House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

The truth is life is full of joy and full of great sorrow, but you can’t have one without the other. You want each to succeed for different reasons, but there can only be one winner. Kathy Nicolo is American born, but she struggles with addiction and doesn’t have much to her name. Colonel Behrani was wealthy and important in Iran, but as an immigrant to the US, he no longer has that status attached to him.

You can hate the book, you can love the book, but you will feel emotions. This book was published in 1999 and here I am over 20 years later and I cannot shake how much this book captured me. As each side unveils their reason to be living in the house, my emotions went on a roller coaster ride. The book unleashes individual reflective emotions as the story and tension escalate. The House of Sand and Fog details what happens when there’s a misunderstanding between a woman from California and an Iranian immigrant. “We are all acutely aware of the acts of racism around us. The author, a long time New England resident, has another novel in development in Hollywood, his follow-up to this book, called The Garden of Last Days. Released in February of 1999, The House of Sand and Fog was one of five finalists for the 1999 National Book Awards for Fiction, presented every year by the National Book Association. The Writer: Andre Dubus III has earned multiple writing awards, including the National Magazine Award for Fiction, as well as the Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The casting is well-nigh perfect from top to bottom.“ “ While maintaining the book’s delicate balance and a fair measure of its tension, which perceptibly sags around the mid-way point but later picks up again, Perelman has made a film dominated more than anything by its actors. Variety called it a “ Faithful, powerful adaption“:

It stands with integrity and breaks our hearts.” It is based on a novel by Andre Dubus III, and there must have been pressure to cheapen and simplify it into a formula of good and evil. “Like great fiction, ‘House of Sand and Fog’ sees into the hearts of its characters, and loves and pities them. It was nominated for multiple Academy Awards: Best Actor for Kingsley, Best Supporting Actor ( Shohreh Aghdashloo) and Best Original Score ( James Horner). The Movie: Released in 2003, starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. Combining unadorned realism with profound empathy, House of Sand and Fog is a devastating exploration of the American Dream gone awry. Synopsis: Three fragile yet determined people become entangled in an escalating crisis over the same small house.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III