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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
Everyone was so enthralled with this book and I expected a bit more. Although it is a good read and an intricate story I'm not like absolutely in love with this book but I would recommend it.
This book was a gift from a friend. That I received in June. I started reading it then, but it was just tough so I put it down. I finally picked it up again about a month ago and finally have made it through: I consider it a major victory.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever read because it was just unforgiving. From the very beginning, to the bitter end, it was depressing and a harrowing look at what desperate people can do, and how quickly things can unravel. In addition, the pace was glacial but I still had to finish it because I had to know what happened. I would recommend it because it is well-written but it's definitely the kind of thing you read only once.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever read because it was just unforgiving. From the very beginning, to the bitter end, it was depressing and a harrowing look at what desperate people can do, and how quickly things can unravel. In addition, the pace was glacial but I still had to finish it because I had to know what happened. I would recommend it because it is well-written but it's definitely the kind of thing you read only once.
There is nothing really wrong with this book. It's well-written, psychologically astute with distinct voices for the different narrators who are desperate, needy and proud. It is appropriately heart-wrenching at the most critical point in the story. Having said all that, maybe I should give it 5, or at least 4, stars, but I found that it isn't my kind of story in a way that I'm not sure I can explain. Perhaps it's because it's like watching a car wreck, or people on a so-called reality show. While many use the car-wreck analogy to mean they can't turn away, I never have trouble averting my eyes or changing the channel. So I can only say that while I admire the book and I guess I 'like' it, I don't 'really' like it.
Kathy Nicolo inherits her home free and clear from her deceased father. Kathy is a recovering alcohol addict and sometimes forgets to open her mail. Because of this she never noticed that she owed back taxes on her home and the county in California that it is in moves to evict her from it. Her home is then sold to pay off the back taxes. The home is sold to an Iranian family, the Behranis, Massoud a retired Colonel, Nadi his wife, and son Esmail, for an unbelievable price and they quickly move in and make Kathy's former house their own. But Kathy's not quite ready to give up her home just like that.
So begins this story of competing desires, of property ownership and people who just want the right thing for themselves, who are unable to understand the other's needs. The first half of the book is something akin to watching a tennis match: the chapters are relatively brief and told alternately from Kathy or Massoud's point of view. I felt myself pulling more for Kathy than Massoud, though that flip-flopped too. By the second half of the book though it became apparent that this tennis match was doomed and it slowly becomes more of a Shakespearean tragedy. The tension ratcheted up quite a bit in the second half. The characters are very realistic in this book, particularly Massoud and Kathy. Massoud is just downright unlikeable at certain points, and at one time I actually stopped reading because he was so unpleasant a character. Fortunately this was very early in the book and I was able to overlook this and move past it. But kudos to the author for creating a character so realistic that I found myself turned off by him. The setting is entirely in San Mateo county in California in the 1990's, pre-cell phones and internet.
There is some alcohol use in this book and occasional mention of doing cocaine. There is violence, more so as you get nearer the end of the book, and domestic violence between two characters. There is some really harsh language, particularly from Massoud. There are some sex scenes described on the page and some off the page. The Behrani family speaks Farsi and English, and there are lots of mixed dialogue and some Muslim themes. I was originally going to give this book four stars but after completing it, I think Kathy and Massoud are going to be in my head for a while, so I am going to give this book five stars and say that I highly recommend reading this. It is a good book with a theme about trying to understand others.
So begins this story of competing desires, of property ownership and people who just want the right thing for themselves, who are unable to understand the other's needs. The first half of the book is something akin to watching a tennis match: the chapters are relatively brief and told alternately from Kathy or Massoud's point of view. I felt myself pulling more for Kathy than Massoud, though that flip-flopped too. By the second half of the book though it became apparent that this tennis match was doomed and it slowly becomes more of a Shakespearean tragedy. The tension ratcheted up quite a bit in the second half. The characters are very realistic in this book, particularly Massoud and Kathy. Massoud is just downright unlikeable at certain points, and at one time I actually stopped reading because he was so unpleasant a character. Fortunately this was very early in the book and I was able to overlook this and move past it. But kudos to the author for creating a character so realistic that I found myself turned off by him. The setting is entirely in San Mateo county in California in the 1990's, pre-cell phones and internet.
There is some alcohol use in this book and occasional mention of doing cocaine. There is violence, more so as you get nearer the end of the book, and domestic violence between two characters. There is some really harsh language, particularly from Massoud. There are some sex scenes described on the page and some off the page. The Behrani family speaks Farsi and English, and there are lots of mixed dialogue and some Muslim themes. I was originally going to give this book four stars but after completing it, I think Kathy and Massoud are going to be in my head for a while, so I am going to give this book five stars and say that I highly recommend reading this. It is a good book with a theme about trying to understand others.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Insane to think of this book in the context of how 20 yeahs has changed nothing and everything of how this world compresses and expels the dread and trauma of ruined people ruining each other for the sake of hope. Beautiful and aching. Some of the dialogue was a little iffy. Perhaps Lester is one of the greatest modern literary villains.
This quote perfectly captures the spirit of this book: “But then I remembered his story about planting coke in the wife beater’s bathroom, and I felt a little better as I pulled the t-shirt over my head and caught the faint scent of vomit and gun oil. Me and Lester.” Lester and Kathy deserve each other. Carol’s better off.
I was second guessing whether I wanted to keep reading this, and I really wish I’d stopped. Reading this was the equivalent of listening to a true crime podcast episode about a boring civil dispute turned ugly. It’s about the ugly evil that can come out of people over property and money. (That’s on housing and income instability in America.) I guess the author did a good job of setting up why each character refuses to back down, but it still feels farfetched. It was depressing how every glimmer of compassion or opportunity for understanding would get derailed by circumstance.
The fog was a cool metaphor for uncertainty and ambiguity. There’s too much sex in the book, and you can tell a man wrote it.
Oh yeah and ACAB.
I was second guessing whether I wanted to keep reading this, and I really wish I’d stopped. Reading this was the equivalent of listening to a true crime podcast episode about a boring civil dispute turned ugly. It’s about the ugly evil that can come out of people over property and money. (That’s on housing and income instability in America.) I guess the author did a good job of setting up why each character refuses to back down, but it still feels farfetched. It was depressing how every glimmer of compassion or opportunity for understanding would get derailed by circumstance.
The fog was a cool metaphor for uncertainty and ambiguity. There’s too much sex in the book, and you can tell a man wrote it.
Oh yeah and ACAB.