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A review by thisotherbookaccount
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
4.0
I must have rented the House of Sand and Fog DVD because I needed one more for a discount. Typically, it isn't the kind of film I would rent but, since the shopkeeper told me to pick up something else for free, I picked the first Oscar nominee that I saw. With a few acting Oscar nominations under its belt, I decided to watch this film more than a decade ago.
I am honest when I say that the film does a better job at executing the story than the book. The film strips away the fat to. tell a clean, lean story about two people trapped between a rock and a hard place, neither willing to give in to the other. The book, while it tells the same compelling story, does sag in places. A story is a series of scenes, and the pacing of a book depends highly on how thinly the author decides to slice it. Slice them too thinly, and you risk the pace slowing down to a crawl.
Imagine, for a moment, if a scene involves the characters leaving a house, entering a car, driving across town and to the desired destination. An author can choose to glaze through portions of this scene, or he may choose to "slice it thinly" and describe everything down to its most minute details. I feel like that is the case here with House of Sand and Fog. Sometimes, we get what the characters are already going through, but the author chooses to slice individual moments up that impacts the pacing a bit. It is not a big problem — even though I make it out to sound like one — but it is one of the few negatives that I can think of.
But the core of the story is as compelling as it is depressing. The fact that I have just returned from Iran and learnt much about its history definitely made the experience a more relatable one. Also, the character of Lester is a lot more realised in the book. You don't necessarily want to spend time with a character as detestable as Lester but, at the same time, it does give him more dimensions on the page. I also prefer the way Kathy is depicted in the book. In the film, she seems to get away with it, or at least that's what the ending of the film suggests.
Still very much recommended, but just know what you are getting into. This is a heavy read.
I am honest when I say that the film does a better job at executing the story than the book. The film strips away the fat to. tell a clean, lean story about two people trapped between a rock and a hard place, neither willing to give in to the other. The book, while it tells the same compelling story, does sag in places. A story is a series of scenes, and the pacing of a book depends highly on how thinly the author decides to slice it. Slice them too thinly, and you risk the pace slowing down to a crawl.
Imagine, for a moment, if a scene involves the characters leaving a house, entering a car, driving across town and to the desired destination. An author can choose to glaze through portions of this scene, or he may choose to "slice it thinly" and describe everything down to its most minute details. I feel like that is the case here with House of Sand and Fog. Sometimes, we get what the characters are already going through, but the author chooses to slice individual moments up that impacts the pacing a bit. It is not a big problem — even though I make it out to sound like one — but it is one of the few negatives that I can think of.
But the core of the story is as compelling as it is depressing. The fact that I have just returned from Iran and learnt much about its history definitely made the experience a more relatable one. Also, the character of Lester is a lot more realised in the book. You don't necessarily want to spend time with a character as detestable as Lester but, at the same time, it does give him more dimensions on the page. I also prefer the way Kathy is depicted in the book. In the film, she seems to get away with it, or at least that's what the ending of the film suggests.
Still very much recommended, but just know what you are getting into. This is a heavy read.