I didn't remember enough details of this movie... only being repelled by Behrani's character but also deeply admiring Ben Kingsley's portrayal and also the actress who portrays his wife but everything else is a blur but a few shots of the desolate house stay in memory. So I read the book.... and I the depth of each character, how foggy every person was in their motives, pain, need for control, and how they too were controlled by their own demons. Having knowing Ismail was going to be killed (wayward google result) didn't help the dread but also fascination with this book. Overall, still, i found the writing so captivating, and strangely, I found myself rooting for Behrani while still being repelled by his anger towards women. I would go back and forth, but in the end, he failed me in taking away Nadi. That was not your choice. That was your pride, not her weakness.

I read this book so long ago.
I still find it memorable.
The writing was remarkable.
The movie adaptation was terrific.
I should re-read it.

Humid days start off as cool mornings of mist. Depending on the lake's movement, fast or slow, one knows how the day will feel on the skin. And the sky above the ocean always speaks of rain or sun. These are only a few things I like about life on the Coast.

So imagine this house of sand and fog, a bungalow with a widow walk that looks out to the ocean; imagine a nice short jog to the beach, mornings and evenings covered in fog that protects and suffocates. Beach life is simple, yet chic. Casual, but not without its touch of elegance.

Yet the lives at this beach house are anything but simple; everything is complicated and tangled. Kathy, a recovering addict and cleaning woman by trade, inherits a bungalow that receives notices about business tax evasion. She never opens the mail, even when the county sends several envelopes announcing an auction sale of her house. The County has the wrong house, but no one knows this. Not even the former political refugee and immigrant, Behrani, a Persian exile who has bought the house for his family. While in America, Behrani, a former wealthy Colonel, works two jobs as a roadside garbage man and at a convenience store and yet he tries to maintain his standard of living so that his daughter marries into privilege. When he sees the house for sale, he buys it, quits his jobs, and tries to settle on a path of real estate development.

n  n   

I look once more at the woodland, at the fashion in which the sunlight drops through the branches, and I am thinking of our summer home in the mountains near the Caspian Sea, of how the light was the same in those trees along the winding earth road to our bungalow, and for a moment, I feel a sense of sarnehvesht, of destiny, and as soon as I do, I stand erect and look back at the property with as cool an eye as I am able, for I do not wish my judgment to be weakened at the point of sale.

n  n

If only life was that simple. I'm not sure how Dubus writes another book that surpasses the psychological and physical layers of this one, layers that tugged and pulled at me as I read, layers that no movie can reveal as effortlessly as the book did. Physicality is woven in such style that keeps the reader present, while descriptive wording is pieced into dialogue and paced perfectly. I watched the movie after I read the book and as usual, the movie does the book no justice; in fact, the movie leaves out pertinent information towards the end, while it also seeks to paint a better portrait of Kathy, the former homeowner. However, Dubus does nothing of the sort in the book. His characters are all flawed and deeply disturbed; they all desire more, they all want to retrieve that which was taken from them and by doing so, they make reckless choices. Alas, greed and desire are competing interests in a story that can only end badly.

If you can't say something nice ...

Couldn’t put this one down. Easily one of my favorite fiction books I have ever read. Wow.

This is one of the most frustrating and needlessly tragic books I've ever read in my life. I really enjoyed the part of this book told from Colonel Behrani's point of view. But Kathy and Lester are two humongous idiots that ruin absolutely everything they touch. Was Kathy supposed to be sympathetic? Was I supposed to feel bad for her after she lost her house because she doesn't know how to open her mail and handle shit like an adult? Ok, sure, her husband left her, but omg deal with your problems. Talk to your mother. Listen to your lawyer. I hated her. Ugh. This fucking book.

When the Shah of Iran is ousted and a revolution breaks out in the country, Colonel Massoud Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force, and his family, once respected and well-to-do residents in their country, become nothing else but vulnerable immigrants to the United States where the only status left for them is to be called foreigners for the rest of their lives, even though they become full citizens. He works two jobs, as a trash picker along the highways by day, and as a late-night clerk in a distant convenience store. He does it all to keep up appearances, as well as keeping his wife happy in their Iranian community in San Francisco. Actually, he spent most of his money to keep up this appearance for his daughter's sake. To make sure that she will marry the right man. When that happens, he is free to look for cheaper living conditions and save up some money for his son's university fees. He watches the auction notices in the newspapers for houses coming under the hammer.

Kathy Nicolo, a rehabilitating drug and alcohol addict, loses her home by accident. She already lost her husband. Apart from that, she has also lost her self respect and will to succeed in anything, a long time ago. She profiles perfectly. Any strenous event is dealt with the narcotic way, although she has been trying to change her life after rehab and succeeded until now.

Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon, a married man with two kids, along with the tax agent, is tasked to throw her out of her house. Like two peas in a pod, they connect hormonaly and turn their dreary lives into a mutual magical homp-and-romp fantasy with the usual consequences. For the first time Kathy has someone who wants to fight in her corner. But both of them have lost the ability to think with the right brain. Cognitive and hormonal thinking are two very different things after all. The duo decide to get her house back. The house is now owned by Colonel Massoud Behrani ...

What struck me about this book, is the ease and wisdom behind the characters. Dubus gave them souls, as it should be. We can think what we want and stagger from the harsh reality, the spotlight on society, but we cannot deny any human being a right to own a soul and be respected for who they are.

I wanted to dislike this book. It scared me in the sense that this could happen to anyone, including me. It is one of the reason, I suspect, why many readers react negatively to the story. They simply cannot handle the truth and depth of the multiple-leveled situation. The American realism, which does not differ that much from other western countries, are disturbing in the sense that it doesn't reflect a 'what if' situation as much as it portrays the harshness of a truth that can happen to anyone. If you lose your compass and discipline, you lose your way. Things go fast and furiously wrong! It's that simple. But sometimes things happen to you while you're busy making other plans, as John Lennon stated ...

It is a very well written book in every way and on all levels. Absolutely worth the read, and for the first time I actually agree with an Oprah choice! But those readers who have tried her recommendations, already know that she chooses arresting stories with difficult themes. This one is no exception.

Whether we like it or not, this author puts heart and soul back into statistics and left us enlightened but sad in the end. The official blurb states: In this masterpiece of American realism and Shakepearean consequence, Andre Dubus III's unforgettable characters careen toward inevitable conflict, their tragedy painting a shockingly true picture of the country we live in today.

I loved this first encounter enough to try this author again.

The reason I love this book is because it beautifully presents a problem from two sides, then let's the reader decide which side he or she supports. This isn't foxnews. The author transitions from chapter to chapter between the two main characters, using wonderful language for each, and then lets the reader decide. Neither of the characters were perfect, but neither could be classified as "bad guys". Andre Dubois III is my favorite modern author, his short stories are also amazing.

I have never had such a horribly visceral reaction to a novel. The story unfolded tragically but the writing unraveled something worse. The author only succeeded in presenting two sides of a story equally - I didn't care about either one, or the little abode (widows walk or not).

To torture myself further, I watched the movie. I am a fan of Ben Kingsley and couldn't possibly see how he would go blindly into such a disappointing set up. You know how the movie is never as good as the book - this is one time where I was truly wishing would break that mold. But it didn't. Come on, Jennifer Connelly as the alcoholic, down-trodden and desperate protagonist? I was picturing Mary Louis Parker (think The Client, 1994).

It left me wanting my time back.

A tale of two people, I liked Behrani's story better than Kathy's. This story did grab me quickly and was written very well. The tension built slow as we met the characters but then increased in the middle leading to the end. I thought the end could have been handled better, but I may have missed some of the intent or meaning. I'll call it 3.5 starts but will score it four because the story telling and writing was enjoyable. If you like stories of tension and conflict, you may want to give it a read,

I read this before my Goodreads.com days, thus I didn't write a review of my own. However, the following review from the PageADay Booklover's Calendar for 2/18/2013 reminded me of it, and so I'm posting it here:

In this intense and dramatic novel, Andre Dubus does a masterful job of portraying two completely different people fighting over ownership of a house. Although the reader understands why each of them resents and mistrusts the other, the characters themselves simply cannot bridge the gap. The results are potentially devastating for all. A genuinely thoughtful and suspenseful read, and a National Book Award finalist.
n  HOUSE OF SAND AND FOGn, by Andre Dubus III (1999; W. W. Norton, 2011)

I abandoned this book halfway through. I just could not go on. I didn't like any of the characters at all and I couldn't stir up any bit of empathy for any of them. It was so depressing and horrid I stopped reading. And after reading the other one-star reviews on Goodreads and learning about the ending, I am soooooooo glad that I gave up. I would have hated the book even more had I finished it, and I didn't think that was possible.