The Write Stunner

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Cruel Mr. Hosseini. I'm the kind of reader who doesn't actually cry for the sad parts in a book. Your first book, and I did so for the first time. The second, and I was bawling like a baby during several parts. Cruel.

I'm so glad I read A Thousand Splendid Suns first and then read the Kite Runner. The critics weren't kidding when they said that it's a tough first act to follow. A Thousand Splendid Suns was brilliant. But it doesn't come close to The Kite Runner.

The Kite Runner was absolutely spellbinding. It is the most captivating and sensitive story I have come across in a long time. The friendship, the loss of it, the deeds and misdeeds, gaining some and losing so much - it takes sheer literary genius to narrate a story so beautifully. To have a vision and deliver it so clearly.

Each character was crafted perfectly - Amir, torn between the hunger for a father's love, a cowardly streak that costs him and loyalty to a friendship that he struggles to honour for the rest of his life, Baba who is the embodiment of manly punctiliousness harbours a grave secret, Hassan who is free from any flaw and Rahim Khan who is the kind of friend that people spend an entire lifetime yearning for. How many show you the way to be good again? The book also makes you wonder about characters like Assef. What scorns them so severely that allows them to carry out such heinous crimes? Society?

Like I said in my earlier post about A Thousand Splendid Suns, I can go on and on about how fantastic I thought it was. But no matter what I say, it won't do the actual work any justice. You have to read it for yourself to realise it.

I watched the movie shortly after, and while I have to confess that it's a pretty accurate conveying of the text, the book is really much better.

In three words, I loved it, loved it, loved it. It's a, for lack of a better phrase, must-read! For any reader who wants to grow, this is an incredible start. I know I did. And towards the end I realised, what Mr. Hosseini does through his books is not cruel. They simply remind you to be alive from within. So if anything, his readers owe him a thank you. Once again, Thank you Mr. Hosseini.