AKA: Drachenläufer - Laufzeit: 128 Minuten - Land: USA

Dieser heiss diskutierte, kontroverse Film basiert auf dem gleichnamigen Roman von Khaled Hosseini, der auch eine kleine Minirolle im Film selbst innehat. Bevor ich vielleicht zu rasch zu irgendwelchen Aussagen komme (das bietet sich hier merklich an, man sieht es an anderen Rezensenten und Kritikern) ersteinmal der Inhalt, unkritisiert und wie wir ihn als Zuschauer präsentiert bekommen:

REimanchab malaikumschab

Der Film ist ganz klar in zwei Teile aufgeteilt. Der erste ist der eher "glücklichere", mit den Kindheitserlebnissen von Amir und Hassan, welche vin einem bösen Ereignis überschattet werden: der Vergewaltigung Hassans; welcher er tatenlos zusah. Der zweite Teil dagegen beziewht sich auf das spätere Leben von Amir, seine Gewissensbisse und seiner Suche nach dem Sohn von Hassan - um seine kindliche Schuld wieder gutzumachen.

Es ist schon bewegend zu sehen, wie der nun erwachsene und zwangsläufig verkleidete Amir in seinen Heimatsort zurückkehrt - und ihn völlig verwüstet und ausser Kontrolle vorfindet. Er scheint dies alles nicht wirklich wahrhaben zu wollen, stets auf der zielstrebigen Suche nach dem Jungen Sohrab - bis er auf dem Hof seinens ehemaligen Zuhauses steht, welches nunmehr eine verfallene, leblose Barracke ist.

Die Darstellerleistungen sind insgesamt sehr überzeugend. Allen voran die beiden Kinderdarsteller - machen ihren Job sehr gut, und dass; obwohl sie bis dahin noch nie vor der Kamera standen. Nur der erwacsehne Darsteller des Amir ( enttäuschte mich ein klein wenig; besonders zu Anfang seines Auftritts. Man hatte zwar das Gefühl als sei dies der Amir, den wir vorher in Kindestragen kennengelernt hatten - dennoch wirkte er etwas balss; ja: man weiss als Zuschuer nicht wirklich ob seine offensichtliche unsicherheit der Rolle entspricht oder dies auf schaupielerische Mägnle zurückzuführen ist.

Warum auch immer - irgendwo erinnerte mich der Film ein klein wenig ab Abel, und damit an das Werk von -

Ich will hier nich allzu sehr ins politische abdriften - jedoch kann ich sagen, dass ich diese Art von Gewalt nicht ausstehen kann. Was nützt der tiefsten Glaube an einen Gott oder einen Messias, wenn die Verbindung zwischen dieser Entität und dem Menschen nur durch Gewalt entstehen werden kann ? Ein Paradoxen, welches viele religöse Völker dieser Erde noch längst nicht erkannt haben. Blut für BLut, Auge um Auge - das ist das Motto, welches weiterhin allgemeine Gültigkeit haben wird. Und wenn dabei unzählige Menschen geopfert werden müssen - auch Kinder. Grausamkeiten kennen keine Grenzen, sobald die ersten Verweigerungen hinsichtlich einer gewissen, instinktiven Menschlichkeit (du sollst nicht töten - auch ohne die Gebote) gebrochen sind, beginnt der Wahnsinn. Ganz besonders der östliche Kulturkreis ist einer, der sich mir persöhnlich nicht wirklich erschließt. Nur allzu rückständig wirkt er, indem er mögliche Missetaten direkt verurteilt und gar Morde billigt, solange sie im Namen "Allahs" geschehen. Doch erhebt tatsächlich Allah das Wort, oder sind es eher diejenigen die interpretieren... ? Eine klare Antwort. Religion als Feind der Menschheit - nirgendwo auf der Welt wird dies deutlicher als in diesen Gefilden. Denn wem folgen die TAliban... ? Sicher keinem Gott, oder einen jedwenem heiligen Abgesandten. Die folgen der nur allzu menschlichen Vison, andere Gruppen zu unterjochen, ihren Glauben aufzuzwägnen - unter Gewaltanwendung und einem jeglichen moralischem Verfall. Bärtige Muslime mit Waffen in der Hand die bereit sind alles zu tun - einerseits ein gnadenloses Klischee, andererseits gnadenlose Wirklichkeit.

Gerade dieser Film sollte einen merklichen Teil hinsichtlich einer Versöhnung beitragen. Doch stattdessen erhalten die Kinderdarsteller Morddrohungen... ! Und zwar von jeder Seite aus. Das beweist umso mehr, wie sinnlos der ganze "Kampf" der Gruppen untereinander ist, ist ihre Wahnehmung der Wahrheit und des Frides längst gestört. Es geht nicht darum wer recht hat - es geht um Menschlichkeit, und die Respektierung differenter Ansichten, das gesellschaftliche tolerieren von Atheisten und Agnostikern. Erst dann kann ein gewisses Seelenheil überhaupt erreicht werden. Ich hoffe weiterhin auf die Kraft des schlechten gewissens in Bezug auf Mörder und falsche Propheten. Doch soll keine Randgruppe explitit damit angesprochen sein. Dies ist ein weltweites, kulturüberschreitendes Phänomen, welches gleichsam unter Taliban, Kommunisten, Christen und allen anderen Glaubensrichtungen vorkommt.

The book starts off with the main character, Amir, answering the phone, and it immediately captures you. Khaled places you on the phone with Amir and who is on the other end of line.  Amir then takes you through his life, a life of luxury, poverty, happiness, regret, love, sadness, and every other emotion you can think of.

He has the ability to captivate you and bring your emotions the the front, and just when you think that you have reached the peak of that emotion he throws one more thing at you and pushes you over the edge.  At no point through the book do you feel as if you do not connect with the characters on an intimate level. Khaled brings you into the book and allows you to live his story not just read.  

All in all I highly, highly recommend Kite Runner looking to connect to characters.  You will not be reading a book, but living a story.

I wanted to write about this book earlier, I actually did but I deleted the text, idjut! Anyway...I think nowadays I am very careful about how much time I have for reading and what I read so I choose carefully. After reading 'The kite Runner' I knew this book will enrich me, I was just unaware of how.

Well, I was in trouble reading it because my sensitivity towards domestic abuse increased from obvious reasons. At the same time I enjoy (I did not enjoy while reading it, but I do now) the fact that my own emotional state went through the same process as main characters one...innocence>curosity>eagerness>shocking reality clashes>brutality>pain and gradually increasing fear>gradual passivenes>light of hope>external support and motivation to move on>final brake out.

I am amazed how a man can write about those issues with such a presice knowledge of women's nature and emotional life! I honour writers who craft their vonels in such a way that the character becomes a part of me...

Since 'Portnoy's Complaint' (throwing up while reading that one) I have not felt a book so heavy...affecting me phisically - I was sick, I could not sleep, I struggled to open the last 60 pages and finish it. I needed to check the last page if at least one of the characters is still alive (like a child reader). Sounds horrible and frustrating - as it was - but it shaped me.

It also thought the history of Afghanistan from completely different point of view.

I am glad I read it! To close the Hosseini topic, I will watch 'The Kite Runner' film tonight.

Rating:

Despite their class differences, Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman, and Hassan, his devoted sidekick and the son of Amir's household servant, play together, cause mischief together, and compete in the annual kite-fighting tournament -- Amir flying the kite, and Hassan running down the kites they fell. But one day, Amir betrays Hassan, and his betrayal grows increasingly devastating as their tale continues. Amir will spend much of his life coming to terms with his initial and subsequent acts of cowardice, and finally seek to make reparations.

Commentary: This book has been on everyone's mind since it was published (and subsequently made into a movie) but I actually read Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, first.

The Kite Runner did not disappoint me, even with all the hooplah surrounding it. Hosseini's style is clear and emotional, everything is well-paced and descriptive. A good, solid read and great glimpse into Afghani culture and history.

Even with all the destruction and warfare and devestation throughout the novel, it retained a sense of hopefulness which I think is especially crucial. At times it was a little too wound up and weepy, but generally smooth and I recommend it.

I've just put down Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns.' I'm not convinced it's the best thing in the world, but it's a damn sight better than 'The Kite Runner' at any rate. There's a book ruined by a film.

Suns is a very good book for the chronology of Afghan history since the 70s. Having read both 'Latifa,' and 'The Bookseller of Kabul,' I like to consider myself something of a casual expert on modern Afgahni history but unfortunately both of these books focus on social history and not actual events. Suns is a much more personal affair, so as well as attempting to detail the causes of the Soviet invasion, the warlords and the reign of the Taliban it also covers the social effects very well, and how the wars and the changes to Afghan city life affect two woebegone women, one an illegitimate child of a rich man and the other the daughter of an intellectual and a socialist, who are thrown together when they are both married to the abusive Rasheed.

This is the text of choice for most women on my A2 English Literature course for our comparative texts coursework. As good middle class liberals, there will be a flurry of sensitively indignant modern feminist essays to mark come December, though the texts of comparison differ. Some chose 'A Handmaid's Tale,' which is a gory account of the oppression of a rape victim as I understand. I have chosen Tess of the D'Urbervilles as a sensitively indignant comparison of women's rights in modern Afghanistan to 19th century Britain. It makes for depressing reading so I've indulged once more in Bill Bryson's 'Neither Here nor There,' to read about the places I went to or should have gone this summer.

I think the most poignant aspect of Hosseini's book is that he is Afghani. It is impossible to read a book about modern Afghanistan without coming across longing references to the country's literary treasures; ancient poetry and legends that presumably have been protected vehemently against the Soviets and the Taliban. Therefore when reading a book about Afghanistan by an Afghan you get the excerpts of past Afghani literature but also a seemingly characteristic descriptive style that the journalists and visitors cannot capture. Hosseini's style captures an Afghanistan full of national pride and a strong instinct for survivalism that foreigners perhaps see but cannot document in the same way. It is rather romantic, so that even the scenes of bomb destruction and demolition come across reflectively, the subtext indicating that, with the benefit of hindsight, this is now part of Afghanistan's turbulent past and culture.

I'm looking forward to my further study of the novel; fortunately Hosseini makes it easy for an A2 literature student to write about his work - clearly this is evident as I've literally just finished reading it. Perhaps one day Afghanistan will be higher up on my list of places to visit, when it's safer and I'm a big-shot in an NGO. Until then 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' makes for a pleasurable and an educational read.

This is Khaled Hosseini's second novel, following the hugely successful "The Kite Runner", which told the tale of two boys growing up in Afghanistan, and the devastating effects the decision of one of them will have on both their lives. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" has many similarities to the first novel, in that it is again set in Hosseini's native Afghanistan, and tells us of life in that country by how it affects the daily lives of two inhabitants, rather than a bigger view of the wars, invasions and violence that exists all around them. Told from the female perspective, we see a different side to life in Kabul, and how the lifestyles of its women are affected by the different regimes, as well as the men in their own household, and how they attempt to control their own fates in a male dominated society. It is an engrossing book to read, and the style of writing allows the story to wash over you, so that while you feel the horror of some of the situations the women find themselves in, it is never so horrifying that you don't want to carry on and learn how their stories will end. But, it is the end of the book which is slightly disappointing. I felt that the conclusion was a bit of a cop out, as the authors attempts to give us an uplifting, hopeful view of the potential of Afghanistan, rather than a truthful, genuine ending to the story of the two women.

Definitely worth reading, though, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others, particularly if they've read and loved "The Kite Runner".

Traggo la trama dal sito omonimo http://www.millesplendidisoli.it/soli.view in modo da non raccontare troppo o male.

"A quindici anni, Mariam non è mai stata a Herat. Dalla sua kolba di legno in cima alla collina, osserva i minareti in lontananza e attende con ansia l’arrivo del giovedì, il giorno in cui il padre le fa visita e le parla di poeti e giardini meravigliosi, di razzi che atterrano sulla luna e dei film che proietta nel suo cinema. Mariam vorrebbe avere le ali per raggiungere la casa del padre, dove lui non la porterà mai perché Mariam è una harami, una bastarda, e sarebbe un’umiliazione per le sue tre mogli e i dieci figli legittimi ospitarla sotto lo stesso tetto. Vorrebbe anche andare a scuola, ma sarebbe inutile, le dice sua madre, come lucidare una sputacchiera. L’unica cosa che deve imparare è la sopportazione.
Laila è nata a Kabul la notte della rivoluzione, nell’aprile del 1978. Aveva solo due anni quando i suoi fratelli si sono arruolati nella jihad. Per questo, il giorno del loro funerale, le è difficile piangere. Per Laila, il vero fratello è Tariq, il bambino dei vicini, che ha perso una gamba su una mina antiuomo ma sa difenderla dai dispetti dei coetanei; il compagno di giochi che le insegna le parolacce in pashtu e ogni sera le dà la buonanotte con segnali luminosi dalla finestra.
Mariam e Laila non potrebbero essere più diverse, ma la guerra le farà incontrare in modo imprevedibile. Dall’intreccio di due destini, una storia indimenticabile che ripercorre la Storia di un paese in cerca di pace, dove l’amicizia e l’amore sembrano ancora l’unica salvezza."

Ecco le mie riflessioni (più che una recensione) su questo libro:
E' talmente verosimile che, spesso, ci si trova a dubitare del fatto che gli eventi ed i personaggi non siamo persone realmente esistite. Più che un romanzo - e lo dico in senso positivo - sembra una cronaca storica. E questo comporta una moltitudine di emozioni (rabbia, vergogna, tristezza ed anche consapevolezza).
Consapevolezza della nostra immensa fortuna: attraverso le tragedie di queste due donne e di un'intera cultura non posso non ritenermi davvero fortunato di essere nato e vissuto in un paese come l'italia, con tutti i suoi difetti ma decisamente migliaia di volte meno travagliato di paesi come l'Afghanistan. Capisco, grazie all'autore, l'orgoglio di un popolo e l'attaccamento alle proprie origini anche dopo i fatti "enormi" accaduti nella vita quotidiana ai protagonisti della storia. La paura che possa succedere anche a noi è presente (non credo esattamente negli stessi termini); il cambiamento in peggio può sempre essere in agguato dietro l'angolo e quello che dovremmo fare è vivere intensamente ogni singolo momento di libertà cercando di ribellarci davanti alle ingiustizie, per quanto possibile.

Rabbia: anche noi occidentali siamo maschilisti e - spesso - trattiamo le donne come oggetti invece che come singole identità pervase da un'anima, da pensieri razionali, da sentimenti e meritevoli dei nostri stessi diritti. Indubbiamente ciò che viene raccontato nel libro, quello che capita alle donne in quel mondo martoriato da guerre e potere onnipotente del maschio fa rabbrividire ed inca**are per quanto sia assurdo, crudele e altrettanto reale. E da questo modo di essere tipico del maschio non posso fare altro che vergognarmi. Vergogna che è anche di quelli che hanno devastato l'Afghanistan per il proprio interesse (russi, americani, talebani ma non solo). Oltretutto quella terra è complicata essendo abitata da uzbeki, tagiki, pashtun e da clan tribali di vario tipo. La guerra contro i Russi ha complicato le cose e i mujihidin sono passati molte volte da essere considerati partigiani ad eroi a traditori: non è affatto semplice capire.

Tristezza: chiaramente per le vicende delle due protagoniste e le durissime prove che affrontano nel libro ma anche per la perdita d'identità di un popolo sottomesso a continue guerre e carneficine.

Il libro serve a farci conoscere un po' meglio l'Afghanistan, ad aprire una piccola finestra su un mondo a noi conosciuto solo grazie ai tg e ad esplosioni di bombe quando invece esistono città come Kabul dove "Non si possono contare le lune che brillano sui suoi tetti, né i mille splendidi soli che si nascondono dietro i suoi muri."

Un libro indimenticabile. E' il libro che più mi ha colpito nel profondo, da quando leggo.
Ciao, J
Voto: 10

Ok, bookworms Ism back and I know it's been a couple of weeks but the Men's Book Club is back with a vengeance.  This weeks review is another spectacular read by the master story teller himself from Afghanistan "Khaled hosseini" ., the book " A Thousand Splendid Suns"

As a man this book had me running through all the emotions bookworms, yes I did all of them.  Not only will you be guessing the next page, but taking a look at the cultural differences women here to put up with in other countries due to religion and cultural background of a different people.  This book will bring you into the fight of women's rights to survive and have a right to raise there family and be whatever  their dreams aspires them to be.   To the hatred of physical abuse and torment of suffering, betrayal and family divides.

This book is outstanding and will have you thinking about the characters for weeks to come.  Take a good read on this one bookworms this book is great!!

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love—a stunning accomplishment

Khaled Hosseini in A thousand splendid suns wrote "The fingers of the accuser will always point to the woman". This he wrote to describe the predicament of a fictional Afghan woman in the 1970s. But late last week, I realised it applies to almost any woman anywhere really. Have you ever thought how many of those unfortunate girls who found themselves in a love triangle (either voluntarily or accidentally, because they didn't know better), the man's word almost always have more weight than the 'other lady', the third party, the biyatch, or as in my case described through an overseas text message "the one that is the road to hell"

Have you ever wondered why so many girls always choose to believe the word of the man, rather than the word of a person they claim to know for 11 years? They ain't kidding when they say "love is blind".

I rather not indulge in a whole storytelling of this pseudo-bold & beautiful episode that I have just been through. But it does relate to my previous entry "Three's A Crowd". On that note, there will be no Pacific Highway Roadtrips happening. Someone once told me, in chaos, if you look hard enough there is a clarity, a lesson, perhaps a revelation about yourself or other people. I have learnt not to be naive enough to think I could help save an unravelling relationship that belonged to a friend whom I had thought is worth helping out. I have learnt not to lodge myself in between such a difficult position as this because no matter how good the intention is, someone will always find a way to fuck it up, and someone else will find reasons not to appreciate it. I have also learnt an angry, betrayed woman is a mad, psychotic woman and should be left alone.

I am thankful in all of this, the person I love trusts me enough to handle this situation on my own, without much questions. I am also thankful that even though my phone remains quiet most of the time, I do have a strong support network whom I can call in the hour of need and receive great advice from.

I know I may appear as a villain at the moment, but I also know that I have kept my concsience clear throughout this ordeal and nothing anybody says can change the fact that I did what I thought was right, and I did it with good intentions. As for the 11-year friendship, I guess everything in life is temporal and if you can live accepting the fact that some things lasts till you die, others end dramatically such as this, you will be alright.

- Khaled Hosseini, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”

- Khaled Hosseini, "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

- Khaled Hosseini, "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

Afghanistan. Es thematisiert anhand der Schicksalsdarstellung zweier mehr oder weniger zwangsverheirateter Frauen den prägenden Einfluss von Terrorismus, religiösem Fanatismus und Machtwechseln auf die afghanische Zivilbevölkerung (Asyl, Migration). Am härtesten werden von den Repressionen die Frauen getroffen, die unter der Herrschaft der Taliban nicht mal mehr in Kabul unverschleiert und nur in Begleitung eines Mannes auf die Straße dürfen.

Es kommen Zeiten, in denen Mariam, die Mutter zweier Kinder, die ältere Tochter in einem Internat abgeben muss, weil sie einfach nicht mehr die Fürsorge zweier Kinder übernehmen kann.

Mariam und Leila leben sind nacheinander mit demselben Mann verheiratet worden. Mariam weil sie ein harami – das uneheliche Kind einer Hausangestellten und ihres wohlhabenden Dienstherren - wird mit Rashid einem Schuhmacher aus Kabul verheiratet, und weil diese ihm auch nach 12 Jahren Ehe noch kein Kind schenken konnte, nimmt er noch die verwaiste Laila – die aus gutem Haus stammt und ihre Eltern bei einem Bombenangriff verlierte, zur Frau. Leila stimmt der Ehe zu, weil sie merkt, dass sie von ihrem Jugendfreund und Geliebten Tarik, der mit seiner Familie nach Pakistan flüchtete, schwanger ist. So hat sie die Möglichkeit, dass Kind aufzuziehen ohne dass jemand sich Gedanken darüber macht, ob es ein Uneheliches ist.

Für beide Frauen folgt eine sehr schwere Zeit. Mariam wird von Eifersucht geplagt, da sie nun mit einer 15 Jahre jüngeren Nebenbuhlerin im selben Haus leben muss und Leila fürchtet um die Aufdeckung des Betrugs. Doch mit der Zeit erwärmen sie sich doch für einander und solidarisieren sich gegen den gewalttätigen Ehemann – So weit, dass sie in Kauf nehmen für einander zu sterben.

Husseini, der als Sohn eines Diplomaten und einer Lehrerin in Iran und Paris aufwuchs und dann mit der Familie in die USA auswanderte, beschreibt immer wieder das sich verändernde Leben in Kabul die bedrückende Lage der Frauen sehr ausgeprägt. Auch wenn die sprachlichen Konstruktion teilweise etwas holprig sind – die Nennung der arabischen Worte plus Übersetzung im Text nervt – ändert das kaum etwas daran, dass die Geschichte durchaus fesselt.

]]> http://sheistoofondofbooks.wordpress.com/?p=921 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:40:58 +0000 Dawn http://sheistoofondofbooks.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/book-review-the-kite-runner-movie-book/

The Kite Runner: A Portrait of the Marc Forster Film by David Benioff, Marc Forster and Khalid Hosseini

The Kite Runner: A Portrait of the Marc Forster Film is a movie book, based on the film of the same name, which is based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini.  Confusing?  Not really.  The best-selling novel came first, followed by an amazing film of the same name.  The movie book, reviewed here, goes hand-in-hand with the film.

The film and movie book follow closely the story told in Hosseini’s novel, that of Amir, the privileged son of his well-off “Baba”, a Kabuli businessman, and his relationship with Hassan, the son of Baba’s servant.  Amir and Hassan spend their childhood together in Kabul in the mid-1970s; their days are spent flying kites, visiting the market, and reading under the shade of a pomegranate tree in the cemetery.  Hassan, of course, also spends his time helping own father to cook, clean, and otherwise care for Baba’s household.  Amir sometimes takes advantage of the friendship of Hassan, and in one pivotal scene we see the cost to Hassan, Amir, and both their fathers.

The book takes us through the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1978.  We follow Amir and Baba as they grapple with the new ruling-class in their country, but we are left to wonder the outcome of life for Hassan and his father.  Fast-forward to the present day when Amir valiantly attempts to overcome his past shortcomings and to make amends to his friend.  The adult Amir knows “there is a way to be good again.”

The Kite Runner movie book is an accurate re-telling of the film version of the novel.  The foreword by author Khaled Hosseini details the emotional journey he took watching his novel come to life on the big screen.  For the filming, Hosseini returned to Kabul, having left Afghanistan himself at age eleven.

The section titled “The Making of The Kite Runner” discusses the processes of creating a script, scouting locations, the intricacies of casting children and adults, and overcoming language issues.  Also included are several set drawings and costume sketches.

The bulk of the book is a complete working screenplay; including production notes such as OS (off-stage) and CONTINUOUS.  This would be of interest to anyone who would like to learn more about the behind-the-scenes happenings of a movie shoot.  The powerful dialogue makes for a gripping and fast-paced read.  When I read The Kite Runner: A Portrait of the Marc Forster Film I felt like I was viewing the movie for a second time, with the opportunity to slow down or “replay” favorite scenes; one needn’t have seen the movie, however, to enjoy this book.  Over 100 full-color photographs and movie stills capture the beauty of the scenery, the authenticity of the costuming, the emotions expressed on the faces of the actors. 

Newmarket Press offers a series of pictorial movie books based on classic films such as Dances with Wolves, ET and Schindler’s List, as well as more recent films including The Namesake and Summer 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.  The Kite Runner movie book was issued in paperback in 2007; the hardcover edition, with its breath-taking stills from filming in China (standing in for Afghanistan) and San Francisco, would make a great coffee-table book.

(This review originally appeared on Curled up with a Good Book)

El Afganistán del siglo XX y principios del XXI fue y es un caos. Millones de historias personales deben poblar esa tierra que hoy parece maldita. Por eso Khaled Hosseini, más conocido por ser el autor del bestseller (ya adaptado al cine, cada vez corren más) Cometas en el cielo, dedica esta obra a esas personas anónimas que vivieron la tragedia de una Guerra Fría que no les concernía, la tiranía de un islamismo retrógrado y la venganza de un país herido en su orgullo patriótico.

Afganistán ha sido por definición un país convulso, sin dirección ni destino, en el que los que manejaban el poder llevaban a cabo guerras personales a costa de la vida de soldados y civiles, asesinados por bombas que nunca debieron caer allí. Poco antes de ese infierno, en un estado "pacífico" sitúa el autor el inicio de este drama humano. Dos mujeres de estratos sociales muy diferentes viven, y sobre todo sufren, las leyes no escritas de una sociedad anquilosada. La primera, Mariam, hija bastarda de un millonario, se verá obligada a casarse con un hombre por interés. La otra, Leila, sufrirá en primera persona las consecuencias de una guerra civil años después. El destino unirá a ambas mujeres en su lucha por sobrevivir en un país que aman a pesar del desprecio con el que las trata.

La novela describe a la perfección la situación de la mujer en Afganistán. Obligada a esconder su rostro y su cuerpo, castigada y golpeada por maridos violentos y esclava del hombre. Una mujer que sufrirá el desprecio de los talibanes y el desamparo de los tribunales, y cuyos sentimientos traspasan las páginas para inundar al lector, que en muchas ocasiones terminará estupefacto ante la injusticia.

No obstante, es fácil caer en el dramatismo y la lágrima fácil en un relato de este tipo, algo que Hosseini evita en tres cuartas partes de las páginas. Al final, y casi de manera inevitable, hay cierto melodrama que empaña un libro de notable alto y que sólo peca de ciertos giros previsibles en su argumento. Un canto a la fuerza de voluntad y al instinto de supervivencia de la mujer afgana.

As you know I've been thinking about "ethnic literature" whilst washing pooey nappies and trying to ignore the cries of young X who is really willful at the moment. I've been told 12-18 months is a very willful age. He's learnt to smash his head against the bars of the crib if he's upset. Not good. We've had to pad the crib.

The interview with Dale, as she is now known, was really interesting. I always felt a bit sorry for her because she was only 23 when this all happened, and didn't seem to be all there. Though I think her case differs from James Frey, Norma Khoury and the woman who wrote about being raised by wolves after killing some SS soldiers in a concentration camp are all "literary frauds", because she was also accused of plagiarism.

[Oh goodness. I have to rush to my baby. This controlled/comfort crying is really difficult.]

She raises the idea that only someone from a given gender or ethnic group can write about that gender or ethnic group in Oz literature. I think that there is more moral authority given to a male writer than a female writer. If you're female and ethnic you are only permitted to speak about your own experiences, where as if you're a guy regardless of ethnicity there's some leeway to write from the point of view of a woman - I mean look at the sequel to the Kite Runner.

Though I have questioned his authority because of the caesarean section scene. The author is a Doctor at Cedar Senai, but I've always wondered how it was possible that the protagonists recovered so quickly after her c-section considering she was operated on without anaesthetic and in a non-sterile environment. If I had written something to do with an emergency c-section for breeched presentation sans anaesthetic I would have focussed more on the searing sensation post-op, the inability to even shuffle around comfortably.... Maybe in Taliban ruled Afghanistan women do not have the luxury to complain about the pain, suck it up and move on. But seriously some of the wind pains I had post-caesar felt as if I was being cut open again. Though that's me. I'm a sissy. I know of people who have sex a couple of weeks post-caesarean.

But back to the who has permission to speak for someone else. I definitely think that men have more permission than women - regardless of ethnicity. I've had a few short pieces published and I've always submitted it under a genderless, colourless name - usually an initial and a non-surname I pull out of my arse. I'm not sure why I do this.

There's a lot of internal and external stereotyping, avoidance of stereotypes. But I feel greater freedom in writing whatever I feel like writing about ever since I discovered other "ethnic" writers. Sometimes I've read stuff and thought, "fuck that's fantastic. Now everyone is going to think that every Asian is oppressed and from the illiterate third world" but even in these narratives there are themes that I can identify with and I think how wonderful it is that these themes and ideas are out there.

When I was younger I read every thing that was ever written by Asian writers starting with Amy Tan. It was really important to be able to read about people who were like me in books because it really affirmed my existence.

But back to Demidenko/Darville/Dale. I think if she had been a man she may have been able to get away with telling a story that was not hers - if she hadn't plagiarised and claimed to have been Ukranian. Unlike James Frey she never pitched it as memoir. She could have encouraged people to read autobiography into it without making up porkers about her family background.

I remember in high school I wrote a really over the top piece of "ethnic literature" where I played on every Oriental and Occidental stereotype. It had nothing to do with my reality, but I got an A++ because it was exotic and the teacher couldn't question my authority because she thought it was autobiographical.

This story which is beautifully written and told story will have you thinking about this book for weeks after. The Kite Runner is about friendship, betrayal and the price of loyalty.  The story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

This is a must bookworms don't miss out. Next week I will tickle your fancy with another book for your enjoyment. I welcome other comments and suggestions for our readers.  Till next time

It's on like donkey Kong, So Get Your Read On. 

I'm feeling a bit fuzzy today after staying up till 3am reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, I'm only up to Chapter 10 ( 1981) so looks like I won't be sleeping much till I finish it. Staying up until 1am trying to do repeats with Illustrator isn't doing much for my beauty sleep either but at least I don't feel at all guilty about my slow mornings drinking coffee and doing this blog.

This weekend I'm thinking of taking a trip to the Moors Center at Danby where my art teacher from long ago is having the opening of his new exhibition of water colours. Richard Pottas recently quit teaching at Whitby Community College to concentrate full time on his painting, and I must say these are really different from the work I remember him doing back in my school days.Here are three images of his work, you can see more on his website, or better still, go to Danby!

Back to the drawing board for me now..Wow, the rain is insane out there! Is it the end of the world as we know it? I seem to have talked about rain far too much this year!

Finally a quote from Unaccustomed earth by Nathaniel Hawthorne;

Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn out soil. My children ... shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.

The basic storyline is a familiar one. Two boys are brought up in the same home in Kabul, Afghanistan before the Russian invasion and the rule of the Taliban, and come from different sides of the tracks. The first tweak of the story is that one is the servant of the other and whilst they are inseparable, the relationship is not reciprocal. The servant is devoted to the son of the house with a depth and passion that is not returned.

There follows a major betrayal that changes their lives forever. This betrayal is accompanied by the invasion of the Russsians forcing Amir, the narrator, and his father to flee to America where the once powerful family must start from the ground up. Hassan, whom he betrayed, disappears from the story, but not Amir's conscience. Life goes on, he makes a life in the States as a writer but can never escape what he did in Kabul.

Then a call comes from a old friend of his father who has settled in Pakistan. 'There is a way to be good again' says Rahim Khan. So he travels to make amends for his past.

The book is beautifully written and if it had no other merit than to introduce me to the family traditions of Islam and Afghanistan and migrant families in a foreign land, then this book was worth reading. I think that we are bombarded by the stereotypes of a violent Islam and all that is strange and foreign to us. This book doesn't ignore those elements, after all the Taliban are central to the story, but it also opens up traditions of humility, justice, modesty, family loyalty, respect for elders and so on that are beautiful and admirable.

The themes of forgiveness and redemption are written through the story. As is our need to make amends. But more than that, there is consideration of the felt experience of these things. The old fashioned word 'shriven' - how can I be shriven.

Thing is, once Amir begins to explore the road to being good again, the story becomes a little fantastic - in the sense of unbelievable. Outlandish violence and aggression, extraordinary chance encounters, set piece chase scenes, cartoon villains. All great story-telling admittedly, but one needs to suspend belief I think. I wonder was it written with cinema in mind.

Nevertheless, a great summer read and recommended.

It was in 2006 when the National Library Board introduced this book as a read for the Read! Singapore campaign. About 10 teachers and I read the book and had a reading circle discussion on the book. We shared our many views over coffee at  Campus Haven.

A year later, the book was made into a movie. Maybe it is due to the length of time, the movie give a good overview of the story but reading the book gives me more insight in the lives of the main character, Amir Jan. Well, if you want a glimpse of Afghanistan, the movie gives you some good insight and the way people live then.

 - The Kite Runner