169 Books: Algeria

The Attack by Yasmina Khadra

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in myself when I picked this back up and read the summary again. The author is from Algeria, but the book is set in Tel Aviv. But the description was intriguing and this is what I have on hand for Algeria, so here we go. Here's the summary:
Dr. Amin Jaafari is an Arab-Israeli surgeon at a hospital in Tel Aviv. As an admired and respected member of his community, he has carved a space for himself and his wife, Sihem, at the crossroads of two troubled societies. Jaafari’s world is abruptly shattered when Sihem is killed in a suicide bombing.As evidence mounts that Sihem could have been responsible for the catastrophic bombing, Jaafari begins a tortured search for answers. Faced with the ultimate betrayal, he must find a way to reconcile his cherished memories of his wife with the growing realization that she may have had another life, one that was entirely removed from the comfortable, modern existence that they shared.

For reference, and my geography-challenged friends: Algeria has the big pink arrow, and Tel Aviv has the Google location marker. So they're pretty far away from each other. Anyway, here goes. 

• The action is starting right off the bat. That's kind of fun. 
• This is a really interesting point of view. You see this a lot with mass shootings, bombings, killings of all kind: people want to somehow put the blame on the friends and family. They should have seen it coming, they should have stopped it somehow, they must be involved. It's very scary what people will do out of fear. 
• I really like these characters. They have relatable personalities and flaws that make you wonder if you can ever truly know someone (while not being as truly messed up as Gone Girl) and questioning everything you thought you knew.
• Right around page 100, I noticed a bright red spot at the bottom of the page. It's actually on the bottom edge of the book so it's been getting bigger as I keep reading. It's most certainly marker, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little eerie considering the book's plot. 
• I got a bit upset when people in the book were praising the suicide bombing. But then I thought that it's not so different from what we do with soldiers who die in battle, because those people see it as a holy war. But then Soldier reminded me that our military doesn't generally go out with the idea of blowing up a bunch of kids having lunch. 
• Well this is an interesting twist. There's a guy saying that they do what they do because the hatred has built up from insults. Now, I have no idea whether that's true or not, but I'm not sure how that relates to the people they're killing that they've never seen before in their lives. 
• In all honesty it sounds like the wife was simply severely, severely depressed.
• Oh. I wasn't sure how the forward fit in but there it is. I will give a semi-spoiler and say this isn't exactly a happy ending. 
I really liked this book. It was the kind that, rather than going out and doing things with Soldier, I wanted to read. (Don't worry, I went out and did stuff anyway) Toward the end, it felt like it may be a romanticized or fantastical depiction of the situation in the middle east, but I honestly have no idea. It didn't really bring me any closer to understanding the whole thing, or why some people want to blow up strangers, but I'm not sure anything will. 
Also, as much as I enjoyed this, I do kind of feel like I cheated myself out of Algeria. At some point, I think I'll come back to it and find another book that's actually set there. 


I've done really well so far. Granted, I've only gone through 3 books, but they've all been pretty good. I'm going to cross my fingers that this continues.