Confession: When we read this book for Book Club last month, it was actually the second time I had read it (gasp!). However, I got to the part that I remembered as being the climax of the novel--and realized I still had two-thirds of the book left to read. Not only that, but as I was reading the last half of the book, I was actually incorrectly predicting what was going to happen based on the foreshadowing the author was using. It was like that portion of the book had be wiped from my memory completely.
Now, before you go and make the assumption that the latter part of the book is boring and uneventful, which is what caused me to forgot it, let me assure you that it is not. It's just that the major event that happens fairly early on in the book is so central to the rest of the story that it kind of trumps some of the other action (plus, it's kind of harrowing and very dis-heartening, which adds to the indelible impression it left). In fact, one of my friends who was also reading this book for the second time echoed my sentiments that there was a lot of action that she had forgotten--but the one particular event stood out in her mind clearly as well.
Ultimately, I think this is very in-line with the overall plot line of the novel. The main character ends up being haunted his entire life by an event that happened in his childhood, and even as an adult that event affects many of the decisions he makes. So it's only fitting that as a reader, that event is the one you walk away from the book remembering most--not some of the other details.
There is so much more I could tell you about the book--I could talk about its unique perspective on life in Afghanistan, its look into friendship and betrayal, its exploration of father/son relationships--but instead I'll just tell you that this is definitely a book worth reading for yourself. And maybe even worth owning a copy of so that you can pick it up every so often and re-read it to remember the details you've forgotten.
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