House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
This book caught my attention when I was browsing through the isles of Borders a week or so ago. I was instantly attracted to it…thank goodness I didn’t have my wallet on me, otherwise I would’ve surely bought it right away. What captured me in an instant was the black and white of the scheme of the cover. I’m a die hard fan of the color black and there’s just something so fascinating about the B/W combo that pulls me towards it.
And then of course the title of the book added to me taking more interest in the book – the first thing that came to my mind after reading the word ‘sand’ was ‘desert’ and the word ‘fog’ pulled out a picture of a ‘chilly day’. The contrast in the images that the words brought was intriguing. Even otherwise, for me, the word ‘fog’ in itself would have done the trick. Fog, to me, relates to something mystical. Even at the cost of sounding childish or immature, I will tell you that one my most cherished experiences of my lifetime are those drives on a foggy night, especially if it’s in a mountain range…it’s magical. It feels like you are between clouds, close to the sky and it gives you a feeling that there’s nothing you can’t achieve…if at all that makes any sense.
Anyway…
Here’s the story summary from Shelfari -
A former colonel in the Shaw’s Iranian army is forced to flee with his family to American, and becomes destitute as he spends the remaining family money so his daughter can find a suitable husband. He buys a house that the reader soon learns the county mistakenly put up for auction. The owner, Kathy Nicolo, a former drug is now homeless who begins to abuse alcohol. An unhappily married police officer with children attempts to help her get her house back, and he and Kathy commence an affair that leaves both of them feeling guilty. What ensues are the natural consequences of poor decision making, stubbornness and excessive pride, dishonesty, and unwillingness to communicate, all leading to the inevitable downward spiral of events.
Given that I love reading powerful, emotionally intense stories, I’m going to add this to my list of to-read. Also, this being categorized as a thriller, suspense, drama, tragedy and what not, I’m so looking forward to getting my hands on it.
So, the book cover caught my attention, the title captivated me further and the storyline made me add the book to my wish list.
What do you think? Have you read the book? If so, did you like it?
A classic novel by Mitch.I picked this book just by it’s title..So it was a ‘buy on impulse’ book which became a ‘must read’ later. The book takes you through the concepts of the basic vicious circle-Birth-Life-Death. All that we do in our life and all those we come across in this journey is somewhere somehow connected to us.Of course we don’t realize this being here, right now.And we might never realize that ever.But this book will tell you and give you some hints-which are presented in the form of a story-that you will know there are reasons for life and death. There is a purpose behind every breath that we are taking in.
