House of Sand and Fog [Unabridged]

Rating:
Summary: Can this get any worse? Yes.
Review: There are some things in life that are fairly unpleasant. Some of our sarcastic colleagues say "this is reality" or another scripted (right from television) response, "deal with it." And in dealing with the unavoidable, this is for the most part true. Somethings are just darn unpleasant, sad, and tearful. They are in our family or our neighborhood and we can't ignore them. They are, in fact, part of life.

Now reading is a special joy, at least for me. I read for three reasons. One, the beauty of the word. Everything from James Dickey to Tennyson to The Sonnets to The Book of Common Prayer. The words are melodious, strung together to create an almost palpable feeling of comfort and enjoyment.

Secondly, I read to learn. Harry Truman. Omar Bradley. Phil Sheridan. George Custer. The Battle of Roark's Drift. The 300 Spartans. Things I never learned in school that interest me now.

And finally, I read for pleasure. Elizabeth George. Robert Crais. Parker. Lehane. Burke. Conneley.

No where in here is a category "to depress myself more than a sharp stick in the eye."

The House of Sand . . . is the most depressing book I have read in the last 5 years. If it were a movie, I would have walked out. The characters are mean spirited, obsessed, self absorbed and self destructive. If they were on a train with you, you would get off at the next stop.

Rating:
Summary: Falls Flat
Review: I know Oprah's choices can at times be depressing but this borders on ridiculous.
The story is predudicial, stereotypical, trite much of the time and frankly, the only reason I finished it at all was because I always try to give a book a chance to work itself out in the end. This story, however, never did recover.
This is a problem some have writing fiction. Trying to make people so extreme they become unbelievable. First. there is the "addict", who slides deeper and deeper into dispair, dragging everyone with her with each drink she takes. Then the "Good cop gone bad"/ "married man", who loves his wife but just isn't "in love" with her. Then finally the proud, arrogant middle easterner who resents having to be in this country in the first place who has problems manhandling women...Yadda Yadda. C'mon it's just a bit too much to swallow.
If you, as a reader, are interested in people studies and you live out in the boonies somewhere like I do, pleeease don't use this book as a basis for enlightenment. This is not realistic nor too believable, It's just flat depressing.

Rating:
Summary: surprised i liked it so much
Review: books go in 2 categories for me: those I sell to the used book store and those i keep. this is a keeper and I've lent it 2cd now. My mom said: you've got to read this book and at first i thought huh, what is this, hmmm
but i am converted
1) the style/detail level is great - the author did a good job of writing in a way that suits both main characters feelings (merges well but is definetly distinct)
2) story is good, it could happen to you to - you can really see that this could happen nextdoor...
3) presentation excellent: reading the same story from 2 totally different perspectives (like barbara kingslover - the poisonwood bible) is a treat.
lovely, depressing, inspiring and downright a darn good read.

Rating:
Summary: Train wreck waiting to happen
Review: That's how I felt all through this book about it's characters. They were all such wrecks. I almost enjoyed this book, but after a while I had a hard time taking the stubborness and bad judgement of the characters. The characters were so totally messed up and didn't see the escape routes in front of them. Towards the end, while I wanted to know what would happen, I could only read a chapter at a time because I was so repulsed and disgusted by the main characters. And the ending...it felt like Dubus wasn't quite sure how to resolve everything. It wasn't badly written but I could barely take how pathetic the characters lives were.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart...
Review: Truly a great read. From beginning to end, I found it difficult to stop reading. Once you begin this emotional roller coaster, you find yourself immersed in the lives of three people. The stories are beautifully told, switching from perspective to perspective, you never lose focus. The reader is completely involved and there for every step taken, every mistake made by each character. The writing style is great, and actually makes you believe that each perspective is being told from a certain person's point of view.

I do feel, however, that the ending left something to be desired. Other than than, the storyline is a steady stream of events that keep you engrossed. This book is certainly not like any other Oprah book... it's actually good.

Rating:
Summary: The plot is great, and the characters are fantastic...
Review: I've read many previous reviews claiming this book has a poor plot and an ending that is too dark, leaving the reader w/out hope. Unfortunately the movie adaptation that will be released late 2003 will probably "adjust" the ending for an American audience, because it's an American audience that can't accept a tragic ending to a book or movie.

I am a half-Iranian male, and was very impressed at how well Dubus captured Iranian culture w/intense detail (i.e., drinking tea w/a sugar cube between the teeth, fruit readily available in the house, etc.). The story of Behrani coming to America w/a wealthy Iranian past, and being humbled by a min. wage existence in America, where his work experience is non-transferable here, is the story of most Iranians I know who immigrated here (my dad was an aeronautics engineer in Teheran, and is now a taxi cab driver here).

The plot is realistic, and I very much believed the ending (I get sick of the "hollywood" ending of taking a tragic story and putting a b.s. positive spin at the end just to keep an American audience happy). The characters are all excellent, and as most writers will tell you, the best stories have great characters.

And.. yes, BUY THIS BOOK! :)

Rating:
Summary: Some good, some bad
Review: "House of Sand and Fog" was my very 1st audio book; I "read" it on a couple very long car trips by myself. It was good company. First, I've got to say that I was shocked when I learned Andre Dubus III wasn't Iranian -- his detail of that culture is spellbinding and, as he gave the reading of Col. Behrani, himself, his language inflections were as authentic as I would believe (Dubus' bio says that he learned that ancient culture from an Iranian girlfriend in college!). Dubus' wife read the Kathy Nicolo part, and she, too, was excellent. It was certainly an entertaining book.

Col. Behrani was the most 3-D character; his internal conflict -- his guilt and acceptance of the "punishment" poverty for his past associations under the Shah's regime, is compelling. Less so, but also interesting, was Lester Burdon (the metaphor "burden" is quite obvious, here). Burdon is clearly one of those "picked-on", whimpish guys who hides behind his badge. Dubus does well delivering the subtle gun/penis metaphor, here. While some posters have questioned Burdon's motives, I think it's highly realistic for a mousy, cowardly man to prove his "manhood" to literally throw his life away to prove himself (consider the real life of John Wilkes Booth).

Mrs. Behrani and the children were also good characters as was Kathy's lawyer (whose name escapes me at the moment).

I really liked the 2 voices, POV's of the 2 main characters: Col. Behrani and Kathy. Again, HEARING them speak dramatically heightened the depth of their character, although I probably would have still felt this way had I experienced this book the "old fashion way."

That said, the switching to 3rd-person omnipitent for Burdon's POV was off-puting, particularly b/c Dubus read this narrative, in addition to his highly accented, dramatic rendering of the Colonel.

While the ending of the book was certainly dramatic, it just seemed like a gratuitous apocalypse. What purpose did it serve? Did it enlighten the reader, in any way, about the human condition? I think not.

Also, the vivid description of sex seens seemed WAY out of place and, if you knew me, I'm anything but a prude. It just seemed out of context w/ the tenor of this story; a cheap grab at sensationalism in an otherwise character-driven story.

Finally, I was REALLY turned off by the racial stereotypes of the prisoners. I was particularly irritated, b/c Dubus went a long way towards fleshing out his main, and even minor, characters, but the ending, w/ the prison women, seemed like cheap racial trash. I felt like I was listening to an audio of the "Jerry Springer Show."

[spoilers alert!, read no further if you haven't read this book]

I thought Col. Behrani's suicide was gratuitous and pointless and not in keeping w/ the tenor of the character.

So too was Kathy and Burdon; eventually their relationship was pointless and not compelling.

In all, it appears Dubus was onto a compelling story but just didn't seem to know what to do w/ it. It started off highly compelling, but didn't go anywhere substanative. Ultimately, it crashed and burned and, though exciting in parts, left me feeling very cheated. The very last scene w/ Kathy in jail was totally pointless.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Tragedy of Greek Proportions!
Review: If not for Oprah, this book may have been relegated to the list of under-rated but truly original works of fiction. Dubus has permeated this novel with a profound darkness and despair rarely seen in modern fiction, yet manages to keep the reader engrossed rather than overwhelmed. These are deeply flawed yet ultimately realistic and sympathetic characters, each of whom reach personal turning points which come together in a tragic intersection in the book's dramatic conclusion. Not a light read but a memorable one, which lingered with me long after it had ended.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Wait for it to End!
Review: This book fell completely flat with me. I'd read reviews and had received positive personal reviews and so I was really looking forward to cracking the bind!

When I began reading it, I liked the mood and was drawn in. But soon found in very draining with the lack of motion in storyline and the droning on and on from the main characters. It frankly, became unbearable, and I skimmed the last 40 pages or so, and I hate to do that!

On the up side, the story itself has much potential, I just felt the author spent too much on non-dialogue, ie. many, many pages were of the characters' thoughts and memories. Normally, this doesn't bother me, but in this case, it caused a chasm in the storyline that left me bored.

Rating:
Summary: Here's a thought
Review: I thought this book was very good. I am forced to read many books for school and this has been one of my favorites. The connection in the book with mythology is very creative. Kathies fate and then her punishment reflect that of Oedipus. If you didn't like the ending read Oedipus and you might understand some more of the ending.