I give this book maybe 1 1/2 stars. I didn't care for it much. I found while I was reading it that I started to have a hard time sleeping. (I typically read before I go to bed.) If I didn't read that night then I slept fine but if I read it was hard to sleep. There were a lot of really disturbing things about this book. I understand that it was discussing a particular region, and real events, and real ways of life but I guess at the time I read this book it was too real for me. I don't mind reading about real events or real ways of life but sometimes I just want to read to escape and this one was just too real. Maybe if I'd read it at another time I might have liked it more, I don't know. I never really liked the main character. He was a spoiled, selfish, boy and man. I kept hoping that he would redeem himself to me, and maybe at the end he did just a little bit, but it wasn't enough, or it was too late. It took him so long to do something with sincerity that it meant little. I wish the entire book hadn't revolved around him watching his brother be raped. It was just a really hard book for me to get through with very little to redeem itself in my mind.
I would give this book 3 stars. I did not get bad dreams like Erica but I can see how that would happen. It seemed way to realistic. The whole time I read it I was wondering if it was a true story and at the end I went back to the beginning and it said it was purely fictional and written by an Afgansitan doctor in the US.
I cried at the end when the main character and the boy were flying kites. I do want to hear more about what happened to the boy just because I really wanted him to be happy.
I agree that the main character was not very likeable, but I don't think you were supposed to like him. ink the theme of what is sin and what is redemption is what truly inspires someone in this book. The main character was given a chance to make things right and if he had not tried to adopt his nephew I would have given it one star.
I have the privilege of knowing Afganistan refugees in person. My own doctor Sultan chopan is an Afghanistan refugee. He is the most caring and sincere man. His wife an I became good friends when I had the privilege of teaching her boys at the high school in Oroville. She brought me flowers and told me how her oldest son always got into trouble and the difference I had made in his life. That boy is now in medical school and I feel privedged to have been his teacher for two years of high school.
I have heard a little of the Chopan's story and know they too wish that Afghanistan could be a better place. Reading how Baba and his son escaped Afghanistan in an empty gas tanker made me think of them.. I really couldn't put the book down though when the main Character Amir went back to Afghanistan to rescue his nephew.
Here are some points from the book that had meaning for me, When Baba tells Amir that the only sin he believe in is theft:
"When you kill a man you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat you steal someones right to fairness."
Do you agree with Baba? Later on in the book Amir says that he realizes Baba was right and by not telling him that is childhood friend and servant was his half brother it stole his right not know he had more family. And Baba's lifelong friend claims that he always tried to be a better man because of the lies he lived in respects to his son he never publicly accepted.
I don't have any secrets I am hiding, but the pain and anguish of living a lie must be terrible to live with. This book furthered my drive to live an honest life.
When reading the story of Rostam and Sohrab to Hassan, Amir makes a claim that he could not see the tragedy in a father losing his son. tne only thing the son ever wanted was love from his father. And he says, "After all doesn't ever father harbor a secret desire to kill their son." This directly links to Amirs thinking that his father really is disappointed in him and doesn't really love him. This made me sad for Amir. My own brother though has often felt these things about his father my dad. I see how they have completely different interests and have never really been good friends. My dad loves sports and my brother was in band and musicals. My dad could never truly relate to him. He cheered my brother on but always made side jokes about how he was glad my brother had a girl friend because he was afraid he was gay (because if he liked music he must be gay).
I am sad for all father and son relationships that are like this. I don't have an answer for fixing it. But I am gld my husband and my own son seem to already been on better terms. That's why even though I hate video games with a passion, I have let clash of clans go on in my house. It is the one thing that is bonding my husband and son right now and I wouldn't give that up for anything.
Lastly the quote I'd like to share is by baba's friend Rahim when they are visiting before all the wars and tlking about how Amir is so different than Baba was expecting and Rahim says, "Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."
You can take this a lot of ways but I get out of this that you cannot control what your children will be good at. You cannot force them to like what you like. You have to love them despite the thing they do wrong or the things they choose to do with their life. It makes me think of our Heavenly Father who loves us no matter what. I think our children teach us that kind of love. Sometimes it is hard when you wish they would still play football (my son) but if they want to play in the band and only play basketball then don't let them think you are disappointed in them. Love them and encourage them every chance you get.
This book did inspire me to be a better parent and to be grateful I did not have to live in a war torn area. Go be grateful for America.
Oh and Erica, I totally get your point about it bothering you being too real. I cannot rewatch Slumdog Millionare ever agin and I wish sometimes I had not seen that movie. It is too reall the torture that little poor children get in India and other slum areas. It pains me to think about a perfectly normal child being maimed for life just to create a beggar. It is so reall and somedays I wish there were something to do for them. My heart hurts for children who lose their innocence. Makes me want to hold my kids tighter.
I give this book maybe 1 1/2 stars. I didn't care for it much. I found while I was reading it that I started to have a hard time sleeping. (I typically read before I go to bed.) If I didn't read that night then I slept fine but if I read it was hard to sleep. There were a lot of really disturbing things about this book. I understand that it was discussing a particular region, and real events, and real ways of life but I guess at the time I read this book it was too real for me. I don't mind reading about real events or real ways of life but sometimes I just want to read to escape and this one was just too real. Maybe if I'd read it at another time I might have liked it more, I don't know. I never really liked the main character. He was a spoiled, selfish, boy and man. I kept hoping that he would redeem himself to me, and maybe at the end he did just a little bit, but it wasn't enough, or it was too late. It took him so long to do something with sincerity that it meant little. I wish the entire book hadn't revolved around him watching his brother be raped. It was just a really hard book for me to get through with very little to redeem itself in my mind.
ReplyDeleteI would give this book 3 stars. I did not get bad dreams like Erica but I can see how that would happen. It seemed way to realistic. The whole time I read it I was wondering if it was a true story and at the end I went back to the beginning and it said it was purely fictional and written by an Afgansitan doctor in the US.
ReplyDeleteI cried at the end when the main character and the boy were flying kites. I do want to hear more about what happened to the boy just because I really wanted him to be happy.
I agree that the main character was not very likeable, but I don't think you were supposed to like him. ink the theme of what is sin and what is redemption is what truly inspires someone in this book. The main character was given a chance to make things right and if he had not tried to adopt his nephew I would have given it one star.
I have the privilege of knowing Afganistan refugees in person. My own doctor Sultan chopan is an Afghanistan refugee. He is the most caring and sincere man. His wife an I became good friends when I had the privilege of teaching her boys at the high school in Oroville. She brought me flowers and told me how her oldest son always got into trouble and the difference I had made in his life. That boy is now in medical school and I feel privedged to have been his teacher for two years of high school.
I have heard a little of the Chopan's story and know they too wish that Afghanistan could be a better place. Reading how Baba and his son escaped Afghanistan in an empty gas tanker made me think of them.. I really couldn't put the book down though when the main Character Amir went back to Afghanistan to rescue his nephew.
Here are some points from the book that had meaning for me, When Baba tells Amir that the only sin he believe in is theft:
"When you kill a man you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat you steal someones right to fairness."
Do you agree with Baba? Later on in the book Amir says that he realizes Baba was right and by not telling him that is childhood friend and servant was his half brother it stole his right not know he had more family. And Baba's lifelong friend claims that he always tried to be a better man because of the lies he lived in respects to his son he never publicly accepted.
I don't have any secrets I am hiding, but the pain and anguish of living a lie must be terrible to live with. This book furthered my drive to live an honest life.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the story of Rostam and Sohrab to Hassan, Amir makes a claim that he could not see the tragedy in a father losing his son. tne only thing the son ever wanted was love from his father. And he says, "After all doesn't ever father harbor a secret desire to kill their son." This directly links to Amirs thinking that his father really is disappointed in him and doesn't really love him. This made me sad for Amir. My own brother though has often felt these things about his father my dad. I see how they have completely different interests and have never really been good friends. My dad loves sports and my brother was in band and musicals. My dad could never truly relate to him. He cheered my brother on but always made side jokes about how he was glad my brother had a girl friend because he was afraid he was gay (because if he liked music he must be gay).
I am sad for all father and son relationships that are like this. I don't have an answer for fixing it. But I am gld my husband and my own son seem to already been on better terms. That's why even though I hate video games with a passion, I have let clash of clans go on in my house. It is the one thing that is bonding my husband and son right now and I wouldn't give that up for anything.
Lastly the quote I'd like to share is by baba's friend Rahim when they are visiting before all the wars and tlking about how Amir is so different than Baba was expecting and Rahim says, "Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."
You can take this a lot of ways but I get out of this that you cannot control what your children will be good at. You cannot force them to like what you like. You have to love them despite the thing they do wrong or the things they choose to do with their life. It makes me think of our Heavenly Father who loves us no matter what. I think our children teach us that kind of love. Sometimes it is hard when you wish they would still play football (my son) but if they want to play in the band and only play basketball then don't let them think you are disappointed in them. Love them and encourage them every chance you get.
This book did inspire me to be a better parent and to be grateful I did not have to live in a war torn area. Go be grateful for America.
Oh and Erica, I totally get your point about it bothering you being too real. I cannot rewatch Slumdog Millionare ever agin and I wish sometimes I had not seen that movie. It is too reall the torture that little poor children get in India and other slum areas. It pains me to think about a perfectly normal child being maimed for life just to create a beggar. It is so reall and somedays I wish there were something to do for them. My heart hurts for children who lose their innocence. Makes me want to hold my kids tighter.
ReplyDelete