It is a testament to Dubus's style that he allows them sometimes to stumble. We might not always like these characters, but we care about them deeply and want everything to run smoothly for them. He chronicles the clash of cultures between the Americans and the Iranians while keeping the humanity of everyone involved at the forefront. It is his macho posturing and stubbornness that soon have all three characters spiraling downward toward the book's inevitable and shattering conclusion.ĭubus gives us the house as a symbol of the American Dream, a refuge in a tumultuous life, a quest for redemption. He takes on Kathy's cause, determined to reclaim her home, trying to ransom his failing moral compass. The truth is life is full of joy and full of great sorrow, but you cant have one without the other: First Edition of The House of Sand and Fog Inscribed by. Hotheaded and no longer able to keep himself above the law he represents, Lester is one of the sheriff's deputies who helps evict Kathy, and he soon starts an affair with her. Her inability to make good choices for herself proves her undoing.įinally, Lester Burdon enters the picture. Eventually she is evicted from her house, which is sold at auction almost before she has a chance to take action. A former colonel in the Iranian Air Force yearns to restore his familys dignity. When she is sent a tax bill by the county, she virtually ignores it, knowing that it has been sent in error. Living under the fog of depression after her husband leaves her, she is merely going through the motions. Next we're introduced to Kathy Nicolo, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. A reserved and dignified man, his fatal flaw is his high need for respectability and his inability to see beyond what he thinks he deserves. His plan is to live in the house only long enough to sell it at a high profit. Unable to find an adequate job in the States, Behrani jumps on the economic opportunity that is presented when he discovers a house up for sale at a sheriff's auction. We first meet Massoud Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force, who has fled his native land. ![]() And a small house will seem like the most important piece of territory in the world. ![]() In this page-turning, breathtaking novel, the characters will walk off the page and into your life. He brings them into sharp focus with astonishing depth and perception, revealing them as the story unfolds. Tense with suspense from the first line, this is one of the great American realist novels. It is a masterpiece in the dying art of character development.ĭubus takes his time introducing us to these flawed, human characters. Andre Dubus's second novel, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, is a throwback to a time when writing was more important than plot, and the characters mattered more than the cunning of the author who created them. So often the people in novels are at the mercy of the story - mere puppets of clever plot twists or of writers who want to showcase their ability to wring every possible bit of suspense from a situation. It is rare in contemporary literature to read a book in which the characters are naturally allowed to make the decisions that propel the plot forward.
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