AP English Literatur

"The house itself was far from the sprawling white mansion I remembered from my childhood. It looked smaller. The roof sagged and the plaster was cracked. The windows to the living room, the foyer and the upstairs guest bathroom were broken, patched haphazardly with sheets of clear plastic or wooden boards nailed across the frames. Like so much else in Kabul, my father's house was the picture of fallen splendor." -Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Which word best describes the tone?