"....just a smile."

They're flying kites in Afghanistan again. To every Amir, there is a God.

Why does God make windy days?

Thanks, Tashy, for that great post! I love you, I love all of you.
I one time had a kite. On one cloudy, windy day, I went out to fly it at the old Navajo elementary school yard. That dusty, patchy piece of ground. After I got my kite aloft, these junior high kids came out and took over my kite-flying because, I suppose, they didn't have one. They were nice to me at first, impressed with my kite. They said they wanted to try and innocent me, I let them. They paid out all the line until the kite to my little boy eyes was nigh unto the clouds, so high that it was but a mere red and white diamond flapping and flitting in that gray sky. Then they left. They left me there, me, all of six or seven, to wind in the string. The day wore on and I kept winding the string. That afternoon, once a lovely overcast, was now somehow darker to this little boy for there they stood, afar off watching me reeling and reeling while they laughed. That day, the exhilaration of kite flying was grounded by my first visit with cruelty. I nearly forgot about that day until Kite Runner.
Why does God make windy days? For kids with kites.
Hondo

Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly

When I read, I am like a sponge. I like to take it all in and let it soak right through me until I've understood what the author has written and what he's trying to portray. It's no race for me. So with ten pages or more left to go, I stopped. I had to regain my composure and ready myself for a dissatisfying ending. I waited until I was ready to go on and be okay with what would happen. And so, today, after a few days of contemplation, I finished The Kite Runner. Some may say that its ending was unjust and wanting of more. But I say, it's just fine. It left me with a little bit of hope, I guess with my kite still flying away in the sky, ready for another battle.

Make morning into a key and throw it into the well,
Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly.
Let the morning sun forget to rise in the east,
Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly,



With my hus- band leaving soon and my babies growing up so fast, I too want the moon to go slowly.

Images from The Kite Runner

Sohrab and Rostam

Streets of Kabul
Taliban in Jalalabad
Rostam and Sohrab

Kabul
Downtown Kabul

Bazaar in Kabul
Kolchas
Shah Faisal Mosque

Islamabad
Peshawar
Gate to Jalalabad
Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass

Next reading

I enjoy reading all your comments...keep posting! Let's all be thinking about our next reading. We can start posting our ideas. To Aaron, I don't know what "kolchas" is? Which page is it on?
Hondo

what's a kolchas?

I like this,"'It's like putting a boy who can't ride a bike behind the wheel of a brand new Cadillac.'"
-Baba's view of Jimmy Carter as President. Great line!

A very humoring part for me: they buy from garage sales and sell 'em back at the flea market for more. Hmm... :)

crazy..

well i'm just sickened... I finished chapter seven.... disturbing.. very disturbing.

Post Kite Runner Thoughts

This book reintroduced the importance of formula in writing to me. It wasn't a hard book to read. It was in fact a really simple book. The plot was pretty straight forward. I believe the author lopped an extensive amount during his revising process. However, he didn't lose the quality of writing or the main points of his story. I thought it was a book well put together. The structure allowed the reader to make informed decisions as to what was going to unfold next. Towards the end of the book one was able to predict how it was going to wrap up. In the end, formula+structure=a good book.

Salaam alaykum

Well I finished a couple days ago, dang good book. I think my favorite character in the book was Sohram, Hassan's son. And I really like the ending. You may want to stop reading this if you haven't finished... Tash, and Shane. But I like the Afgan way of thinking how everything is about the end. That no matter what you go through, it's all worth it in the end as long as it works out. But I like that Amir becomes a little of his father and a little of Hassan. And mostly liked that the book didn't really end with an end, but a small beginning. Reminds me of a verse in Isaiah, chapter 6 verse 13, that though the leaves of the tree be "dead" and scattered life and potential to produce still remain in it.

I like that it asks questions left to us to answer.

Love ya'll

Inshallah...


Aanor

crazy...

so i'm finally reading the book and I like it. I did get a crazy scoop about the actor in the movie. He is in hiding with his family because of a provactive sene in the film and a little thing in the book.

The "Ouch"

When Tashy and Sam come around, we can talk about the book. I think they're coming home this weekend.
As far as literature goes, this book has a lot of what could be called "hooks," not just foreshadowing, but "tells" of what could happen, what you (as the reader) want to happen. These are the tools in our author's arsenal. This is what drives the story mostly, in my opinion, for it is a text, in comparison to my other readings, that is sparing in description. It is more screenplay than literary work, in other words.
There is so much said, and done, and seen, for only "a tiny thing" of redemption at the end. The story, and literature in general, is all about the "ouch." The purpose of "story" is catharsis, right? (Was that Plato or Aristotle?) To accomplish that, you must write and take your readers through the dark and then to the light (from the First World to the Glittering World). There is no story without the "ouch," and we find it invariably in, during, and amid conflict and pain (e.g., Lord of the Rings). We tell, we read, we see the struggle for therein is the story. That's what we read about time and time again. I'll continue to dwell on this point and look forward to hearing your thoughts. (Have I only rediscovered what has been said of literature and poetry for thousand of years or more? If so, I've discovered it again for myself, a reader and sometimes writer.)
Love and loving you,
Hondo

Discussions Questions

So are we going to get together and go over the discussion questions or are we going to post what we think here? I think it would be better if we could all get together some how.

On another note. I like the following paragraph. "It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight." (371).

looking forward...

Well I finished reading the book...last week. Some things were unexpected, but I liked it. I think it had some valueable points. And good quotes. Look forward to discussing the book and seeing you all. Love ya.

Ok, I'm Posting!!!

Okay I've been reading what everyone has posted and I'm finally adding something. I too have finished the book. Write more later I'm headed towards ALB now.

Love you all,
Mo

Elevenses

1. I think we should talk about the discussions questions over tea and cakes. I've finished the reading, by the way.
2. It might be a little late for Aaron or others to read this one. They can join us for February.
3. Over tea and cakes, let's suggest some titles for our next book.
4. Quotable line: "When spring comes, it melts one snowflake at a time..."
5. I never expected this kind of book. I only mentioned it because of a Borders email I got.
6. The other day this lady, seeing Aanor toting his copy of the book, said, "I've got to read that. I've heard it's fantastic. It's on the lampstand by my bed."
7. "Elevenses" is a British saying for taking a mid-morning (11 a.m) break for tea and cakes.
8. "red as henna" (171). Henna (noun): 1. an Asian shrub or small tree, Lawsonia inermis, of the loosestrife family, having elliptic leaves and fragrant flowers. 2. a reddish-orange dye or cosmetic made from the leaves of this plant. 3. a color midway between red-brown and orange-brown.
For you all, a thousand times over, Love,
Hondo

Map of Afghanistan

Here is a political map of Afghanistan. On the middle right is where you'll find Kabul and Jahalabad. Going east you'll find the Kyber Pass on the border and then Peshawar, Pakistan. I'm in the last third of the book. There are discussion questions in the paperback version. I forgot about that line, tears into pearls.

aaron is in.

... but I need to find a book! to catch up to ya'll.

Charles Bronson Isn't Iranian?

With what I have read so far I think the story is going to have an ironic end to it. Similar, to the story written by Amir about the tears turning to pearls. The adolescent hardships being experienced by Amir and Hassan seem to be without any grace from God at the moment. But, it seems that those problems are merely situational creations by Amir. Although, Amir might have the best of intentions, it is hard to determine at this point if he will redeem himself. "That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out." (1).

He exists

This isn't a story about kites.
When I was very young, maybe four or five, our family went fishing. When I was alone with my fishing pole, I prayed to God, "Give me a fish." "And may God--if He exists, that is--strike me blind if the kite didn't just drop into his outstretched arms." (55). No sooner had I finished praying that my fishing pole whisked up and down into the water. Well, He exists. Somewhere between this crushing chapter 7 and the end, their redemption will come, must come, because He exists.

Ready to Read

Thanks to Monique and Aanor we have in our possession several copies of, The Kite Runner and are now ready to do some reading. The novel should be a quick read because it only has 371 pages. If any of you would like to discuss certain aspects in the novel simply post your question(s) and we'll be happy to respond with our own opinions. Again, I'm happy we are going through with this. I'll post some literary terms later for the sake of scholastic accuracy and to familiarize those of you that may have an interest in the terminology. Love you and read well. I'm looking forward to discussing this novel from several view points.

Toya 4 President

Hey All,

Well I think this should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the invite. I totally think I should have been the president. Did you even discuss this with me? Just kidding. Good luck with the reading. Love ya.

Welcome to the Louis Book Club

The LBC has chosen to read, The Kite Runner by some foreign dude. This will be the first of 12 books this year 2008. At anytime during your reading you are welcome to post your comments about a chapter, a passage, a phrase, a word, style, voice, pace, or any other aspects dealing with the literature being discussed. Welcome and the best of reading to you!