The Opposition…

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

Why we're reading this: referred to in segment May 9, 2007; segment guest December 1, 2008
[close] referred to in segment May 9, 2007; segment guest December 1, 2008

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Feb 26, 2012 Patrick Arbuckle rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-east, afghanistan

I can understand why this is a divisive book. In the midst of current events, it plays off the many popular stereotypes, especially the egregious violence of the Taliban. By all means, I shouldn't like this book. Most of the characters are flat, the writing is anything but subtle, and the twists are but guilty pleasures manifested. I didn't really want to like the book either; I read it due to recommendations and, as a American soldier, I am continuously trying to understand the countries we are I can understand why this is a divisive book. In the midst of current events, it plays off the many popular stereotypes, especially the egregious violence of the Taliban. By all means, I shouldn't like this book. Most of the characters are flat, the writing is anything but subtle, and the twists are but guilty pleasures manifested. I didn't really want to like the book either; I read it due to recommendations and, as a American soldier, I am continuously trying to understand the countries we are involved in and the national dialogue surrounding the involvement.
So why the four stars? In summary, I could not put it down. It still captivated me and put me through an emotional wringer. As I mentioned, the characters are unrealistically flat. With the exception of Baba, every character is either good and loyal, bad and a coward, or just straight evil. While this makes it hard to directly connect to any character, it makes sense in the context of the storytelling. In that fact, what really drew me in was not who, but how the story was told. The representation of memories and their hierarchy of importance is accurate and enticing. What Amir chooses to tell and how he tells it are a better reflection of the characters than the descriptions he assigns to them. Often in memory we flatten the players out to make them more palatable, to better explain why things happen, and that is precisely what Amir does. For example, while it is culturally insensitive and slightly unbelievable to portray Hassan as so passive, loyal, and good, it is completely realistic of memory to do that. It is what allows Amir to explain the situation, assign blame, and react to issues in the past.
Along with the memories, I did particularly like the representation of pre-Soviet Kabul and Afghanistan, a subject I am too ignorant of. For instance the staggering differences between the idealized past and the crumbling present are exaggerated, but beautiful none the less. While it is surely not the account of the everyman Afghan, I did not picture that living in the country would be like that, even under the monarchy.
Remember this is a pop book... people who are expecting vivid and fair depiction of Afghanistan will be disappointed. People who are expecting mature characters and plot twists will be disappointed. Much like other pop lit, it is glitzy and preys on theatrics, but that does not necessarily make it bad. ...more

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