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Sep 01, 2009

Grady rated it:

Another John Shors Triumph!

John Shors continues to establish his reputation as one of this decade's more important writers, an author who understands the art of blending artistic prose with an always surprising depth of knowledge of the cultures he chooses to explore in his fascinating novels - from India in his debut BENEATH A MARBLE SKY, to war time South Pacific in BESIDE A BURNING SEA, and now to Vietnam in this absorbing novel DRAGON HOUSE. There are passages in his w More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Lila rated it:

I got through a little over 200 pages which is a fair amount to give the book a chance.
I didn't finish it for one reason: I cannot stomach fiction books by authors who push their political views via a character. Especially when it reaches a point of absurd, i.e. two homeless Vietnamese children who barely speak English somehow know how Bush and his government didn't find any WMD in Iraq. This book would have had to be a literary masterpiece for me to finish it and like it despite the poli More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Sorry to say that this was the sappiest, preachiest book I've ever read. We go through various POVs as two americans (Iris & Noah) attempt to help open Iris' father's home for wayward (see: street) children in Vietnam. We follow Iris, Noah, a female helper Thien, two street children Mai & Minh, a grandmother (Qui) and her sickly granddaughter (Tam) as they all cross paths and attempt to help each other.

Between Noah spouting off (what could be the author's feelings about the U.S. init More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2010

Suze rated it:

This book, by one of my favorite authors, was not as highly rated by the 'critics' as his last two. I never let that keep me away from anything, as I rarely agree with the 'critics'...about anything. I've loved John Shors' other books and am nothing if not loyal!

I read it...and I loved it. The authors descriptions of Vietnam have completely changed my view of that country so far away. My husband was one of the Americans who fought in that wasteful, useless, destructive war, and I wan More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2009

Teddy rated it:

Iris Rhodes is a successful writer in Chicago. She has been trying to heal old wounds between her father and herself, as he lies dying in a hospital. Her father is a Vietnam vet and has been trying to fight his demons by working on a very important project. He is opening up a center for street children in Vietnam. It is one way he feels he can contribute to Vietnam's healing. Right before her father dies, Iris has made the decision to go to Vietnam to see her dad's project through to completio More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2011

Louise rated it:

In “Dragon House”, the “street children” are the heart and soul of the novel. A heart and soul that beats and is alive with consciousness, thought, feeling, will and moral nature!

Iris lives on the twentieth floor of a high-rise apartment in Chicago, Illinois. Her father has passed away five weeks previously from cancer. As a young child Iris was hurt and confused about her father’s frequent absences and couldn’t understand how he could love her so much but still leave her. As the More...

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Dec 21, 2010

Tiffany rated it:

Set in Asia, Dragon House is a story of redemption and healing. The story takes place in modern day Vietnam and tells the story of two Americas, Iris and Noah, who give of themselves by teaching Vietnamese street children in unfavorable areas as a means to heal from their own pain. Iris and Noah ultimately give the children friendship, educations, shelter and love. The process fulfills the dreams of children and breathes new life into Iris and Noah. Dragon House is a story of suffering, sacrific More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Deborah rated it:

"Dragon House," is a novel of exceptional beauty, a love story of multi-dimension, and a healing experience for all who know the Viet Nam War.

John Shors has become one of my favorite authors of the 21st century. I believe he is the voice of our recent past, and a voice of the humanity in all of us as we struggle to keep what is good and moral against a tide of selfishness and instability in our world.

Mr. Shors is an author of exceptional capabilities with chara More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 04, 2010

Hattie rated it:

John Shors' novel, "Dragon House" is magnificent. The story takes place in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. This part of the world is known well by John Shors. He journeyed through many Asian cities after college. Along the way he met street children. "Dragon House is mainly about the street children in Ho Chi Minh City. The book gives a close up view of what life is like for these children. Some of these children are used by adults to get money to support their habits for women and Opi More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2010

Darcy rated it:

Author John Shors brings to life the street children of Vietnam in his poignant novel, "Dragon House." He introduces readers to Iris Rhodes, a young professional from Chicago and daughter of a Vietnam veteran. When Iris' father is dying from cancer, she tells him she will finish his dream of building a center for the street children in Saigon where the children will be safe and go to school. Iris is joined in her mission by Noah, an old schoolmate wounded in the Iraq War.

Sho More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2009

Ziaria rated it:

When I first got this book I have to be honest I did not think it was going to be my kind of read. It is something I don't usually read. Wow was I wrong! I loved this book!

It has a slow buildup at the beginning but once it gets going it sucks you right in. I read it in 3 sittings with the majority of it in one sitting. I finished up the last 40 pages this morning and would've finished last night but I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. In fact I think a nap is calling my name tod More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2009

Jaime rated it:

How do I write a review about a book that tugged, actually, YANKED at my heart strings as much as this book did and give it the credit that is due? I am not sure but I will do my best.

The children of the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon, Vietnam) are the heart and soul of "Dragon House". Tam, a child who is dying from Leukiemia, and her grandmother Qui beg on the streets just so Tam can have medicine to ease her pain. Mai and Minh held under the "protection More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2009

Weavre rated it:

Iris, a successful Chicago writer, feels abandoned by the father who was absent for much of her childhood. When he dies, her decision to go find out what he found so compelling about a project in Vietnam changes not only her life, but the lives of many others. She's accompanied by Noah, a veteran whose body and soul were terribly injured in Iraq and who sees no way out of his pain. In Vietnam, we discover street children Mai and Minh, abused by their opium-addicted "protector"; gentle More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2009

Maria rated it:

My sister is a part of the Amazon "Vine" program, so I got to read this novel before it's publication date. I'm so glad that I did! What a wonderful novel. Dragon House is the story of a group of Vietnamese street children who are helped by two Americans and a Vietnamese police officer. The Americans have come to today's Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to open a center for the street children. This center will educate, protect, and house the street children. And they need protection, because More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2009

Carey rated it:

Iris Rhodes has a neat and ordered life in Chicago, but her father's death changes all of that. Her Dad was a Vietnam veteran who was so tormented by the atrocities he had seen and participated in during the war that he was often absent from Iris' life when she was growing up. His demons caused a rift in their relationship that they tried hard to mend. And he was healing himself, in a way, by working on his project. He wanted to open a center for street children in Vietnam, to help in whatever w More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2009

BOOK BUTTERFLY rated it:

Iris' father, a troubled Vietnam veteran, never lives to see his dream of opening a center for Vietnamese street children fufilled. As a man haunted by the atrocities of the war, Iris' father was not able to give her much emotional and physical support throught her life. Nevertheless, after his death, Iris picks up where her father left off and travels to Vietnam. Noah, a childhood friend and Iraqi war veteran, also decides to accompany her. After losing one of his legs overseas and witnessing h More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 04, 2009

Diane rated it:

Iris Rhodes is a young woman, a book reviewer, trying to fulfill her departed father's wish, to open a center for Vietnamese street children. A place for them to stay and to be educated. Her father came back from the Vietnam was a shell of the man he was before, suffering from PTSD, and unable to ease his suffering once he came home to his wife and daughter. He travelled to Vietnam after the war with a dream of doing some good, and by doing so, little by little he began to heal.

As Ir More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 10, 2009

Tobi rated it:

Dragon House by John Shors is a wonderful story of healing, redemption and love. I loved this book. It is wonderfully written and touched me personally on many levels and made me cry at least twice. It is my new favorite read for this summer.

Dragon House is the story of many people but the main character who starts the story and brings them all together is Iris. Iris is a book reviewer whose father has been largely absent from her life physically and emotionally. A veteran of the Vie More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2009

Serena added it

"Iris felt as if a unique cultural experience occurred on the back of scooters. She reflected that in America, people drove their cars and rarely even opened their windows. Within cars people tended to be isolated, listening to the radio or maybe talking on the phone to a friend. Cars were people's places of refuge, highly personalized sanctuaries within which Americans often sought escape. Driving a scooter in Vietnam was a completely different experience. In addition to the ease of c More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Mirah rated it:

Another excellent novel by Shors. I love the different voices that the characters have...when they are speaking they sound unique to themselves and provide something that other characters can't provide. It's not like some novels where all the characters sound the same. The descriptions of the street children are sensitive and honest. I loved the symbol and meaning of the dragon that is carried throughout the book. The only reason I'm giving the book 4 stars insead of 5 is because I felt the More...

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Aug 02, 2009

Allisonperkel rated it:

Since my spouse is on Amazon Vine, I was able to read a pre release of "The Dragon House". This also happened to be my first exposure to John Shors.

I have to commend Mr Shors for writing a book that not only raises the awareness of childhood poverty in Vietnam, and by extension across the globe. Additionally a portion of the proceeds will go to the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. This is all great stuff.

The book itself though isn't as good as his intentions More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Patty rated it:

Maybe it is because I am going to Vietnam in a month; maybe this was just the right book at the right time, but whatever the reason, I really enjoyed this book.

Enjoyed might be the wrong term because there is some real pain in Shors' story. However, I fell into this novel and didn't want to leave. I found engaging characters, a world that I know nothing about and a good story line. Everything I want from a book.

Shors wants his reader to learn about orphans of the world. H More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 23, 2009

ccqdesigns rated it:

I first encountered John Shors when I read his novel Beneath a Marble Sky. This new novel, Dragon House, has stepped up John’s impressive writing skills another notch. Dragon House is a love story; the love of a daughter for her father, a sister for her brother, a grandmother for her granddaughter and soldiers for their country. And it is a story of the courage it takes to follow your heart and protect the ones you love.

The Story: After Iris’ father dies, she decides to go to Vietna More...

11 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2010

Marie rated it:

While Iris was with her father as he was close to leaving this world, she promised him she would go to Vietnam and make sure the center for homeless street children, which he had been working on when he fell ill would definitely open. An injured veteran from the Iraq war went with her and they worked long and hard to get the center finished and opened. As the weeks and months passed they became familiar with the country and people living there and befriended several street children and others. More...

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Dec 18, 2009

Nicole rated it:

When Iris’s father dies she promises him him that she will travel to Vietnam to finish work on plans that he had to open a center for street children. Though at the time her primary motivation is to comfort a dying man with whom she has had a troubled relationship, Iris ultimately decides that she will go for a month to ensure that the center does indeed open.

Before Iris can leave for Vietnam, she receives a visit from the mother of a childhood friend, Noah, who has become disabled i More...

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Nov 18, 2009

Jill rated it:

This is the story of two Americans who travel to Vietnam to establish a center for street children in Ho Chi Minh City.

I found this book slow going. The characterizations are very thin - it's all angels or devils, honestly. Much of it reads like a travelogue of Vietnam, and the descriptions detracted from the story at times. The protagonist, Iris, remains an enigma. We know she's one of the good guys, but other than that, what motivates her? Does she really have no friends or lo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2009

Harvee rated it:

Interview with author John Shors:

Dragon House has been described as a "moving, deeply descriptive novel that brings all those frequently hidden qualities of compassion, purity of mind, and, yes, love—the things we used to call the human spirit—into the foreground of our feeling as readers." (author Gregory David Roberts)

Here's what John Shors, author of Dragon House, has to say about the plight of street children in contemporary Vietnam.

Interview w More...

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Feb 16, 2010

Gloria rated it:

Rarely do I not finish a book once I have started it, but I have closed the covers on this story halfway through. This is essentially a "gentle read" with likeable characters. The two main themes, however, are heavy: post-traumatic stress from the Iraq war, and homeless children in present-day Vietnam. The plot is highly predictable with a good American girl going to Vietnam to improve the childrens' situation and her traumatized American friend going along and helping her out while he More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Cathy rated it:

I loved this book and how the author was able to make me feel what the characters were feeling! Very rarely do I get emotional in the middle of a book, but you can't help but feel the sadness surrounding the death of two very important people. Two friends, Iris & Noah leave for Vietnam to open a center for children that Iris' father tried to complete before he died. In doing so, they become fast friends with some of the locals and will do anything to help protect the children that need them a More...

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Mar 19, 2011

Kalen rated it:

*** 1/2

John's book is more commercial than I tend to read but I really enjoyed it. Though I was able to predict the plotlines with near precision, how he told the story was fantastic and I kept finding myself not wanting to put the book down, even as my eyes got heavier with sleep. Near the end especially it is fast-paced and moving. Great book club pick--lots to talk about in the issues of the Vietnam war, our current wars, street children, and the perception of Americans in other p More...

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