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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I loved this book. At first it didn't seem like my kinda plot. But I was quickly proven wrong after I didn't go to sleep until I was finished. These lives intertwined in a way that was least imaginable.
Great writing! I got a growing sense of dread reading this novel—- the characters are well defined and caused me to think quite a bit about the choices they make throughout the book!
This is a great little book. It charts the story of the fight over one house near San Francisco.
The original owner, Kathy Nicolo, who was left the house in her father's will, is evicted for non-payment of a tax bill. The house is reposessed by the county and quickly sold at auction for a knock-down price to Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military, who has fled the country in fear of his life. Now an American citizen, Behrani buys the house with the last of his life savings, in order to sell it on at a profit to set his family up in their new life in America. However, the county have made a mistake in repossessing Kathy Nicolo's house, and left destitute with no home and no money, she sets about trying to get her house back.
This book is very cleverly written in order to create a real dilemma for the reader. Kathy Nicolo's character is fundamentally flawed, so that although the reader should feel sorry for her in her situation, you are not as empathetic as you could be. Conversely, the situation of Behrani's family is so tenderly written so that it piques the sympathy of the reader, thereby tipping the natural scales of justice from what they should be. The tension of the book is heightened by the chapters being written turn about in the main characters' voices.
This is an excellent book which twists and turns towards the tragic ending. Dubus is a skilled author who easily handles the intricacies of the story and manipulates the reader while the story unravels.
The original owner, Kathy Nicolo, who was left the house in her father's will, is evicted for non-payment of a tax bill. The house is reposessed by the county and quickly sold at auction for a knock-down price to Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military, who has fled the country in fear of his life. Now an American citizen, Behrani buys the house with the last of his life savings, in order to sell it on at a profit to set his family up in their new life in America. However, the county have made a mistake in repossessing Kathy Nicolo's house, and left destitute with no home and no money, she sets about trying to get her house back.
This book is very cleverly written in order to create a real dilemma for the reader. Kathy Nicolo's character is fundamentally flawed, so that although the reader should feel sorry for her in her situation, you are not as empathetic as you could be. Conversely, the situation of Behrani's family is so tenderly written so that it piques the sympathy of the reader, thereby tipping the natural scales of justice from what they should be. The tension of the book is heightened by the chapters being written turn about in the main characters' voices.
This is an excellent book which twists and turns towards the tragic ending. Dubus is a skilled author who easily handles the intricacies of the story and manipulates the reader while the story unravels.
I loved this book! It is essentially a book about how an unjust event can end up going horribly wrong, but it doesn’t so in a way to explore the humanity and darkest parts of everyone involved.
This is not my typical book that I am drawn to but a friend recommended it to me and I enjoyed it a lot. I don't remember the story in depth but I remember feeling a heavy heart, but at times happy. This book was written well and you see both families point of view even if one is a little more dicky than the other.
This was one of the best books I've read in a long time. You wouldn't think a story about a real estate dispute would be so gut-wrenching and action-packed, but it was. Dubus somehow makes every character both sympathetic and wholly unlikeable.
The movie is boring as hell, though.
The movie is boring as hell, though.
I had little to no idea what this book was about when I picked it up, so I was not expecting the story that we got.
First thing's first, when I realized this book was written by a white guy with POVs of an Iranian man and an American woman, I was pretty wary. He did an okay job with it, it could have been a lot worse than it was.
One of the things that Dubus does well, is he takes two opposing characters that have both staked claims on this house, both with different backgrounds and different realities and makes you able to empathize with them both. I found myself hating the decisions that they made, but I understood it for the most part.
The story takes quite a bit to get going. There is a lot of exposition as you're getting to know the characters, so the entire first part I was feeling really bored. However, once we got into part two and the lives of Lester, Kathy, and the Behrani family start to intersect, you can feel that they are hurtling towards something terrible, but you don't quite know what is going to happen.
This story is bleak. There is no happy ending, there is no uplifting moment, and I actually liked that about it. It was realistic in that way. Dubus takes you through the story and tries to set you up to make a decision on who is right or wrong in this book. However, as the story unfolds, that line gets blurred and it becomes complicated. It's a story about the American dream and the consequences of our actions and what happens when we fail to take responsibility of those actions. I didn't realize how invested I was in the characters until the last 100 or so pages, when I found myself actually crying. No one wins.
But, this book was much better than I was expecting, and I have been thinking about it all day since I finished it. If you're a fan of happy endings, skip this book. But it is thought provoking and realistic.
First thing's first, when I realized this book was written by a white guy with POVs of an Iranian man and an American woman, I was pretty wary. He did an okay job with it, it could have been a lot worse than it was.
One of the things that Dubus does well, is he takes two opposing characters that have both staked claims on this house, both with different backgrounds and different realities and makes you able to empathize with them both. I found myself hating the decisions that they made, but I understood it for the most part.
The story takes quite a bit to get going. There is a lot of exposition as you're getting to know the characters, so the entire first part I was feeling really bored. However, once we got into part two and the lives of Lester, Kathy, and the Behrani family start to intersect, you can feel that they are hurtling towards something terrible, but you don't quite know what is going to happen.
This story is bleak. There is no happy ending, there is no uplifting moment, and I actually liked that about it. It was realistic in that way. Dubus takes you through the story and tries to set you up to make a decision on who is right or wrong in this book. However, as the story unfolds, that line gets blurred and it becomes complicated. It's a story about the American dream and the consequences of our actions and what happens when we fail to take responsibility of those actions. I didn't realize how invested I was in the characters until the last 100 or so pages, when I found myself actually crying. No one wins.
But, this book was much better than I was expecting, and I have been thinking about it all day since I finished it. If you're a fan of happy endings, skip this book. But it is thought provoking and realistic.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Full review: https://adventuresinnonsense.com/book-reviews/house-of-sand-fog/
5. Put off reading this one because I thought I wouldn't like it. I was wrong. I loved it. I do wish that the characters would have sat down and just talked it out, but that's not always real life. The shooting of the son is very much still relevant today.