The Wasted Virgil

This was one of my outside readings that I attempted after having read "Escape from Saddam."  Even in its beginning this book is thoroughly depressing, as was Escape from Saddam.  I unfortunately was unable to finish the book in its entirety by this blog post (those outside readings pile up), but from what I did read it was thought provoking.  

The story follows a whole compilation of characters, as they present their history in Afghanistan.  They convene at the main characters home, and each character is more strange than the next.

Looking at this novel through an education standpoint, it is not meant for light reading.  The book changes time periods, backgrounds (not everyone is even from Afghanistan), and history and fiction all the time.  It is also very gruesome.  I remember reading classic literature in high school with teachers telling students that some of the novels we were reading were graphic, but obviously they had not experienced this book...it takes it to a whole new level.

There are numerous rapes, and graphic violence (way beyond what was described in "Escape from Saddam"), and the novel gets even more confusing when it addresses moral issues because on more than one occasion I felt sympathy for a character that later turned out to deserve nothing of the sorts.

It was a mind trip, but also very thought provoking.  Very graphic, and disturbing and definitely not a book you want to sit down and relax to.