When I finished reading, I wanted to know what happened to Owen !! I don't know if you guys felt the same way, but the book left me craving to know what happens to him. But, that was the whole point of the story. We suffer because we can't ever surmise what life is going to throw our way, or take away. The metaphor of the dark ties in nicely with the idea that we are all in the dark; we don't have a manual that tells us how to live life, or what to do if caught in bad situations. We do what our nature tells us to do, whether that is watching movies with our grandfathers, or creating fictional stories in our rooms once everyone has closed their eyes.

This book reminded me a lot of Kurt Vonnegaut's (spelling?) books. The story that August creates at night so that he can escape from painful memories was very believable. I felt like I was there, right with Owen, wondering what the hell was going on with America. The writing flowed nicely without any awkward moments in the novel.

The book is mainly about discovering ourselves when we feel that we are broken inside. The book describes the things that we hide from the public, the things we are ashamed of, like watching movies all day and then falling asleep. And it's also about learning to let go and live again. This was a very short read, but it was packed with meaning.