House of Sand and Fog [Unabridged]

Rating:
Summary: Everyone is stupid
Review: This is a frustrating story because everyone is stupid. And they just keep piling on the stupid, one stupid action after the other.

Part 1 is full of sex and stupidity. That's a sign of a bad, at least second-rate, writer. It seemed he padded the book with sexual details that were unnecessary to the story except to show the reader that two of the characters didn't think with their brains.

Although the author seemed to be trying to get the reader to sympathize with all three main characters, I just couldn't. What was to like?

Part 2 gives glimpses of good writing. It made me wonder if two different people each wrote half the book.

Although everyone except the Iranian teenager was stupid in Part 2 as well as Part 1, the author did make the reader sympathize sometimes in Part 2, for example, when Lester considered his kids (but was so stupid he didn't do that for long), when Behrani's wife's headache was so bad (the description actually made MY head ache) while Behrani and their son were gone with Lester, and especially Behrani's thoughts during and after the episode with his son and Lester.

Unfortunately, the book didn't get good until the second half of the second part. I gave it two, rather than one, stars because of those few pages of exceptionally good writing when the author described Behrani's devastation.

Rating:
Summary: Well Written...but
Review: This book is very well written, artfully so, but all in all it is extremely depressing.I read the book after it received so much acclaim for the academy awards and it was a good read, but I honestly felt like the characters could have found better ways to deal with their misfortune and anguish. If you would like to read something for the sake of well written literature, with detailed descriptions and raw emotion, then this is a novel you might want to read. If you are the least bit depressed, however, please don't read this. It does not provide hope to impossible situations. A book that deals with similar hoplessness, is a book I just read by Michele Geraldi called Lucky Monkeys In The Sky. It is a different story entirely, but the emotions related to the complete loss of hope are quit similar. The difference between the emotion of the two books, however, is that Lucky Monkeys In The Sky finds a positive way in which to deal with it and it finds the last glimmer of hope. Then it builds upon that. Sand and Fog doesn't seem to even have that glimmer, although, like I said, it is a well-written novel.

Rating:
Summary: A Great book!
Review: Greetings from beautiful downtown Poughkeepsie!
Man, there are some tough critics out there..oh well, different strokes. I thought this book was great!
I loved the different perspectives and flaws of the characters. People and institutions can and do make very stupid mistakes that should never happen ..but they do! Small situations can often spiral into big disasters. I couldnt put this book down and found myself wondering where this was all going....you could just feel that "a train wreck" was coming! Actually, I found the tragedy/ending almost anti-climatic (as horrible as it was) because the build up was just so great. I definitely recommend this, despite all the bad breath!

Rating:
Summary: Unfulfilling yet intriguing
Review: What a disappointing book! I can't decide how much I dislike it. I don't regret reading it, but my expectations were too high. Something compelled me to finish it, so the writing was clearly decent. The author's use of switching voices was an effective tool.

The plot surrounding the house was quite implausible and contrived, although possible. I think that was the driving force that got me through the book: the premise seemed so unfair and stupid, but Life is unfair and stupid sometimes, so I kept reading. The symbolism of the house and what it represented to all of the characters made sense.

It was very hard to identify with or root for any of the characters. To my surprise, Colonel Behrani ended up being my favorite character. Despite his many faults and arrogance. He definitely had his flaws, and he was a product of his culture. This doesn't excuse but does explain some of his behavior. Stubborn Behrani wasn't always very likable, but I could identify with his struggle to try and get the best for his family while trying to let go of his old rich and privileged life in order to accept his new common status in the U.S.

I wasn't crazy about Kathy and Lester, but since reading the book I've been gaining more sympathy for Kathy. The book is worth reading in order to see the clash of cultures and individuals who misunderstand each other and their intentions. However, the book left me unfulfilled and disappointed, yet inspired enough to write a review.

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't stop reading!
Review: Every night, I read for at least an hour before going to sleep. I intended to start this book last night...instead, I finished it. At 6 a.m. I became so engrossed in the story and the characters' lives and motivations that I had to know what happened to them.

I am a little amused at some reviewers' idea that the basic premise of the story is implausible. I am an attorney working in property law, and I can't honestly say whether it is plausible because the law of property varies from state to state (and sometimes, county to county). In some states, it may be possible to rescind the sale as illegal; in California, I don't know. Stranger things have happened.

While not explicitly describing it, underlying much of Kathy's attitude (character flaws and all) is her frustration with the slowness of the legal system. Like many laypeople, she expects that, once she proves that a mistake has been made, everything will be sorted out by the weekend. She is naive in this belief! She also appears to expect that her lawyer will be able to devote all of her time and attention to Kathy's case--that's just not true in the real world, and that fact was also implicit in the narrative.

I really enjoyed the way that the characters spoke in their own voices. I could understand and empathize with each of them, although I will admit to being less sympathetic to Behrani, a misogynistic, greedy man who cannot accept that, in this country, he is no more important than Kathy, a person he despises as beneath him. Poor guy, in this country he cannot have people beaten because they don't grovel to him. I suspect that, in his heart of hearts, that's his most dear desire--to have people groveling. Especially, his wife. This man's entire sense of self is wrapped up in commanding respect (which actually resembles fear more than respect) from others regardless of whether he has earned any. But the author does an excellent job of portraying Behrani's stifling of his own moral voice through rationalization. In the end, when it is too late, it turns out that he has known the right thing to do all along; he just hasn't paid attention--to his own conscience or to that of his wife and son. Ultimately, it is his suppression of his own moral center that results in tragedy for him.

For those readers who dislike Kathy because of poor choices she has made, be careful--how many of us have never made a poor choice? And whatever her cirumstances, that does not change the fact that the situation in which she finds herself is the result of a governmental screwup. They happen, and they are difficult to correct when they do happen. It is very difficult to get an admission of error from the government--any government.

The character I liked least is Les, the deputy sheriff who takes Kathy's side. I think he might have been set up to be a "defender of women" character to contrast with Behrani's misogyny; however, having known several law enforcement officers, I thought his actions toward the end of the novel were very much out of character for a seasoned officer. Those parts strained my ability to suspend my disbelief.

Still and all, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the characters all day. For me, that's often the hallmark of a great book.

Rating:
Summary: flawless and exhiliarating page-turner
Review: Despite the downward spiral of events that transpires in this seemingly flawless novel, I was fully absorbed by the characters and the events. Having heard numerous criticisms of this book in terms of the characters being unlikeable, I was honestly impressed with how well the author explained the behavior and motivations of the primary protagonists. The fact that I am not an immigrant or a recovering addict in no way rendered me incapable of relating to their experiences and their actions. In allowing Kathy, the initial home owner, and the wife of Col. Behrani to view each other not as antagonists, but as females capable of caring about each other's well-being despite the battle over a house they find themselves involved in, made the characters seem more human to me. Even in the midst of anger and evil, moments of compassion and kindness can and do exist. Before the story comes to its inevitable denouement, both of the primary protagonists come to realize their own complicitness in the tragic events that befell them. A thoroughly engaging read that should not be passed over.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!! BOOK & MOVIE SUPERB!
Review: I must say, I am shocked at the people who did not find the movie and/or the movie absolutely WONDERFUL! To me, it was more than just about the house. It was about honor, culture differences, and integrity. Kathy had no honor, no integrity until the climactic end when she saw what Colonel Behrani would do for honor, integrity and NOT the American Dream as some reviewers note, but for the Persian dream he once lived in Iran. Behrani was correct when he said us Americans only care about what we have at the moment, that we have so much that we only care about what's next. HE WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. It made me stop and think that I should be more thankful for the things I have. I found him to be the most interesting character! I say RUN to the movie and then read the book. Both are FANTASTIC!!

Rating:
Summary: Skip Movie Too
Review: Pretty good tragedy especially if you buy into the
(false) premise that America is communist with respect
to peoples homes. The reality being that most
"homestead laws" are so powerful that even mortgage
companies have a hard time kicking people out...it is
essentially impossible for a county to do what is
described in the book and shown in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not my cup of tea.
Review: This is one of those books people tend to either love or hate - a little like Cold Mountain in the polarization of the reviews. And, whereas I loved Cold Mountain, House of Sand and Fog was not my cup of tea. I couldn't relate or even care much about any of the characters, which is odd, because I have really related to other characters in Andre Dubus' writing.
The book focuses on the different meanings that a certain house takes on for people, people that include a former addict who was the original owner and a once powerful disenfranchised Irani immigrant, and as the story progressed, the house takes on a role of its own in this well written but (for me) ultimately dissatisfying and depressing cultural clash.

Rating:
Summary: A Feeble Attempt at Drama
Review: "House of Sand and Fog" is an utterly grating and annoying, dismal novel that appears to be most concerned with how much it can irritate its reader before said reader throws the book against the wall. By the time this twaddle was over, I was fed up with everything about it: the writing style, the characters, the stupid plotline. I wanted to see the three principal characters horse-whipped by the time all was said and done.

This book pretentiously compares itself to classic Greek tragedy, but don't be bamboozled into thinking you're going to find anything profound here. We're supposed to feel frustration at the childish behavior of the three principals and shake our heads ruefully at the end, thinking "if only there had been more understanding, the whole ugly situation could have been averted." Yeah, well if Andre Dubus hadn't made his one and only point in the first 20 pages, the book might have been interesting. As it is, all we get are 300+ numbing pages about people acting as self-destructively as possible.

I did give it two stars instead of one because of the character of Colonel Behrani. He is interesting, and Dubus manages to make me understand all of his motivations. I can just picture the kind of proud, stubborn patriarch he represents because I've known a few in my time.

However, when it comes to the characters of Kathy and (especially) Lester, Dubus leaves me beached and wondering why in hell I should I care about these people let alone take the time to understand what motivates them? Kathy is disappointingly simplistic, and I wanted to scream every time she lit up one more cigarette. Whenever Dubus needs her to be doing something, he has her light up a cigarette. I felt like I'd been on a week-long drinking and smoking binge by the time I"d finished this novel.

But Dubus saves his worst writing for developing the character of Lester, a man who makes about as much sense as Baz Luhrmann fans. Even Dubus doesn't understand this character, and it's painfully obvious. 50 pages from the ending (while the whole mess is supposed to be charging toward a climax), Dubus is still pausing to give us yet more back story on Lester in a desperate attempt to make his actions seem at all relevant or feasible. Why not just make him a crazy lunatic and be done with it?

I suppose I was supposed to care about the harm that comes to the characters in the end, but I wasn't. Frankly, I was happy that some of them were put out of their misery.

I only wish someone had spared me the misery of reading this overblown piece of rubbish.

And by the way, Dubus needs to take a class in literary subtlety. When you've made reference to your novel's driving metaphor in the freaking TITLE (fog), give your readers some credit for not being total idiots, and avoid making references to it on every stinking page.

Stay away, stay far, far away.