The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

It's been a while since I read a book (which is disheartening, I know), and an even longer while since I reviewed one, but why not, eh? I've become skeptical of any book baring Oprah's seal of approval, but I try not to hold that against authors, and I think I'm glad I ignored her good taste.

I say I think because this book was tense, and reading it had my stomach in knots on far too many occasions. The book has an ensemble cast of three protagonists and the various people in their lives, and of those three, I really only liked one. The gist of the story is that Kathy Nicolo loses her house to the county due to a paperwork snafu, Lester Burdon is a cop who helps evict her, and Colonol Massoud Behrani is a naturalized US citizen who has the (good) fortune to buy the house from the county without any idea of Nicolo's circumstances. Nicolo and Burdon get involved, and they spend the novel trying their damnedest to have as much sex as possible and get her house back, all the while, Behrani tries to start a new, better chapter in his family's life--finally, something honestly good for the first time since they were forced to flee Iran.

There's a really strong sense of forboding throughout, and though I knew something horrible and tragic was going to happen, I was anxious about who tragedy would strike. I was surprised about the outcome, and I felt really defeated in the end. It was kind of like watching a foreign film where things have the potential to go well for the characters, but instead, everything ends very sadly and you leave the theater wondering why people are so selfish and inconsiderate.

The characters were very well developed, and their individual stories made it very easy to sympathize or despise them. In a way, aside from what happened in the story, the book made me sad about the world we live in. I can't fully explain why, but it has everything to do with the people all around us everyday. The things that motivate us and how blind we are sometimes to the strife we cause. But in spite of the sadness the book left me with, I think it was a worthwhile read. I think that it's important to partake of books and movies and music that make us feel profoundly.