Small Rain
Small Rain ~ Garth Greenwall
It’s the summer of 2020 in a small Iowa college town, and the unnamed narrator of Small Rain suffers an infrarenal aortic dissection, a rare vascular condition where a tear forms in the inner layer of the abdominal aorta below the kidneys. It is incredibly painful and very dangerous. The majority of the novel takes place in the ER and ICU.
He’s hospitalized for about two weeks, during which time he meditates on art (especially poetry, he is a poet and teaches at the nearby college), the frailty of the body, intimacy, and the pros and cons of domesticity.
Small Rain is such a beautiful novel, focusing on the meaning of life in the small, gentle moments. It’s a violent book in that an infrarenal aortic dissection is violent, and the pain is overwhelming. I liked how the narrator’s mind wanders, from memory to music to affairs of the body and the heart, and is brought back to the physical now by the events at the hospital. Time to take a pain pill. Time for a blood test, a CT scan, visiting hours, whatever. I’m not sure how to describe this book, other than to say it’s immersive and thoughtful and really good, and I’m glad Nance mentioned it in a comment as a book deserving of its place on her favorites shelf. Highly recommended.
16 Comments
Nicole MacPherson
Hmmm….I’ll make a note of this but I’m not sure if I’ll read it or not!
J
I think you would really enjoy it Nicole.
nance
I really love this book. It’s a beautifully told story about love, patience, and finding gratitude and happiness in small moments and gestures. It’s a lesson in each of these themes. The emotions felt very true, and I was actually sad when I finished it because my time with these characters was over.
It’s a short but powerful read. I thought about it long after I closed the book and placed it on my Favourites Shelf. I’m so glad you liked it as well.
J
I’m so glad that you mentioned it in a comment, because I really loved it!
StephLove
I spent two years in an Iowa college town (grad school) and a lot of time in hospitals for non-covid-related heatlh problems North had that summer, so perhaps it would ring a bell or two.
J
I suspect it would totally ring some bells. At least at my library, it was available via Libby to listen to right away.
NGS
I trust your judgment, but this book sounds like a snoozefest. Stuck in a hospital? Wonderings about poetry? Hm.
J
I’m questioning your use of the words “I trust your judgement” here, Engie. 😉 I’m not sure this is a book for you, but it very much was a book for me.
PocoBrat
This thread made me LOL
With Nicole and Engie on this. I really trust your judgement (and Nance’s!), but this sounds… painful. I AM making note of it for when I am inevitably in the hospital, because it may be helpful then? (I remember whiling away a childhood sickness enjoying the _What Katy Did_ books…)
J
Hmmm. I’m not sure I’d want to read about someone in the hospital while I’m in the hospital…I hope you will not need it though! (AKA, not inevitible)
Margaret
What a fascinating topic, especially considering the well-known people who have died of this.
J
Timely, right? I had to text Nance at the time and say, WAIT, LG DIED FROM THIS JUST NOW? For our narrator, it’s a mystery, as he is young without any comorbidities.
Elisabeth
I was so excited to read this… but it’s not available through any of the library systems I have access to. Womp, womp.
I’ll keep it on my TBR list and see if it happens to come into the system! I’m very intrigued.
J
Boo! I’m sorry that your library doesn’t have this book. It was really good.
Jenny
I’m laughing at Engie’s comment. I wouldn’t say this sounds like a “snoozefest”, but it may not be a book for me. I can see what you’re saying about it though, and maybe if I were in a certain mood I would read it.
J
You and Engie are on a roll, no Odyssey, no Small Rain! I’ll try not to take it personally. 😉