so, it starts off strong. it almost feels like a biography, that's how real it felt to me. i actually looked on the back of the cover...moreSPOILERS AHEAD!!!
so, it starts off strong. it almost feels like a biography, that's how real it felt to me. i actually looked on the back of the cover to see if it was based on a true story or something.
one thing i noticed off the bat was hosseini's style of writing. it was an extremely easy read. i wasn't sure if this was so it would be accessible to a wider audience or so we could concentrate more on the story rather than the prose or what. what's ironic is that the narrator and protagonist is supposed to be a gifted writer. anyway, the writing wasn't the book's strongest point. honestly, the author of the inner elvis had much better descriptive writing.
however, his simplistic writing style didn't take away from the emotions triggered in the story. i was practically bawling at every emotional scene. i have to say, though, that the rape scene, which is the first dramatic scene in the novel, was the best one. i know that sounds horrible, but it's timing and significance was on point.
and that's where things kinda went downhill for me. even though i was caught up in the story, things became really cliche. amir and hassan are the two protagonists in the story. amir is the son of baba, a wealthy and admired male widower while hassan is the hare-lipped hazara, people who are regarded as scum of the earth according to afghani history. anyway, hassan and his father, ali, are servants for baba and amir, but they are viewed as family. it's a refreshing departure from what could easily be a cinderlla-type plot.
anyway, amir is this really smart, well-educated pansy who can't stand up for himself for shit and hassan always backs him up, even taking on 3 guys on his own. there's a little rivalry between the two boys, with amir constantly testing hassan's loyalty and scoffing at him for seeming to be such a sucker. but when shit turns serious, amir doesn't return the sentiment.
the year that amir won a kite flying competition, hassan takes off for the last kite and ends up being cornered by child-sociopath, assef, and his cronies. when hassan refuses to give up the fallen kite, assef rapes him in an alley and amir watches the whole thing from a hiding place because he's too afraid to jump in and protect his friend.
as i kept reading, cliches and implausible coincidences start popping up everywhere. it turns out that amir and hassan are half-brothers. (i think i saw that plot-twist in days of our lives once.) when amir goes back to afghanistan to save hassan's now-orphan son, that son is held captive by --guess who?-- none other than assef who has become part of the taliban. the novel climaxes with assef kicking amir's ass. and who saves amir? hassan's son! with a fucking slingshot! (hassan was skilled at that, too.) amir gets reconstructive surgery and ends up with a scar down his lip like hassan had when he had surgery for his hare-lip. good lord. then there was this brief encounter where amir comes across an old homeless guy who just happened to know amir's mother before she died giving birth to amir. how would that ever happen?
to be fair, it had a really good storyline. i still maintain that the first third was well executed. the beginning of the book stands its ground well, but that may have just made the rest of the book pale in comparison even more so. it almost felt like the author was desperately reaching for the audience's acceptance (it's his first novel). or he hurried through the rest of the book and needed to increase the tear-jerker factor exponentially by making me cry at every page to cover up the fact that he was running out of quality ideas. on a positive note, it might add more depth to an already mysterious and often feared culture in light of 9/11.
but when all is said and done, it's still an interesting read.
final word on the kite runner: i can't wait for the movie adaptation. hollywood would eat that shit up. (less)
i'll be honest with you. i loved this book because i had no high expectations of it even though it is on the bestseller list. i'm also a biased consum...morei'll be honest with you. i loved this book because i had no high expectations of it even though it is on the bestseller list. i'm also a biased consumer; i love the flapper era and dark comedies. this book is a perfect combination of the two. and the fact that it takes place in a circus is such a unique setting to me. i love how the author intertwines the elderly protagonist's current situation with his younger self's experiences working in the circus. the perspective you get of the elderly community is also a unique lesson and one i wasn't expecting to get. lastly, there is a neat little twist that i found really cool. the author could teach hosseini how to use surprise sparingly.
however, i would give it 3.5 stars instead of 4 because of two things. 1: the characters are stereotypical, so it lacks creativity in that area. like "kite runner," it makes for an awesome movie script, though. the ending was pretty unlikely, too. but that's what hollywood is made of. i still love it anyway, because i think i've had a dream like this before. 2: i don't like how they portray the character with paranoid schizophrenia. they make it seem as though he was psycho because of his illness. granted, people back then understood much less about schizophrenia than we do now, but it's an unfair portrayal just the same.(less)
as a budding psychologist, i loved this book. i appreciate sedaris' willingness to expose his own human flaws. he comes across as a doormat, loser-typ...moreas a budding psychologist, i loved this book. i appreciate sedaris' willingness to expose his own human flaws. he comes across as a doormat, loser-type which actually eventually comes across as appealing.
my favorite part has got to be the final chapter titled "naked." he goes to a nudist colony for a week and i finally get the point of the entire book. the symbolic meaning of being in a state of undress yet being able to accept one another for all our physical flaws translates into the ways we as humans fail at accepting one another for our intangible flaws when we are fully clothed. get the irony?
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