Reading and Writing

Both of you who routinely read my blog probably recognize the pattern - I blog in bursts. Get ready for a string of posts. Tonight's installment is long overdue.
When I read, I become really focused. I have the tendency to start a book and finish it in a couple of hours. While my reading log looks nothing like my reading hero's, I've read a lot lately - It helps my writing. Most recently I read Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner." My wife noted that most of the people she knows who did not like the book were male. She attributes it to the forced sodomy scene. While that was not a comfortable thing to read, I disagree. The hardest part of the book was to see the unrequitted devotion of a true friend to a self-absorbed boy. As I read, I began to relive the bullying I endured in middle school. Then, I began to analyze how I had treated others when my situation reversed in high school. The book is haunting because you suffer for both characters.
Tonight I read each post (in reverse order) from a friend of a friend's blog. It is equally disturbing. In finding herself, she loses something very precious. You can feel her struggle in her words. It will ease over time, which is the ultimate tragedy.