The Character of Rain

The Japanese character for 'Amelie' is the same as that for 'rain,' and in her brilliant and tender autobiographical novel Amelie Nothomb shows how right that is. After she emerges from a prolonged vegetative state, the main character, a two-year-old child, dives into the world with abandon. That world happens to be Japan, a place where children under three are considered gods. The Character of Rain is a portrait of the artist as an infant, as well as a haunting depiction of infancy itself - its terrors, joys, and, most of all, its immersions.