Hello Fellow Bookworms,
I hope everyone is doing well from when we met for our last post. If you are new to my blog, hello, my name is Addington. Currently we are in a series of book reviews and this blog that you are reading is our fifth book review. Yay, this is so exciting! I am enjoying every minute of it as I hope you are too.
To those of you that are not new to my blog, welcome back. I think things are going well with the book reviews. I would like to talk to my readers in the comment section about what their thoughts are on the books we are discussing. Let me and others know if you read the books and if you liked them or not. Or for those that have not read it, does the review make you interested enough to read it? I would like to know your thoughts as I am open to engaging in the comment section with my readers.
I am also interested in your thoughts on another topic. I was thinking about maybe sharing small pieces of my life when it comes to writing. I am a very private person but I think it would be a way to grow and learn with you all. We could share writing experiences, and do’s and don’ts with each other. I love doing the book reviews but this would be a nice way to mix it up a little. I’ll keep you posted on this idea but please let me know if sharing my writing process and experiences is something you would like read.
Now that we got that out of the way, we can now begin our book review. This week’s book is called, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Has anyone read this book? I will say this book made it to my favorites list. I don’t make many books my favorite because I like books in general and I really try to take something from each book, even if it’s terrible. That’s a part of growing as a writer, looking at the good and bad in books and learning from them both. With that being said The Kite Runner did it for me.
Reading this book truly changed my thoughts and visions of Afghanistan. I got to see the country differently than what the news and media channels currently portray Afghanistan to be. On TV I see it as a dry hot country, filled with poverty and war. In this book, The Kite Runner, I got to see the beauty of the country and what it once was before the regime took over in September of 1996. The story starts in the eyes of an adult named, Amir, who finds himself having to return to his home country of Afghanistan due to a death, and that my friends is where the love of the story started for me.
As Amir finds himself getting ready to go back to his home country for reasons beyond his control the author, Hosseini, expands the story by allowing the reader to experience and see Afghanistan in the eyes of an adolencent child. Amir describes the richness of their fruit trees as he played with his adolescent friends. Hosseini, takes you to the places they played at, he describes the scenes as a child would see it at that time in the 1990’s. I was drawn into that time period and felt as if I was there with the character soaking in the sun, eating the fruits off the fruit trees, flying kites, and laying in the rich green grass.
In the book, Amir lives in Kabul where the back drop of the story takes place. As a child Amir goes from living a normal Afghan life to watching the government go to war, and then lose control to the Taliban regime. He was lucky enough to escape to America with his father until a death happens that forces him to return. Although this book is fiction, the historical events written in this book are real. The backdrop of the story line was written so well and with so much detail that I could picture myself in Kabul. Which I have never been too, let alone even heard of before reading this book.
Khaled Hosseini, did a very good job at absorbing the reader into his book with the details and descriptions he used. To be honest that’s a good thing, you want your author to bring you into the story. I’ve read other books that don’t engage with you in that way, instead you get more of a Birds Eye feeling. Meaning your not absorbed into the storyline necessarily but you feel as through you are over looking what is happening instead of feeling like you are living the characters life.
I was so absorbed in this book that I felt like I was living with the characters, experiencing their culture just as they were within the pages of this book. I was drawn into the history of the country, because Amir lived there as a child and was returning as an adult. The reader gets the benefit of learning and seeing what Afghanistan was like in all its glory – to what it has changed into today. There were certain parts of the book that brought tears to my eyes at the cruelty some of the characters experienced. Even though this story is fiction, it’s based on real experiences from real people in that county. Some of the stories, just knowing that they could be true for some human made my heart bleed.
The author did a great job with description and attention to detail. Hosseini, knew what his writing should zone in on and what was not important. I really enjoyed this book and reading it added value to my life. If you haven’t read this book already I say please do and then come back and comment. I would like to know your thoughts about the book.
Until next time Bookworms, stay safe, stay positive.
M.C. Addington 