Monday, December 26, 2016

Books read in 2016: No. 65 -- House of Sand and Fog

by Andre Dubus III

Started: Dec. 14
Finished: Dec. 26

Notes: I've had this one for a while and been meaning to get to it. I've seen the HBO (I think it was) movie based upon the novel from a dozen or so years ago, but I've forgotten nearly everything about it other than a feeling the book must be quite good.

Mini review: A woman loses her house to taxes when she didn't even owe any and then a Persian family purchases the house through a county auction. Nothing good comes of any of this. Bad decisions, stubbornness, cultural misunderstandings and plain old bureaucratic stupidity come together to form this tragedy. For the most part it is done quite well, though for my taste the emotional mental ramblings of the characters often went on too long.

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

I enjoyed the byplay between you and Rebecca over at Nerdarchy. I guess I'm not registered there so it would let me comment. She seems very nice and has a good sense of humor. It seems she has you pegged. Hope you have a great new year.