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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Strangely, even though I sort of hated this book & skimmed parts of it, the main plot points and some of the characters have stayed with me.
The story is a train wreck, as I was warned by my friend Heather who loaned me this book. A woman’s house is taken from her by the state, due to a clerical error. Deep in depression, the woman (Kathy) had ignored all the notices she received about it. I had little sympathy for her plight, because her own incompetence was at the heart of her problems. After the house is sold to another family, Kathy tries to get it back. Her new boyfriend, Lester, is a police officer who leaves his family for Kathy. Lester descends into thughood, harassing the new owners of the house. Things get really out of hand and turn disasterous.
The high skim factor is due to the fact that the writing is not that good and becomes very repetitive at times. The plot reads like a B movie screenplay, with all the attendant melodrama. What a shock, the novel was made into a hollywood movie.
The new home owners are Iranian immigrants. They are the most believable–and the only likable–characters. But their end is rather grim. My advice: if you get sucked in by this one, be prepared to see the wreckage.
The story is a train wreck, as I was warned by my friend Heather who loaned me this book. A woman’s house is taken from her by the state, due to a clerical error. Deep in depression, the woman (Kathy) had ignored all the notices she received about it. I had little sympathy for her plight, because her own incompetence was at the heart of her problems. After the house is sold to another family, Kathy tries to get it back. Her new boyfriend, Lester, is a police officer who leaves his family for Kathy. Lester descends into thughood, harassing the new owners of the house. Things get really out of hand and turn disasterous.
The high skim factor is due to the fact that the writing is not that good and becomes very repetitive at times. The plot reads like a B movie screenplay, with all the attendant melodrama. What a shock, the novel was made into a hollywood movie.
The new home owners are Iranian immigrants. They are the most believable–and the only likable–characters. But their end is rather grim. My advice: if you get sucked in by this one, be prepared to see the wreckage.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A contrived collision of two desperate, fallen people over a ownership of a bungalow. While I appreciate the author’s use of both points of view to elicit sympathy and understanding for both aggrieved parties, the writing often felt stilted and awkward, and I found myself unexpectedly bored watching this “train wreck” reach its inevitable “shocking” conclusion.
This joyless, lifeless, and absolutely POINTLESS novel reignites my hatred for literature produced by cis white men. The story, highlighting a tragical dispute of who-deserves-what of the hyperinflated piece of the American real estate pie, is so SO SOOOOOOOOOOO boring. The story unfolds through parallel perspectives (a device that I personally love), attempting to have readers empathize with Kathy and Behrani, but oh my god the way I DO NOT CAREEEE because the novel was littered with mundane, plot-filling descriptions of actions that ADD NOTHING to the characters. Another Goodreads user put it excellently:
"Around noon, I picked up my mail at the post office, then went to a shopping center sandwich shop to sift through it all while I ate. It was only ten days' worth but it took up all of my table, and I put it in two piles, one for the trash can on the way out, one to keep. The trash pile was mostly junk mail, the other was bills: car insurance, gas, my final phone, electric. The electric bill was the most recent and I opened it and read the cutoff date for the last billin"
The characters become caricatures of themselves as you spend 75% of the novel fighting for your life screaming for any plot progression. Kathy, a victim of her circumstances, becomes a whiny, entitled trainwreck whose solution to her problem was ruining not one, but TWO families. Massoud, a respectable family man, becomes greedy, arrogant, insecure ASSHOLE.
I CANT EVEN talk about how much I hate Lester. The third perspective detailing his backstory and his justification for not leaving his wife earlier makes me want to jump out of a window.
I have a signed copy from Andre Dubus III himself so if anyone is interested I would gladly give this to you for free!
"Around noon, I picked up my mail at the post office, then went to a shopping center sandwich shop to sift through it all while I ate. It was only ten days' worth but it took up all of my table, and I put it in two piles, one for the trash can on the way out, one to keep. The trash pile was mostly junk mail, the other was bills: car insurance, gas, my final phone, electric. The electric bill was the most recent and I opened it and read the cutoff date for the last billin"
The characters become caricatures of themselves as you spend 75% of the novel fighting for your life screaming for any plot progression. Kathy, a victim of her circumstances, becomes a whiny, entitled trainwreck whose solution to her problem was ruining not one, but TWO families. Massoud, a respectable family man, becomes greedy, arrogant, insecure ASSHOLE.
I CANT EVEN talk about how much I hate Lester. The third perspective detailing his backstory and his justification for not leaving his wife earlier makes me want to jump out of a window.
I have a signed copy from Andre Dubus III himself so if anyone is interested I would gladly give this to you for free!
Absolutely amazing writing and character development. This book is unlike any novel I have ever read. (Definitely a book for mature adults though.)
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Usually I can't get into a book if I've already seen the movie because I don't have the patience to read what I already know is going to happen. Not so in this case although I did still picture the actors that portrayed the characters in the movie in my head, that did not dissuade me in any way. The actors in the movie all gave top notch performances so that was not an issue. The ending to the book is much more disturbing and brutal than the movie and there is a resolution at the end of the book that was not in the movie but overall the movie followed the book to the letter. I thought the movie was excellent. It was especially moving to me and it stays with me as will the book. Tragic and deeply moving but wonderfully written story.
Two unlikable protagonists and loads of toxic masculinity. The fact this is so readable and engaging is a testament to Dubus' skill at finding such unique voices.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Massoud Behrani, a struggling Iranian immigrant in San Francisco, buys a foreclosed house at a county auction, planning later to sell it at a higher price, and thus cure his family’s financial woes. Kathy Nicolo, the house’s previous owner, has been wrongfully evicted from her home due to a bureaucratic mistake. Although she tries to explain the situation to Behrani, he is uncooperative, fearing he will face financial ruin if he does not manage to sell the home back for no less than four times what he originally paid. Both have valid arguments, but who exactly is in the right? Dubus probes the darker side of the American Dream in masterful form, alternating between Behrani’s and Kathy’s POVs in an exquisite example of multiple first person narration. The novel starts with a great build-up, but suffers from a disappointing finish as its interesting premise unravels with its frustrating and ridiculous ending.