Book Review - The Kite Runner
I just got home from my book club discussion of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. (The astute reader may ask, "What happened to Pride and Prejudice?" Well, that's what we're reading in my other book club. I am a nerd.)
I have to preface my remarks on this book with an explanation of Kathy's World. It's a lovely place where people are kind, don't commit acts of violence, aren't physically abusive, don't prey on children and don't judge others on race, gender, religion or sexual preference. I try to mentally preserve Kathy's World as much as possible so, while I do read murder mysteries and the like (it's easier to remind me that they're only fictional stories), I avoid true crime and biographies/memoirs where ugly things occur.
The Kite Runner put a big, black cloud over Kathy's World by violating many of the 'rules' and I didn't like it for that reason. If it hadn't been for book club, I would have stopped reading at the first heinously violent act and never opened the book again. However, I feel it's important to actually read a book before joining a group discussion so I read on. It didn't get any happier...
I supposed you'd like to actually know what the book is about so I'll give you some tidbits. The protagonist's story starts when he was a young, rich boy in Afghanistan. His Father is wealthy and powerful and his best friend is a young servant boy. But, he doesn't publicly acknowledge his friend because he's from a slave caste. This is in 1975, BTW. Horrible things happen, the boy is racked by guilt which he compounds by behaving badly. Fast forward and the Taliban arrive. They do more horrible stuff and the boy and his Father move to the United States although the son makes a return trip to Afghanistan (again with the horrific stuff).
This may come as a surprise but I'm actually recommending the book. It's so well written that I had to remind myself that it was fiction. It really reads like a memoir and some of the events are taken from recent Afghan history. I asked my group if they would recommend it (everyone was disturbed by the story) and they all said yes. There was a split decision on whether they would warn someone about the subject matter while making the recommendation, however. I will warn you - this book will haunt you, it's that powerful and compelling.
I have to preface my remarks on this book with an explanation of Kathy's World. It's a lovely place where people are kind, don't commit acts of violence, aren't physically abusive, don't prey on children and don't judge others on race, gender, religion or sexual preference. I try to mentally preserve Kathy's World as much as possible so, while I do read murder mysteries and the like (it's easier to remind me that they're only fictional stories), I avoid true crime and biographies/memoirs where ugly things occur.
The Kite Runner put a big, black cloud over Kathy's World by violating many of the 'rules' and I didn't like it for that reason. If it hadn't been for book club, I would have stopped reading at the first heinously violent act and never opened the book again. However, I feel it's important to actually read a book before joining a group discussion so I read on. It didn't get any happier...
I supposed you'd like to actually know what the book is about so I'll give you some tidbits. The protagonist's story starts when he was a young, rich boy in Afghanistan. His Father is wealthy and powerful and his best friend is a young servant boy. But, he doesn't publicly acknowledge his friend because he's from a slave caste. This is in 1975, BTW. Horrible things happen, the boy is racked by guilt which he compounds by behaving badly. Fast forward and the Taliban arrive. They do more horrible stuff and the boy and his Father move to the United States although the son makes a return trip to Afghanistan (again with the horrific stuff).
This may come as a surprise but I'm actually recommending the book. It's so well written that I had to remind myself that it was fiction. It really reads like a memoir and some of the events are taken from recent Afghan history. I asked my group if they would recommend it (everyone was disturbed by the story) and they all said yes. There was a split decision on whether they would warn someone about the subject matter while making the recommendation, however. I will warn you - this book will haunt you, it's that powerful and compelling.
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