"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. "
The first paragraph sums up the whole character of Amir as a person who've escaped his past, but still is haunted by it. That he remembers everything with such detail, must be because he's gone through it again and again in his mind. He says it's been on his mind for 26 years, which is a really long time, and for him saying he looks back "into that deserted alley" I get the impression it's not a good memory. The word "deserted" is in this sentence a negative loaded word, and gives thoughts about emptiness and loneliness. Maybe also a sign about him not knowing what to do. As if the desert is new to him, and he's on new land without anything to reach for, only sand.
That he says it's wrong what's said about the past, is a bit sad, and it's obvious that the thing he's talking about has really been bothering him for all these years. He has found a way to bury it down, but not to put it away. The beginning of this book is very interesting, and makes me want to read the rest to find out what he saw, and if he will get it out of his mind.
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