The Kite Runner
This story has been one of those "it" books that everyone has been reading. It looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try.
It seems an oversimplification to call The Kite Runner an Afghan Atonement. Nonetheless, there are a number of similarities concerning the beginning of the story that I'd like to point out. In both, the reader is presented with the a main character who happens to be a precocious child with a flair for the written word. Both children witness a rape, lie about it, and spend the rest of their lives trying to redeem themselves.
Hosseini's writing ability, on a sentence-to-sentence level, doesn't hold up to that of McEwan's. However, he manages to push all the right emotional buttons of the reader, and that's what I think accounts for this book's staggering popularity. Also, Afghanistan being in the news probably hasn't hurt sales. And, if any book is going to prosper from a war, I'm glad it was this one, as Hosseini's sympathetic portrayal of Afghan life has, with any luck, prompted a few ignorant North Americans to tone down the racism, at the very least.
In my opinion, it's a good, solid read, but it's not spectacular. If you haven't read Ian McEwan's Atonement, and enjoyed this novel, I would most certainly recomment checking it out. If you have, here's the link for The Kite Runner.
Additionally, there are some preliminary reports that the novel will be made into a movie, to be released sometime in 2006. American Beauty director Sam Mendes is reportedly attached to the project, as is 25th Hour screenwriter David Benioff.
It seems an oversimplification to call The Kite Runner an Afghan Atonement. Nonetheless, there are a number of similarities concerning the beginning of the story that I'd like to point out. In both, the reader is presented with the a main character who happens to be a precocious child with a flair for the written word. Both children witness a rape, lie about it, and spend the rest of their lives trying to redeem themselves.
Hosseini's writing ability, on a sentence-to-sentence level, doesn't hold up to that of McEwan's. However, he manages to push all the right emotional buttons of the reader, and that's what I think accounts for this book's staggering popularity. Also, Afghanistan being in the news probably hasn't hurt sales. And, if any book is going to prosper from a war, I'm glad it was this one, as Hosseini's sympathetic portrayal of Afghan life has, with any luck, prompted a few ignorant North Americans to tone down the racism, at the very least.
In my opinion, it's a good, solid read, but it's not spectacular. If you haven't read Ian McEwan's Atonement, and enjoyed this novel, I would most certainly recomment checking it out. If you have, here's the link for The Kite Runner.
Additionally, there are some preliminary reports that the novel will be made into a movie, to be released sometime in 2006. American Beauty director Sam Mendes is reportedly attached to the project, as is 25th Hour screenwriter David Benioff.
1 Comments:
i must be out of the reading loop too because i hadn't heard of this but will look now.
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