Kite Runner
Last night I went to my book club meeting where we had read Kite Runner. There were 5 people there. 2 had not started the book. I had read the whole book, as had one other member. Then the host had just read about half of it. So the discussion was dominated by me and the other reader. But we had to talk around some of the issues in the book. We could talk vaguely, but we didn't want to ruin the book for everyone else. Even though we couldn't discuss the book like I would have enjoyed, I am glad our book club chose this, because I got to read something unlike my ordinary choices.

This book was unlike something that I would have picked up on my own. It takes place in Afghanistan and the main character is a boy named Amir. The book explores the relationship with his friend Hassan who also happens to be his servant. The book also looks at the relationship between Amir and his father, and Hassan's father. Amir is a flawed character, as all of these characters are. The characters are complex. The book was hard for me to get into at first. I took notes. I underlined and wrote in the margins, especially by figures of speech and foreshadowing. But when the reading got good, I found I had dropped my pen and had been too absorbed with the book to make notes. The story is about a boy who makes mistakes and how "there is a way to be good again". Those words are mentioned in the first chapter in 2001. Then the book jumps back to the 70s and goes through the 80s. Then when you jump back to present day 2001, the words are repeated. And they mean so much. They are so much more powerful when you know what the characters have gone through to get to that point.

Oh, it was so good. Read it.
- posted by Alicia @ 8:55 PM