is then stolen, and pursued to the present day. Timelines and characters overlap here. Scenes from previous centuries take place on the periphery of the present story line, wherein Phil Ainsworth, an insular photographer who lives in Southern California, where Appleton made his sacrifice, gains custody of his niece. People from the past and present converge on Ainsworth in an attempt to get the crystal, or to block the portalAa well on his propertyAfrom being neutralized. Ambitious plotting and characterization augment Blaylock's (Winter Tide) lush language (ripples in a well "cast a hundred shifting shadows... crisscrossing in geometric confusion"). This is one ghostly tale that stands on very solid ground. (Aug.) ("Paper Dragons," 1986) and one for best short story ("Thirteen Phantasms," 1997).
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
The coming of the rains to California's mission country releases a torrent of unusual activities surrounding a century-old mystery. Photographer Phil Ainsworth finds his life altered by the adoption of his late sister's child and the legacy she brings with her. As ghosts and strangers from the past seek redress for old grievances, a young girl's life hinges on the possession of a strange crystal and a magical well. The author of Winter Tides continues to display an uncanny talent for low-key, off-kilter drama, infusing the modern world with a supernatural tint. Blaylock's evocative prose and studied pacing make him one of the most distinctive contributors to American magical realism. Recommended for most libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book for a "rainy day",
By A Customer
This review is from: Rainy Season (Paperback)
I picked this book up at a discount book store because it sounded interesting. It was so well-written that at times I almost thought crystals and the ceremonies that produced them were fact :-). For those who found this book trite--lighten up. I loved it!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly somber and serious,
By
This review is from: Rainy Season (Paperback)
I really like James Blaylock, and this is a very solid book by him, but it was much more serious and less whimsical than other of his books. Once again, he's crafted unique individuals for characters, and each one is utterly believable. In this book, his characters are struggling to find the tangible, preserved memory of a little girl who was drowned in a spring in California many years before. There are moments in this book of real sadness and loss, and I found it a very affecting read. Still, I prefer my Blaylock a bit more light-hearted, thus 4 instead of 5 stars.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mood Music,
By frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rainy Season (Paperback)
When Phil Ainsworth's sister dies, he becomes the guardian of her ten-year-old daughter Betsy. She comes to live with him in his mother's home-- a big old house full of the sense of the past. Betsy and Phil become caught up in a story that began long ago as lurkers appear by the well on the property, and strange little trinkets seem to take on a life of their own._The Rainy Season_ is an affecting and atmospheric novel which succeeds in carrying a mood of sadness and history from beginning to end. This is my second Blaylock, and he's clearly a talented writer-- I think 'evocative' captures his writing best as a word, regardless of how the tone differs from book to book. I have had a problem with both of his books so far in that I found them both a bit slight-- I'm not able to easily define why-- somehow lacking in contours or contrasts. Still definitely worth reading if you're a fan of the more gentle variety of ghost story.
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