The Kite Runner: Book Review

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Book Blurb:

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives…

Since its publication in 2003, The Kite Runner has sold eight million copies worldwide. Through Khaled Hosseini’s brilliant writing, a previously unknown part of the world was brought to life.

My Review:

Almost seven years ago, on a trekking trip, we had a one day stop in Delhi, where I found a cool second hand book stall. Not being able to resist a book at a bargain, I got two books: The Kite Runner and Eleven Minutes. I had never heard of either of them, but fell in love with both.

But, unfortunately, someone must have borrowed my copy, and never bothered to return it. I HATE when people do that. (Dear person who might have borrowed my this or any other book, please return them, that would be great.). But yea, I really missed it, and on a recent trip to another second hand store, I found this copy, in good condition, I got it. It’s another edition, but, still, it’s the same story.

Reading the book the first time, I was quite taken in by Hassan, his loyalty and his outlook on life. That is what attracted me. But, reading it the second time, after all these years, with more knowledge of the war as well as being more exposed to complex characters, I saw a lot of depth in the story, which was previously missed.

This time around, I was drawn to Amir more than Hassan. No doubt Hassan was amazing, but Amir, the only son, who just wants his father’s attention, but that attention goes to Hassan. I could see why Amir acted the way he did. I had new found respect for Amir and his father, when they choose to view his wife for who she was instead of her past, and her for being frank (but not apologetic) about her past before getting married. To do this in a highly conservative society, is commendable.

The societal aspects are shown brilliantly, how a servant Hazara boy who is a friend, but not when others upper caste boys come, the castism, the hatred, the Soviet invasion and the Taliban’s effect, the stoning scene..everything just brilliantly comes together to form this masterpiece.

The story is absolutely amazing and inspiring and this book is definitely one of the best books I have read.

Buy this book from:

amazon

Flipkart.com

The movie adaptation of this book is pretty good too, it gets the crux of the story right and not many changes are done.

Check out the trailer here:

The Stoning of Soraya M.: A True Story: Book Review

“Don’t act like the hypocrite, who thinks he can conceal his wiles while loudly quoting the Koran.”

– Hafez, 14th Century Iranian Poet

Author:  Freidoune Sahebjam, Richard Seaver

Genre: Non Fiction

Pages: 160

Book Blurb:

Soraya M.’s husband, Ghorban-Ali, couldn’t afford to marry another woman. Rather than returning Soraya’s dowry, as custom required before taking a second wife, he plotted with four friends and a counterfeit mullah to dispose of her. Together, they accused Soraya of adultery. Her only crime was cooking for a friend’s widowed husband. Exhausted by a lifetime of abuse and hardship, Soraya said nothing, and the makeshift tribunal took her silence as a confession of guilt. They sentenced her to death by stoning: a punishment prohibited by Islam but widely practiced. Day by day sometimes minute by minute Sahebjam deftly recounts these horrendous events, tracing Soraya’s life with searing immediacy, from her arranged marriage and the births of her nine children to her husband’s increasing cruelty and her horrifying execution, where, by tradition, her father, husband, and sons hurled the first stones.

 

This is one woman’s story, but it stands for the stories of thousands of women who suffered and continue to suffer the same fate. It is a story that must be told.

 

My Review:

On J.K. Rowling’s BIRTHDAY (July 31), I had met a few girlfriends, and while returning it was drizzling slightly. And as I was trying to reach home as fast as possible before the rains came, a sign on the opposite road caught my eye. “Books at Rs. 10/-” it said. Quickly calculating total number of cash I had with me, I totally went all the way back to that stall. Rs. 10/- books were too few and were magazines and books for kids, but even though he had this amazing collection of books at a much cheaper rates! And while I was debating to go for a Nicholas Sparks or a Khalid Hosseini, my eyes fell upon a thin book at the top “Stoning of Shoraya M.”. That is the book that I could not find even in the top bookstores! I had seen the movie a few years ago, and that had made quite an impact on me, so got the book along with Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J. K . Rowling).

Let me start off the review with the movie trailer, as I had seen the movie before the book. (You could also find the full movie on YouTube)

The movie had made quite an impression. And as it was based on the true story, both book and the movie told the similar story, the book has more details about Soraya’s past and her personality.

The story shows how rules of the God can be used against a person for personal gains.

Soraya’s Aunt Zahara was the oldest lady in the village and through her we see the changing political and religious winds in the Islamic country. Where earlier she was free to give her opinions, her opinions and thoughts were now of no consequence, due to the widespread propaganda of religious elements. Zahara is shown to be strong woman with a mind of her own. Her constant references to God shows she is religious as well as brings out the contrast between her idea of God and the ideas of “Men of God”.

When Soraya is told that she is being suspected of infidelity, she is expected to prove her innocence. When Zahara asks how is one expected to prove that? She is told that if a man accuses his wife of infidelity, she has to prove her innocence, and if a woman accuses her husband of infidelity, she has to prove her claim. This line itself summarizes the entire thought process.

Also, after hearing about her sentence, and as she waits for her stoning, Soraya realizes that her “dignified” silence has worked against her. In a society where a good woman is supposed to be quiet and dignified, and where speaking up for oneself is a sign of rebelliousness, how exactly does this silence work?

The weird thing that happened was that after the stoning, the men asked the women to “take care” of Soraya’s body! They had done the will of God and now the women were supposed to clean up their mess.

Buy The Stoning of Soraya M.: A Story of Injustice in Iran