Couldn't put it down... literally

***Warning***plot spoilers***don't read unless you want to know what happens in the book

Okay, I just have to say first of all, that I literally read this in 5 days straight, which is saying a lot for how crazy busy I am (the same as the rest of you, I realize), but I just couldn't put it down. When I had to go to work, I had my Kindle read it to me in the car, lol. First of all, I thought that the relationship between Noel Strachan and Jean was very weird. And I understand it at the same time. She didn't have anyone else in the world to turn to, so he became his family, and he didn't have much by way of family either, so they suited one another. But all the same, I thought it was interesting how much detail she shared with him about EVERYTHING. And how he basically wished he was younger to have married her himself... I don't know, it gave me the creeps.

I also didn't necessarily love the narrator's voice. I understand that's how Mr. Strachan was tied into the book best, but he reported on everything in such an impassive, unfeeling way. In some parts of the book, I appreciated that, because it would have been way too graphic if it had been too emotional and/or descriptive, but in other parts of the book, it drove me crazy that he just reported on people dying and being beaten as if it was just a walk in the park.

I thought Jean's role in a male-dominated society was very interesting. She obviously learned how to be diplomatic enough to get what she wanted out of everyone, but in a sincere way still, but the part that really struck me was how she was coming in to Malaya after the war to pay for and put up a well and washing hut for the women, and yet she had to jump through all the hoops and make it seem like it was the men's idea and get permission before she could move forward. In some ways, I don't think this has changed much in our society... we all know certain people, men or women, who we have to butter up and sweet talk to get what we want out of them (or maybe it's just me with the University politicking I live with day to day). And I thought it was a very telling comment about the culture of that society that the men were wondering if they had done a bad thing by allowing the women to have something that caused so much laughter.

Mostly throughout the book, I just kept thinking about how every hard thing we do, helps prepare us and teach us valuable lessons. In most cases we wouldn't be able to do what we do if we didn't have some kind of difficult experience to prepare ourselves for what we are asked to do. I have a friend who has gone through an almost literal hell with her husband for the past two years, and has been wondering, why? Why me? What am I supposed to learn from this if anything? She recently was appointed to a fairly large leadership opportunity and is going to be over about 20 faculty members who are all strong-willed and who tend to fight amongst each other. I talked to her the other day, and she was just in awe because she just had realized that day that she was prepared to take on this new assignment because she had learned so much in the past few years about conflict management and resolution, among other things. It has given me a greater resolve to try to learn the lessons I am supposed to at the time of my most difficult situations with a happy heart, realizing that I will be better for it. I thought that this was one of the main points of this book. It was just very interesting to see how Jean turned her horrific experience in the war into a very happy and profitable life afterward. Not that she would wish it upon herself again, but she was just very practical in applying the lessons she learned, almost like Dashti, just very matter-of-fact.

Sorry this is so lengthy, but I want to know....What did you gals get out of the book? Anything that really stuck with you?