Rating: 
Summary: House of Sadness and Futility
Review: What a talented writer and what a dark tale. There is so much darkness and so little light and the story brings you down and down but all the while you are struck by the gift of the author to show the underbelly of a society that includes all kinds of people and a house that becomes a catalyst in all of their lives.
I look forward to a next book by the author for the writing but I hope the subject matter is more uplifting.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting and touching.
Review: The House is the story of a sad, addiction-prone woman, desperately clinging to the last vestiges of her dignity and self-respect, only to have her home ripped out from under her; and a middle-aged Iranian man who is desperately trying to reclaim a kind of dignity of his own.
Dubus exhibits wonderful command of language and remarkable insight into two completely different personalities. I don't know when I've felt more clearly what it would be like to be another person. Most of the story feels natural and "true" to me.
Having said that, however, let me also say I was a little disappointed with the ending. The tragic nature of the ending is mostly the work of the third major character of the book--a sheriff's deputy, and I was surprised at the course of action that he took. It seemed out of character. A final note--I personally thought the sex scenes were well-drawn and realistic; one of the better parts of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: In my opinion, this book did not get interesting until its midpoint. It is very well written, but was so slow I felt like skipping to the last 10 pages to find out what happened (I've never done that). The revealing look at mid-eastern culture was interesting - I'd say that was the best part. I got so sick of Lester Burdon and his low level girlfriend Kathy. Also, Mr. Behrani seemed too angry and pompous to care about. Once again, the story got interesting at the midpoint because the action picked up, not because I cared about the characters.
Rating: 
Summary: I hated this book
Review: I felt angry and depressed when I bothered finishing this book. The characters were at first compelling, but by the end despicable. The plot was very thin- not enough to justify the 300 + pages. A short story would have been sufficient to tell these sorry characters' tale of woe. The author included several vivid descriptions, as if they were added for a writing class assignment. The voices of characters whining and worrying over and over was irritating. I didn't quit reading because I hoped something would happen. The ending destroyed all faith in humanity. Don't bother reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, challenging work
Review: Fascinating weaving of characters and their motivations--conscious and otherwise. One sub plot is a revealing glimpse into the lives of '90's immigrants in America. Another fascinating theme is the ways in which people make assumptions about others and the awful consequences. Dubus gives us a stark, real picture of people completely misreading and misunderstanding others' motives and background. I found the Iranian Colonel a particularly interesting character--proud, stiff and determined to make his own way in a culture that at times repels him. This isn't an 'easy' book--there is a sense of an awful inevitability and an unwillingness to soften the edges. I've seen criticisms here of the ending but I found it a continuation of the 'hurtling train' course of events. And, some of the characters themselves seem to have some sense of the upcoming consequences. These aren't easy characters--self-destructive, proud, arrogant. At the end I thought for a short time that Kay had gained some personal insight but, in the end, it seemed she was on the same, sad journey. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book with a bad ending
Review: This was one of the few books that I couldn't stop reading. The author does very well to draw you in to the people, the plot and the drama. However, the ending was a real let-down--rather anti-climatic. It's a worthwhile read, as long as you don't expect a thriller ending.
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate and unbelievable but good narrative
Review: Although I initially found this book interesting, I soon realized that the author really does not have great insight into Iranian culture. I don't believe that you can really get great insight into a culture without having lived in the counry or studied it extensively. Learning the language "over beers" as the author describes doesn't quite cut it. The author is doing a diservice by misrepresenting the language, the culture and the views of the Iranian culture as a whole. Just a few examples of these misrepresentations include: first, multiple mistakes in the use of Farsi. Granted, translating Farsi into phonetically spelled English isn't easy, there were still a number of glaring mistakes. Second, the family was inconsistent in its behavior. An educated, well-off colonel would not eat his meals on the floor as shown in the book, for example. Finally, the character's actions were largely implausible. This may have to do with plot more than anything. I did find the book captured the scenery and location of the Bay Area well. I also found the book was a page turner which credits the author's narrative skill. However, he needs to go back to school and truly learn more about the Iranian culture.
Rating:
Summary: Very Sad - No lesson to be learned
Review: I found this book to be missing some essential ingredients of a good read. I like a book that has something to teach, or makes me feel. The book must give me at least one character I like. The story was just so sad and the characters all too darkly human.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing and lacking
Review: I really dislike endings in fiction novels like the one in this book. That was my major turn-off. I thought the dialogue set forth for the Behmini family was good. However, as this story commenced I was confused when the author switched back and forth on just whose house he was talking about. I guess what I'm trying to say is I thought the story was difficult to follow in the beginning. After I once discovered what the author was doing, it moved a little better. Maybe I'm a little off base here, but for Mr. Behmini's family to start off living in such a high-rent apartment, picking up trash and working a second job at a convenience store probably wouldn't catch his monthly expenses in California. I found some parts of the story to be a little unrealistic. Then I found myself bored with too much description about the customs and ways of the Behmini family, the cooking, the previous life before coming to America. I thought the author spent too much time in this area and wrote about things that really didn't pertain to the story. However, the character descriptions were good, even though they turned out to be very depressing . The sex in this book I thought was described in a very crude way and was totally turned off in that area. Last, but not least, I think a good editor could have done wonders for this book. The punctuation was really lacking with sentences too long and running together. I do think the author has talent in his story-telling ability, but feel he just needed to be a little more polished or fine-tuned with this novel. This book has been selected for my next library book review group meeting and I can't wait to hear the opinions of the others.
Rating:
Summary: Depressingly prosaic
Review: This author clearly has a gift for writing, but seems to have spent too much time in front of television dramas. Some very interesting, three-dimensional characters fall victim to a ridiculous plot. I will wait for your next novel, Mr. Dubus, because if you can bring yourself to collaborate with someone who has an interesting story to tell, I know that you can bring the characters to life.
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