the kite runner
i have just finished reading an absolutely mind-blowing book called the kite runner by khaled hosseini. it has taken me ages, not because it isn't good - but rather because it is so moving - i had to allow time after each chapter to contemplate and allow it to sink in. the cover blurb includes the following adjectives: extraordinary, shattering, inspiring, devastating, powerful, unforgettable.
posted by suzyb at 10:55 pm
4 Comments:
i read it over the summer hols and i found it exhausting (for want of a better word). I thought that the opening chapters, with all that happened to Hassan, were horrific and then when i expected things might get better, they just kept on getting worse. i've spoken to so many people who loved it but i can't say i did. i'd define it more as a traumatic experience. i understand that not all stories have a happy ending but this one left me despairing and in tears.
5:04 am
yes, there were many times that i was close to tears. but i'd rather read a book that made me cry (and think deeply about things) than one that is totally unmemorable. i agree that i thought it might have a happier ending (it does, technically, have a "happy" ending!).
6:21 pm
i spose some might say it was a happy ending but i found the protagonist so piss-weak and unbearable that i thought that his much overdue efforts to make up for his cowardice in the end a little bit like too little, too late.
plus, i suppose that there are some things that i just don't want to read about at all eg. child rape. i can handle horrible things happening to adults in books but so many awful things happened to innocent children in that book (images i still can't get out of my head.) i admit that these horrible things must go on in the world but that doesn't mean that i want to read graphic descriptions of them.
does that make me piss-weak too?
12:33 am
no i don't think it makes you piss-weak, because books are intended as a form of escapism. some of us read as a comfort - as a kind of fantasy. i would definitely not recommend the kite runner to someone who reads to fire their imagination or to escape at the end of a busy day. the k.r. is more about facing up to the horrific reality of inequalities (which is part of the root cause of the cowardice of ali) of life in various war-torn parts of the world. i don't know much about afghanistan (despite the fact it has been in the news since 9/11) and i felt inspired to find out more. i have ordered a free "group study" guide which was advertised at the back of the book.
10:38 pm
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