The Right Attitude To Rain (Isabel Dalhousie Novels Book 3)

The Right Attitude to Rain is the third of the Sunday Philosophy Club series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featuring the protagonist Isabel Dalhousie. . The UK audio version of the book is abridged, and is read by Hilary Neville. The US version is unabridged and is read by Davina.
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What probably started out as a clever idea to get the reader to think of the moral and ethical implication of everyday interactions has become, unfortunately, a very boring book.


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It just plodded along and I could hardly wait to finish. I'm enjoying this series for it's quiet introspection. It's a nice change of pace from my normal reads. Apr 27, Janet Goodwin added it. I enjoyed this book, I did not realize it was a series. I wish I had read the first two in the series first. The characters were well developed with interesting personalities.

I enjoyed Isabel's thought patterns as she was editing the articles for the Philosophy Review. The Scottish history through out the book was a good addition. The discription of countryside was adequate. I would have enjoyed a bit more. Apr 08, Kathrin rated it really liked it. This series is growing on me more and more. Isabel has lost some of her snobbiness and replaced it with a cute kind of cluelessness when it comes to questions of the heart.

I enjoy how thoughtful these books are while all the while being light and comforting reads. There are bits of wisdom spread through a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Aug 28, Tripfiction rated it really liked it. I took this book on a recent visit to Edinburgh and was delighted to be able to explore the city in the company of Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher and observer of human life. The storyline is essentially a vehicle for musings about moral conundrums, explorations of the curved balls that life can throw at us, and delighting in the Edinburgh way of life.

It is written in a lighthearted yet meaningful way, complemented every now and then by a sprinkling of Scottish history. The reader comes away just a bit wiser and a bit more knowledgeable, without it in any way feeling like it has been a didactic exercise, it is a pleasure. Isabel is an editor for a quarterly philosophical review.

She is part American and, more surprisingly, she is in her early 40s I definitely had her down for being in the amateur sleuthing, knitted cardigan mould, and slippers after 7pm brigade — nothing like stereotyping! She happens upon an American couple, known, as it transpires, to her circle, and through them she is invited to a weekend house party, a very traditional Scottish thing to do. They are an oddball couple who prick her interest, especially as the male is very wealthy and the female looks to be a gold digger.

As the weekend unfolds, more of the couple dynamic becomes apparent. Essentially this book is about relationships and about Scotland — and Alexander McCall Smith tackles both in a creative and sympathetic way. I went to Stockbridge, and so do the characters — I could visualise them as I went to the wonderful Sunday Market there. And there are plenty of little snippets of life in the Scottish capital, right down capturing those bell pulls to announce the arrival of a visitor, still so ubiquitous in the subsiding New Town.

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A meander through Rutland Square, tucked away behind the busy end of Princes Streetwith its Calvinist Rock connected the book with locale. Then it was off to Traquair House, the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, plus a bit of history about Mary Queen of Scots. And on past Peebles Hydro. The author is utterly adept at transporting his reader to place and time, subtly imbuing his prose with Scottish mores, culture and charm.

And whether he is writing about Botswana his series The No. A wonderful way to imbibe locale and you will definitely want to schedule a visit to Edinburgh after reading any of the books in this series or in his Scotland Street Series. View all 3 comments. Feb 25, Robin rated it really liked it. In the third of what are now ten or eleven "Isabel Dalhousie novels," the Edinburgh-based editor of The Journal of Applied Ethics , takes an interest in an engaged couple from Texas visiting Scotland over the summer.

She suspects Angie is after Tom's money first, and after Jamie, Isabel's good-looking young male friend, second; she is surprised to learn, later on, that Tom is attracted to her, Isabel.

But after once again tottering on the line between performing her moral duty to a neighbor and n In the third of what are now ten or eleven "Isabel Dalhousie novels," the Edinburgh-based editor of The Journal of Applied Ethics , takes an interest in an engaged couple from Texas visiting Scotland over the summer. But after once again tottering on the line between performing her moral duty to a neighbor and nosing into other people's business, she must wonder whether her hasty judgment was part cause of a near-tragedy.

Meanwhile, Isabel's search for a flat to buy for her housekeeper Grace leads to a misunderstanding about her relationship to Jamie - the scorned ex-boyfriend of her niece Cat, on whom Isabel has long had a crush of her own. But their friendship suddenly flowers into a romance that she has long desired. She spends a lot of time worrying about how people will perceive their affair, since she is the older by 14 years; but everyone seems okay with it except, with surprising vehemence, Cat.

An Interview with Alexander McCall Smith: Isabel Dalhousie's Moral Code

This installment has a lot of interesting developments for the series' recurring characters, including one at the end that comes as a real surprise. But the chief source of pleasure in reading it is to be around Isabel, with her quirky trains of thought, her meditations on proper behavior, her eye for the beauties of Scottish scenery, her ear for good Scottish poetry, her memory of the sordid details of Scottish history, and her nose for trouble. She feels a kinship toward the fox in her garden; she has a fondness for the shy young man who works in Cat's delicatessen; she has an old heartache in her past, and a new appreciation of her "sainted American mother's" flawed humanity; and she has, at last, the ability to overcome her cautious streak and do something spontaneous.

McCall Smith, also the author of The No. It goes on in The Careful Use of Compliments. Jun 20, Jennifer rated it really liked it Shelves: A bit slow at the start, but then it warms up. As usual I enjoyed the character Isabel's philosophizing and inquiries into what is moral and right, what we are personally responsible for. Questions such as that are not addressed much these days, but our modern world might be better off if they were. A man inside, anxiously waiting for customers, had seen her and had been watching her.

Isabel had looked through the glass, beyond the pile Enjoyable and unexpected. Isabel had looked through the glass, beyond the piles of rugs, and had met his gaze.

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She was sensitive to such encounters, because in her mind they were not entirely casual. By looking into the eyes of another, one established a form of connection that had moral implications. To look at another thus was to acknowledge one's shared humanity with him, and that meant one owed him something, no matter how small that thing might be. That was why the executioner was traditionally spared the duty of looking into the eyes of the condemned; he observed him by stealth, approached from behind, was allowed a mask, and so on.

If he looked into his eyes, then the moral bond would be established, and that moral bond would prevent him from doing what the state required: There were pockets of character, of resistance, that held out against all the forces that would destroy local, small-scale things, even small-scale countries; little shops were on the front line, she thought. Francs had gone, marks had gone, the insanely inflated Italian lira had gone; cars looked the same wherever you went, clothes too.

All the colour, all the difference, was being drained out of life.

The Right Attitude to Rain

May 05, Fiona rated it liked it. This book has the narrative arc of spirulina. And that's the point. The Right Attitude to Rain follows Isabel Dalhousie around her shoebox life, studiously documenting her inner thoughts; an endless, wittering monologue punctuated with great moral questions clumsily represented as everyday problems. More of nothing happens, but sometimes it happens in the rain. The Isabel Dalhousie books are popular, but not, I suspect, for their exploration of deep philosophical problems.

Rather, I think people enjoy them for the style in which they are written in - a kind of bucolic Scottish egalitarianism that, in an ever more troubling world, is increasingly popular. In short, this book is the equivalent of a well-proportioned Scottish grandmother asking you in for a cup of tea and a wee chat. I have read most of McCall's South African books and I found this one at the local library on the book club shelf.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this line of books with Isabel Dalhousie series. I do remember reading The Sunday Philosophy Club years ago and after reading this book, I finally got the "philosophy" side of the story. Naturally I am not philosophical, but rather more pragmatic. I often find philosophic people a little annoying. Now I understand a lit I have read most of McCall's South African books and I found this one at the local library on the book club shelf.

Now I understand a little better how their brains are wired. Way too much "internal rhetoric" goes on in their brains as they analyze each and every thought. Yikes - way too much internal rhetoric! As Isabel learned, some decisions are best made with the heart, with "the right attitude"! Mar 28, Beth Bonini rated it really liked it Shelves: In the third book in the Isabel Dalhousie series, Isabel's cousin from Dallas comes for a long visit -- which results in a house party involved Mimi the first cousin of Isabel's dead mother , Joe her husband and an engaged couple from Dallas.

Tom rich, but with a face marred by Bell's Palsy and Angie much younger and beautiful are a couple who intrigue, and worry, Isabel. She cannot help but get drawn into their relationship, even as her own relationship with Jamie is becoming more compli In the third book in the Isabel Dalhousie series, Isabel's cousin from Dallas comes for a long visit -- which results in a house party involved Mimi the first cousin of Isabel's dead mother , Joe her husband and an engaged couple from Dallas. She cannot help but get drawn into their relationship, even as her own relationship with Jamie is becoming more complicated.

She also learns something entirely unexpected about her own "sainted American mother" which causes her to reassess the past. Other aspects of the plot include buying Grace Isabel's housekeeper a house, Cat's latest boyfriend, and an attempted takeover of the philosophy journal which Isabel edits. You don't really read these books for the plot, though, and this one has perhaps an even less engaging "mystery" than some of the others in the series. But if you enjoy Isabel's personality, and the way she delves into the problems of her own life -- not to mention others -- this is an entirely enjoyable story.

People are realistically flawed, but there are no real horrors to be found in Isabel's Edinburgh. The ending of this book is particularly promising, but I don't want to spoil it by giving any details away. Aug 31, Rebecca rated it liked it Shelves: In this third installment of the Isabel Dalhousie series, Alexander McCall Smith has done an admirable job of advancing the plot without being too redundant.

For those unfamiliar with the series, but who have read the authors No.

While both philosophers in their own right, Isabel's philsophies are academic and rooted in social modernity whereas Precious Ramotswe prides herself on simple wisdom In this third installment of the Isabel Dalhousie series, Alexander McCall Smith has done an admirable job of advancing the plot without being too redundant. While both philosophers in their own right, Isabel's philsophies are academic and rooted in social modernity whereas Precious Ramotswe prides herself on simple wisdom in the face of changing tradition.

If you are expecting a whodunit-smoking-gun- mystery, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, McCall Smith explores the mysteries of the human heart and psyche. Why do we do what we do? Why do we say what we say? We all have our own mysteries to investigate. I do think the "mystery" label is deceiving--at least for this particular book in the series. All-in-all, a fun read, although I found the plot moving so much more quickly than usual that I skimmed over some of Isabel's more philosophical moments, eager for the next plot point.

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. About Alexander McCall Smith. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www. Other books in the series. Isabel Dalhousie 1 - 10 of 12 books. Books by Alexander McCall Smith.

See All Goodreads Deals…. McCall Smith admits that there has always been " tension " and " affection " between the two characters but was originally unsure of whether to develop their friendship into a sexual relationship: The Right Attitude to Rain generally received more positive reviews than its predecessors. An Alexander McCall Smith heroine finally gets some" and adding that "This affair is a welcome break from the tea sipping and moral hair-splitting that have made McCall Smith's recent novels such effective sleep aids. They also commend the philosophical material: John Wilson of the journal First Things suggests that parts of The Right Attitude to Rain , particularly the surprise ending, are reminiscent of the writing of Iris Murdoch , in that they are " sudden twists of plot and character " that underline " how often we are wrong about each other and wrong more generally in our suppositions, our inferences.

The UK audio version of the book is abridged , and is read by Hilary Neville. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Novels by Alexander McCall Smith. Retrieved from " https: Views Read Edit View history. Languages Italiano Edit links. This page was last edited on 14 October , at Isabel worries that she is wrong to give Tom advice about Angie.

The Right Attitude to Rain - Wikipedia

Does she do so in this novel to the degree she has in the past? How surprising is the final revelation? Were you surprised by what happened, or was it as you predicted? Delicious mental comfort food. The coincidences keep adding up because Isabel is, without a doubt, falling in love with her friend Jamie, who is fourteen years her junior.

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However, what is more confusing to Isabel is the fact that Tom confides to her that their meeting has made him doubt his feelings for Angie. Of course Isabel would love to give Tom some advice, but Jamie counsels her to stay out of it.

The Right Attitude to Rain Reader’s Guide

Questions and Topics for Discussion 1. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. Byatt, Possession ; Donald Campbell, Edinburgh: LitFlash The eBooks you want at the lowest prices. Read it Forward Read it first. Unbound Worlds Exploring the science fiction and fantasy universe.

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