[astrangerhere]

I just finished the book last night. I felt it tapered off a bit at the end. The best parts, to me, were when we were intimately following the monster, such as he was. I am sure there are numerous layers (beyond the war and corruption) that I wish I understood. I don't know how the Assyrian church, the Muslim community, and the other facets of the society presented coexisted before daily carboumbs and US military raids.

I too am glad to have read it though. I read a good deal of translated work, though most from the Japanese. I know enough Japanese to know what tone or phrase a translator might be conveying. I had no such foundation with a translation from Arabic. Gave me many mechanical questions of translation to ponder in addition to the substantive questions about the material.