Rough Music (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Rating:
Summary: Simply Brilliant!
Review: As an avid reader of fiction, I expected very little from this casual purchase, but not since Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" have I been so captivated by both the story and style of a modern novel.
The reviews below give you all (and unfortunately in once case, too much) of the detail of the story. But Gale dissects the British version of the 'American Beauty' family dysfunction while weaving the emotional turmoil and mystery of the best of Ian McEwan. His 'prison' metaphor is incisive without being blunt, never giving the slightest hint as to how these somewhat damages souls will resolve - or even survive.
And while I'm extolling Mr. Gale's writing, you might want to check out a much earlier work of his - 'Kansas in August': a very different novel, without doubt, but one that is a true charmer - witty and fun, but still skillfully crafted with twists that delight to the final page.
Do yourself a personal favor: read 'Rough Music' - you will never forget it.

Rating:
Summary: A very unusual novel and true "page-turner".
Review: As an avid reader of fiction, I expected very little from this casual purchase, but not since Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" have I been so captivated by both the story and style of a modern novel.
The reviews below give you all (and unfortunately in once case, too much) of the detail of the story. But Gale dissects the British version of the 'American Beauty' family dysfunction while weaving the emotional turmoil and mystery of the best of Ian McEwan. His 'prison' metaphor is incisive without being blunt, never giving the slightest hint as to how these somewhat damages souls will resolve - or even survive.
And while I'm extolling Mr. Gale's writing, you might want to check out a much earlier work of his - 'Kansas in August': a very different novel, without doubt, but one that is a true charmer - witty and fun, but still skillfully crafted with twists that delight to the final page.
Do yourself a personal favor: read 'Rough Music' - you will never forget it.

Rating:
Summary: A Tapestry of Words! Bravo!
Review: I have never read a novel that was put together like this one by Patrick Gale. At first, I was put off by the obviously British staunchness of some of the characters and the back and forth telling of two separate stories each taking turns chapter by chapter. Through this technique, Gale weaves a tremendous story that illustrates family values, dynamics unlike I've ever seen. What he does with the main character - 40 yr old Will Paget is magnificent. He receieves a vacation present from his sister for his 40th birthday and he invites his parents to accompany him. What happens from there made me turn page after page after page. I didn't want this story to end. To say anymore would give away the plot - something I do not want to do. Read this mystery novel for laughter, surprises and shock.

Rating:
Summary: So Sad, So Beautiful
Review: Many times in life we come across books and stories that resemble real life in certain ways. Often they only resemble real life in passing, but can't seem to hold a candle to the real thing. Unusually, this book can and does a comparitively good job at doing just that: holding a candle to the real.

This beautiful story resemnbles life in a kind of symmetry. The author is incredibly skilled in the way he chooses words and constructs sentences, paragraphs, and pages of a glowing, real life. This book is touching, remarkable, and wholly likable. If you enjoy literature that is true to life -and the truer it has never been- then read this book.

Take it slow. Savor each movement and chapter until you come to the end. When you finish, then stop. Think about it and remember it in your heart, because this is the kind of book one can be touched by intimately and come away not sad, but enriched.

And may you enjoy it as much as I have.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect symmetry
Review: Reading this book was similar to listening to a beautiful composition by, say, Vaughn Williams. It begins and ends on the same note but the music in between makes the final note shimmer with aching poignancy. The tension builds in the plotline -- both plotlines, the Beachcomber and the Blue House -- symmetrically. There is such justice in the final fate of the characters. I don't want to give anything away, but the author does a great job of having the successive generation mirror the mistakes their parents made. What a powerful, intense, and moving work! I look forward to reading Gale's other works.

Rating:
Summary: Remember, remember ...
Review: Somewhat topical at the time of writing, as "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs returns to Britain and to jail, the closing Author's Note reveals the inspiration that this most famous prison escapee gave to this novel. Patrick Gale's father was the governor of Wandsworth Prison at the time of the break-out and his son takes the very sketchiest of personal biographical details upon which to found possibly his most developed portrayal of family relations to date.

The novel juxtaposes the supposed freedom implied by its main occasions (two family holidays at the same beach in Cornwall 30 years apart) with the supposed lack of freedom implied by the prison of which the father of the main (?) protagonist is the governor (at the time of the earlier holiday). Freedom is often the freedom of forgetting or having forgotten, and is shown to arise from trauma, from the need to "carry on" with life or from organic degeneration. The parallel holidays are the occasions of the revelations of parallel betrayals, largely as a result of self-protective - and, to an extent, self-deceiving -"forgetfulness" on the part of some of the major actors.

Gale's skill is in conveying the nuances of family relationships and the pain hidden for decades behind the need to carry on. Its soundtrack is the sea and the disturbing and disruptive clattering of the sculptures of "found objects" of a character re-appearing tired and worn from a previous novel. A beautiful and affecting work, it is Gale's best novel yet. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful look at family dynamics
Review: The happenings in this novel are the detrimental pitfalls of modern life, adultery, dealing with an ageing and ill parent, betrayal, lack of communication. Patrick Gale uses these life problems to make a suspenseful and moving story of one family's sad history. It is Julian who betrays his mother on that long ago summer vacation, and it is eerily his own mother who turns around and betrays Julian on their two week holiday with their adult son. Julian's affair is a shocker and the lies that create the fabric of this novel are intensely interwoven, moving the story along quickly for the reader. I am still left with questions that have made me think ever since I finished the last page. Did Julian's mother know what she was doing when she called Poppy or was it her illness talking? Is Bill dead? Should Theresa have left John? The fact that this story does make you think is a large part of its appeal and power. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: "Let the Music Play"
Review: This is British writer Patrick Gale�s first novel that is gaining major attention in the States. I can see why, it certainly couldn�t be a more beautifully written, compassionate, and captivating work. I got really involved with this story and all the characters Patrick has created for us.

For his 40th birthday Will�s sister, Poppy, gives him a two week vacation at a cottage on the seashore of Cornwall as a gift. Will is unaware that this is the same cottage that he and his parents stayed at thirty-two years ago. Will decides to take his parents on vacation with him. Will is single, uninvolved, and gay. Will�s brother in-law, Sandy, decides to come along, too. This complicates things as Will is having an affair with Sandy who is Poppy�s husband. We are presented with the makeup and human drama surrounding this family, as the chapter settings alternate between current events, and what happened thirty-two years ago.

Throughout this story there is such an aura of mystery involving all the family members and relatives that it�s hard to stop reading this book. I couldn�t wait to see what happens next. When I first starting reading this story I had a lot of questions, and it did seem a bit confusing, but by the end of the book, I felt I had most of the questions answered. However, thinking about it again, I find I still have unanswered questions. If a book makes you think about it long after you�ve read it, I believe the author has achieved his goal. Patrick Gale certainly captured my attention and has made a lasting impression on me. This is a wonderful novel of family, love, sadness, regret, and even hope. I hope we hear a lot more from this wonderful British author. Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended
Review: This is the first book by Patrick Gale that I've read, but it will not be the last. The book defies easy categorization, both in terms of content and style. There's a mother with the beginnings of Alzheimer's, a father who's a retired prison warden, a gay son who's sleeping with his sister's husband.... in other words, something for everyone. The characters are so well-drawn that you feel you know them, and you willingly accept their shortcomings, just as you do with your own real-life friends and family. It's the exact opposite of a novel which lacks a character with whom you can identify; by the time I was done with this, I could identify with most of them. But it's not just a series of character sketches. Using alternating chapters to relate events separated by over 30 years, the author skillfully weaves a powerful narrative. The book leaves the reader asking just enough questions to want more. It's too bad that only one of Patrick Gale's previously published novels is currently available in the US. A wonderful book by a talented author!

Rating:
Summary: A very unusual novel and true "page-turner".
Review: This was my first Patrick Gale experience and will certainly cause me to try another. A most powerfully crafted and original story, filled with sadness and taboo subjects, yet warmly sympathetic to human weaknesses and perceptive that it is so often what people fail to tell their loved ones that represents their strongest feelings. Tragedy unfolds with riveting and tender sensitivity.