I just finished reading the kite runner and I think it might just be one of the best books I have read. The way the characters were portrayed, the descriptions- short yet vivid, and to be able to imagine something I had no proper information on(am talking about Afghanistan’s history) was truly exhilarating. I have searched for books which can capture my attention, and be able to have the ability to keep me motivated enough to finish the whole book. This book has been able to do exactly that. Kept me on the edge of my seat, as I turned every page, nearing the end of the book. Along with being relevant this was truly something. To be able to interwine fact and fiction so gracefully, is exactly what I wanted.
What about you guys? Have you guys read The kite runner? If so how did you find it? … ngl the movie did not do justice to the original book that’s for sure.
I was analyzing it with a student (I teaching English language arts as a tutor), and I only heard the name before. So since I already have a backlog of books and it wasn’t something that I normally seek out, I just read a summary. I found the concept of morbidly fascinating and the writing fantastic, but the subject matter is not something I would dive into outside of an analysis (a bit too dark for me to read for fun). I also looked up summaries of his other works shortly after.
I think it has more meaning to me because I’m someone that grew up as the War on Terror was starting (grew up and I am in the United States, and not directly affected, but I for sure knew what it was and what it meant). So that made it even more profound and I could really empathize with what the people were going through and appreciate what it took for the author to write that. My student was younger, so I’m not sure they did, but I hope it’s a story that continues to get told, and people appreciate and understand what it means.
As someone with a south Asian background, most of the cultural aspects of the book were easier for me to understand, and I see how it can differ with different cultural backgrounds. Some of the farsi , Arabic, and urdu words which were dropped occasionally in the book were quite easy for me to infer the meaning of due to my background, and therefore it was all the more appealing to me. So this can definitely be a big factor to not liking the book right? I personally had like no proper knowledge on Afghanistan’s history as of this manner, and this has been a nice introduction to it. We are being shown the sufferings of thousands just through the portrayal of a few characters and I think it sends out quite the message.