Porto; a small post-industrial university town in Portugal; as far to the west as you can get without leaving Europe; a city humming with culture yet choking under capitalism’s relentless grasp.
Here, amidst rainy narrow alleys, eight souls converge: Joana, Romain, Etelle, Alda, Bernardo, Patricia, Pedro and Alexandr. Some of them call Porto their home, others are merely passing through. They form a group; a sort of context where they talk to each other; about each other; search for each other and sometimes leave the group only to come back again. The almost ever-present clouds of rain hover above them all the while.
Spanning from September to April, we follow these young intellectuals through the lens of a silent narrator, whose presence is defined only through the others’ conversations. Anarchists, lawyers, writers – the group discusses worldly matters of purpose and justice, and whether words are enough, or if action, perhaps radical and violent, is needed to accomplish change? In the heart of Porto, gentrification swells like a dark wave, washing over the city’s skeleton. Ultimately, the group decides to confront the inexorable tide, choosing to take action in an attempt to reclaim their city.
The Rain is a highly concentrated combination of political thought and literary experiment, where Grigoriev rises to a new, pioneering level, as the unyielding rain becomes both a physical presence and a torrent of introspection. The city’s haunting beauty and quiet resignation are rendered in stark, melancholic hues, while the group’s indignation sparks defiance and fleeting hope in this city steeped in rain.
Author
Reviews
“In this, Grigoriev’s most brilliant novel to date, unforgettable characters come to life through a stream of fragmented, broken, elevated, dissolved, rain-washed attempts at conversation.”
Expressen (SE)
“The Rain is a remarkably beautiful novel. […] Romantic, nostalgic, cinematic – Grigoriev’s prose is exceptionally beautiful in its fluctuating rain scenes.”
Aftonbladet (SE)
“Maxim Grigoriev’s The Rain is a delightfully hypnotizing novel. […] The Rain is a serious game, playing on our longing to interpret and fill in, and a pleasure to read.”
Dagens Nyheter (SE)
“[…] a novel such as The Rain, which resides in questions touching on life and how it’s supposed to be lived – but also how it’s supposed to be written – is a balm for the soul.”
Sydsvenskan (SE)
“Just like Europe, The Rain contains nuanced and fascinating descriptions and meditations of decay, ineffability, absence and incompleteness.”
Svenska Dagbladet (SE)
“Reading Grigoriev this time is like stepping straight into a whirlpool.”
Jönköpings-Posten (SE)
“It is an unusual but very successful narrative technique, that provides a distinct and continuously fascinating experience of the characters and their actions.”
BTJ (SE)
“[…] the prose in the descriptive parts, about the granite, the wind, and the rain, is devastatingly beautiful.”
Kulturnytt, Swedish Radio (SE)
“The resigned atmosphere, that Maxim Grigoriev handles so skillfully, glues together the story’s loose form. The rain – abused daily in worse books – falls more beautifully in Grigoriev’s prose than that of any other Swedish author.”
Helagotland (SE)
“As a stylistic experiment, The Rain is groundbreaking. […] The Rain is a fun book. An intelligent book.”
KULT Magasin (SE)
“You are completely drawn into the story. […]Ultimately, The Rain is a novel that breaks free from its own boundaries and evolves into something more, something that affected me more than I was prepared for and that I will think about for a long time to come. Maxim Grigoriev has created an unparalleled opus, and a clear example of what literature alone can accomplish.”
Lundagård (SE)