Reading Review Board

Discuss

Discuss

Discuss

Discuss

I'm pressed to decide which is which. Fact is stranger than fiction or fiction is stranger than fact. I recalled reading an article in the New York Sunday Times a few months ago about how kite flying in Pakistan had been outlawed. Apparently the kite strings severed and set loose during the competition attach themselves to objects on land and entangle innocent pedestrians resulting in serious injury and death. I was unable to locate the article but a fair substitute for its content can be found at the following Web site. Gateway Pundit: Pakistan Arrests 1000 Kite Flying "Terrorists ...

Discuss

What, if anything, did you find especially interesting or surprising?

There were no surprises, but I did find the story especially interesting on two counts. Secrets and the way they corrupt families appear to be a universal affliction. They inevitably cause unnecessary casualties of the human heart. I don’t offer this observation without acknowledging the kind of trouble telling the truth can get you in. It’s been known to get folks killed. Yet there is much to be said for how to deliver it, especially to a child. In fact I have little doubt the practice of honesty laced with compassion in our relations with children would serve well our intercourse with adults. Consider Emily Dickinson poem #1129   for a superb treatment of this theme.

A second source of interest was the capacity of people to press on in the face of astonishing depravity. Tom Freedman’s book From Beirut to Jerusalem was a remarkable tale of this same brand of survival in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Beirut</st1:City> during <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s civil war. He observed, after his investigation of the plight of those trapped in the city and left to endure the daily battering and terror of uncertainty, one key to preserving sanity. It was imagination. Those who could “imagine” themselves somewhere else, an end to the strife were far more successful at holding themselves psychologically, emotionally together. I saw so many similarities between this portrait and the one in <st1:City w:st="on">Kabul</st1:City> – and the one in present day Baghdad.  A condensed embodiment of this was portrayed in Kite Runner when Amir and Farid encounter an old beggar on the road to Kabul. This was a heart breaking, heart rendering, and strangely uplifting tribute to the human spirit.

Do you have a favorite passage or quote from the book?  If so, please share it and tell us why?

“I slipped the picture back where I had found it. Then I realized something: That last thought had brought no sting with it. Closing Sohrab’s door, I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” (page 359)

It related in a deep and revealing way to my own relationship with my father and in a broad and telling way to how human kind reconciles with the past, however painful, and moves on.

Have you ever been tempted to betray a friendship?

It was never a temptation. It was an exchange of betrayals. One reckless without regard to consequences. The other calculated with deep regard to consequences. A terrible choice – a Sophie’s Choice – between friends.

Have you ever returned to a place you’d known years ago?

Yes. There were strikingly few changes and this curiously troubled me. I returned to a neighborhood where I grew up from 1958 to 1962. It was troubling because the resemblances were strong enough to foster feelings of ownership of the place and consequently a treatment of the current residents as invaders. What changes I did see were improvements. I liked that. It might resemble a visit to a grave sight, finding it and the surrounding cemetery well maintained and slightly upgraded. Whatever attachment I felt for the place quickly faded, however, for reasons not entirely clear. Perhaps because it was a solo visit, absent of reminiscing that included exchanged interpretations and embellishments that lead to revelations and laughter. It was mostly experienced as added weight that I had previously and unknowingly shed from by shoulders. When I drove away, I could feel the lightness return.

Discuss

This book positively swept me away. In spite of the brutal scenes, I was immediately drawn in by the exotic setting and striking language (e.g. "Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper thin slice of intersection between those spheres." I read much of the book this spring as I was sitting with my mother while she was in hospice care. The pain in the world of the book and my pain seemed to almost merge at times.

What, if anything did I find especially interesting or surprising? My own reading process surprised me. I found myself making predictions about the separation and eventual reunion (I hoped) of Amir and Hassan. I found it unusual that Baba was so devoted to Hassan, but when the reason was revealed, it completely took me by surprise. I had even wondered if Rahim Khan could be Hassan's father. How did I miss all the foreshadowing? Am I the only one that didn't guess the truth?

I found it interesting and effective that Hosseini used present tense for part of Chapter 25 when Sohrab was taken to the hospital.  That gives it a cinematic quality and even more urgency and suspense.

A favorite passage or quote:  Rahim's wisdom and understanding made all the difference for Amir.  These lines from the book have stayed with me. I think they could apply to many situations. "There is a way to be good again." "A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.  And that, I believe is what true redemption is, Amir Jan, when guilt leads to good." "But most important, forgive yourself."

Returning to a place I knew years ago:  Last year I went to a meeting held in a 1920's era school building, now used for district offices, where I had attended grades 2-3. Just walking across those same indestructible tile floors brought back a rush of memories--and emotions. I couldn't resist poking my head into the office that used to be Miss Vincent's classroom in the 1950's. The early afternoon sun was flooding in, just as it had done years ago, when I truly lived for that golden time after lunch each day when Miss Vincent would read aloud form Heidi, Treasure Island, or Tom Sawyer. Having those characters and stories in my head helped me bear the loneliness I experienced when we moved in the middle of the school year. I really connected with the description of Hassan being drawn to the "mystery of words" and begging to hear more the next day.

Discuss

I read the book as part of a college level course.  I was amazed and intrigued by the story. Like your marine friends and the other marines fighting terrorism who read The Kite Runner, I gained insights into the people of afghanistan and the terrible atrocities that occur there daily.     

Discuss

Wow - I think that is very interesting that some Marines who go to Afganistan are required The Kite Runner.  I can see how it would be beneficial and also help add some depth to the culture.  Seeing the human and family elements is something that seems essential to the men and women who, for the most part, seem to be brainwashed into thinking that violence is key.

Discuss

I have been wanting to read this book for some time now.  I worked at a coffee shop back home where regular customers and I exchanged ideas on good books on a regular basis, and this is a book that continued to come up. With a busy school schedule, however, I have not been too up on “pleasure reading,” so I am very happy that this opportunity came up in our class!

I was instantly pulled into The Kite Runner – within the first two chapters, I knew that I would not be able to put the book down. The relationship between Hassan and Amir was one that, as we all obviously agree on, was one that touched my heart and evoked so many emotions on so many levels. I reflected on times that my younger sister and I played when we were children and how we will reflect upon it later on. Hassan’s true devotion to Amir is a devotion that is not often seen today The true, pure love that Hassan displayed towards Amir touched my heart.

The Kite Runner is a book that helped me look into the Afghan culture in a way I have not yet been able to do. So much of what I hear about Afghanistan is what I hear from the news or from friends in the military. I was surprised, and glad, to hear that some touring Marines are required to read this book. This would help one become more connected to the human and family aspects of Afghan culture.

The element of family ties was the other aspect of the book that I particularly enjoyed. I did not understand, however, some Baba’s relationship with Amir. It hurt me to see Amir continually trying to please his father, but never fully accomplishing that. Baba always took such good care and spoke so highly of Hassan – why not do that with Amir? I understand that Baba was dealing with deep-rooted guilt, however, I do not feel that would result in his treatment of Amir. Also, what was the meaning of Hassan’s mother coming back? It seemed so brief.

Discuss