The Kite Runner in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Dec 12, 2014 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: audio, everyone-loved-it-except-me, authors-i-don-t-ever-want-to-read-a, fiction, only-reading-because-of-the-buzz, lotsa-buzz

This book is a long, wordy, depressing slog. I imagine the appeal is the same as pressing a bruise. Oh, that hurt. Let me try it again. Yep, still hurts. It's books like this that are the reason I tend to avoid long time best sellers; pressing the bruise over and over holds little appeal for me. It doesn't help that the author is not a very captivating reader ... he is very flat.

To sum it up: I really hated this book. At first, I was thinking maybe 3 stars ... The writing was wordy and the narr This book is a long, wordy, depressing slog. I imagine the appeal is the same as pressing a bruise. Oh, that hurt. Let me try it again. Yep, still hurts. It's books like this that are the reason I tend to avoid long time best sellers; pressing the bruise over and over holds little appeal for me. It doesn't help that the author is not a very captivating reader ... he is very flat.

To sum it up: I really hated this book. At first, I was thinking maybe 3 stars ... The writing was wordy and the narrator and all other characters were not appealing, but the story and setting were interesting. The narrator became progressively more unlike able and wordy, so I knocked it down to two stars ... And then, AND THEN, Amir starting bowing to the west and praying in the hospital allah allah allah, and I was so disgusted I nearly threw up. And I figured out why this book has been so popular - oh! oh! the spiritual awakening! but OF COURSE! He's without religion his entire life, a self-centered little punk who sits around brooding about how selfish and awful he is, while he continues on, and then SUDDENLY he has an awakening, prays to god, and voila! all is forgiven!

I had a little party in my head when I finally got to the end. HoooooooRAY!

This is my third audio book, and I'm still of two minds as to whether I actually like audio books. Additionally, I am generally predisposed to dislike any book that gets as much hype as this book! So, I am trying to be open minded here, but this book is starting out with me with two strikes against. Three strikes, really: it is read by the author, and unfortunately his voice and inflection pattern reminds me of NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu (whom I never particularly enjoyed). And then my kids pointed out that he sounds like Jonathan (from the TV show Buffy), well, Jonathan with an accent .... So now I keep picturing Superstar-Jonathan leaning back in his desk chair at the mansion, faking an accent, telling this story. This is not helping me like this any!

Not even halfway through and I was able to summarize this book in one sentence: people are assholes, and sometimes they regret their actions. Yes, its set in Afghanistan, and was published just when we were busy attacking Afghanistan ... but I don't feel like I'm really learning anything about a foreign culture. It's written as if it's the US, with foreign words. some mud shacks, and way more racism than I'm used to. And lots of shit. Not a chapter goes by in which we aren't told about shit, or feces, or dung (it really irritates me that he's not consistent with the word he chooses - some chapters, it smells like shit; other chapters, it smells like feces; and still others, he smells dung. Surely the smell is the same?) ...more

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Dec 03, 2008 Lori rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Hosseini's book is a pretty good read, if rather transparent. I couldn't help but already guess what was going to happen at several points in the book. For example, that the boy had been taken by Assef the sociopath was more than evident before he and Farid ever left the orphanage in Korteh-Seh. Excellent storytellers have pokerfaces, but Hosseini gets too excited. He tells you everything you need to know long before suspense even considers building.

There was a notable high point in the work. A ...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Rae rated it it was amazing

Shelves: other-fiction

A lot has been written about this book...pro and con. Here's my take on it:

I was intimidated by the setting, thinking that it wouldn't be something I would want to read about. I was also put off by the horrible events in the beginning of the book.

However, I found that I loved the themes of friendship and love and sin and repentance and restitution and forgiveness. The story touched something in me and I think it's a fine novel...one of the best I have ever read.

I thought the writing was fresh a ...more

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Feb 01, 2009 Chris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"If you don't like this book, you have no soul and might be a robot." -Thomas Nye ...more

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Oct 06, 2008 Lydia Presley rated it really liked it

I put off reading this book for quite some time because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to read it. I actually read A Thousand Splendid Suns first and what made me finally pick this book up is Hosseini's style of writing. It was sad, as I expected, but I literally could not put it down. ...more

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