I find this book a difficult one to review. Because of my respect for CS Lewis and his other writings I would like to rave about this one as well, but truthfully I found this book to be a challenge. I was hoping it would give a greater insight into Lewis’ life and conversion from atheism to Christianity, but often it went at great length into rather unimportant events and English literature, sadly most of which I didn’t recognize. Events like his father’s death and service in WWI were glossed over. I was also hoping for more “solid reasons” for why he converted but instead more references to books unknown to me. Read this book if you are a Lewis enthusiast, otherwise there are plenty of other CS Lewis books I would rather recommend.

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At many points while reading this book I actually found it quite hard to believe that it was true. The book read to me more like a Fredrick Forsyth novel than an autobiography of a senior inteligence office. It is a much better read than fiction as it is written by a man who has been there and done that.

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Though not a “Christian” book, I have heard this book described more than once as the best illustration of sin in classic literature. Besides being a great, well-written novel, this book does paint quite a picture of the ugliness of sin. Makes me think twice of ever commissioning a self portrait, that’s for sure.

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I have read very few books quite as bleak as The House of Sand and Fog, so saying that I “enjoyed” this book doesn’t seem quite appropriate. I was captivated by it. The story centers around a house and the people struggling against eachother to own it. Each chapter flip- flops from one voice, that of Persian immigrants, the Behrani family, to the other, a house keeper named Kathy Nicolo. I much prefered the story from the Behrani family, it was a mix of flashbacks of their lilfe in Iran and life as now as struggling immigrants. Kathy’s story was twinged with desperation, helplessness and too much sex (as far as I’m concerned). Read the book, then rent the movie, which won a few Oscars. It really made the story come to life.

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