Kite Runner Entry 5

Oh, my god. An absolutely beautiful and heartbreakingly wonderful ending! It is like dawn breaking at last upon Amir's life. Amir decided to take his half-nephew, Sohrab home with him!!! Sohrab was mute for a whole year, and Amir and Soraya tried all they could to get him to talk and to be happy. Finally, as the U.S. begins a war with the Taliban and Amir and his family help with relief efforts, Amir buys a kite. He asks Sohrab if he wishes to run kites with him, but Sohrab is still mute. Amir goes solo, but Sohrab joins him, and Amir shows Sohrab Hassan's favorite move, the lift and dive. Together, they take down their opponent's kite, and Sohrab smiles for the first time. Amir tells Sohrab what Hassan told him many years ago. "For you, a thousand times over."(371). A perfect full-circle ending, with the sunset at the beginning, and sunrise at dawn, near the end of this story. I must say, despite how much I hated actually reading the beginning, I love the ending. If I had to say, I really regret not reading this without stop. If I had not broken up the reading, I probably would not have hated Amir so much. Yet in the end, he has redeemed himself, and I simply just love the end. It is quite true that this is a depressing novel, but the ending is well worth it to read through.

Kite Runner Entry 4

Truly, Dara was right when she told me this was a depressing book. It truly is. Amir's action in the beginning of the book has come back to him threefold. He finds out that Hassan is his half-brother, that his Baba is not the man that he thought him to be, and that Hassan, who had lived rather well in Afganistan, was killed by the Taliban, the group that the people thought would free them and end the killing. I was shocked to find that Amir and Hassan were half-brothers. It never occured to me that this would be possible, I never thought about it. What was more shocking was the hatred between the two religious groups. Even Farid, a rather nice man and understanding man, was shocked that Amir had 'come all the way from America for...a Shi'a.' (267). Amir and Hassan had gotten along well enough, and they are blood related as well. The only difference is in religion, which is mostly the same in the first place. This is a Glog I created in order to help explain why Sunni's and Shi'as do not get along well. While both follow the Qur'an, they follow different hadiths, or narrations concerning the prophecies of the prophet Muhammad. Because of these different hadiths, following different views and thus end up with different traditions, there is hostility between these two groups. Its really amazing how by just following a different point of view, two groups who believe in the same god shed blood over who is right. It is a lot like Roman Catholicism and Christianity/Protestantism. Both follow the Bible, but their different views over practices has produced many conflicts.

Hassan left behind a son, a young boy named Sohrab. Amir wants to take Sohrab to an orphanage, or to a nice family to be taken care of, and I cannot help but feel exasperated with him. His wife Soraya has always wanted a child, so take him home with you! Is all that I want to say. Though, since he feels himself inept at taking care of Sohrab, he does have some reason not to. I think that Sohrab is like Amir's new start with Hassan, and his way of redeeming himself and his father. Baba had an illegitimate child with his best friend's wife. That child was Hassan, and thus was Baba's 'sin'. Amir's sin is the time that he abandoned Hassan to Assef. Sohrab is Amir's 'way to be good again'. By going to get him, Amir had to face off against Assef, who is now a Taliban insurgent. Amir fought for Sohrab, which he did not do for Hassan. Amir also wants to take Sohrab to a safe place to stay, to people who will care for Sohrab. Sohrab is Amir's redemption, for him and Baba, who had lied to Amir and Hassan, and lying was the worst sin to Baba.
This is a wheel of karma. A sunrise or sunset for the background, depending on how you view it, and a wheel of symbols. At the top is bloodshed and fire, at the bottom, near the sun, is a smiley face. Butterflies symbolize change. The question I want to know is, will Amir be able to break this cycle of regret? Perhaps he will, I just hope he does not dissapoint me again.

Kite Runner Entry Three

Amir is now living well in America. Not as well as when he was in Afganistan, but well enough. He has a good wife, Soraya, who is a very kind and beautiful girl. I was rather dissapointed that Amir did not tell Soraya about him and Hassan, even though Soraya told Amir about her shame of having a boyfriend. Though, I was happy to find that Baba and Soraya's father accepted their (Amir and Soraya's) marriage. The traditional Afgan marriage is quite interesting. It is a traditional Afgan wedding song with a few pictures of weddings, or awroussi. This is probably what Amir and Soraya's wedding may have looked like. I was also surprised that Soraya and Amir could not have children, although this waould have probably been for the best; how would they have supported a child? Although Amir has money from his novels and Soraya teaches, I feel that they are better off without a child, despite how much they want one. While Amir is happily living in America, a war is going on in his homeland. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm. Amir was one of the thousands who fled Afganistan, which was left in shambles from the war. Many factions are fighting for control when Amir returns to Afganistan to see his friend Rahim Khan. Frankly, I'm almost surprised that Rahim stayed in Afganistan, but he, the ever-loyal and hopeful figure, stayed in his homeland. I wonder what news he will bring to Amir of Hassan?

Entry Number Two

As I began to read the novel, I could not help but feel disgust at the cowardice of the main character, Amir. While I realize that I am being unfair, the fact is that Amir abandoned his servant, Hassan at a critical moment. However, Amir did have some justification, as he was a son who only wished to please his father, and who felt as if he never recieved enough attention. Hassan, on the other hand, is a gentle, ever-smiling, and loyal servant, who would do anything for Amir. It is very frustrating to watch as Amir struggles with himself over defending himself and protecting Hassan, or simply running away. (Amir usually runs away). He is such a protected boy, coming from a wealthy, priviledged family. It is really quite sad; he blames himself for his mother's death and tries his best to please his father, no matter whom he hurts in the process. When Hassan was assaulted by Assef and his gang, I was sure Amir would step in to save Hassan. I was extremly dissapointed when he ran away. Hassan has left now, though, and Amir is in America. It seems he has fallen for Soraya Taheri, and I believe the rest of the story will be a tumultuous tale of Amir's struggle to win her heart. Who knows, perhaps Hassan will come back.

Kite Runner Entry One

I've never really read much historical fiction before, so when my friends and parents recommended Kite Runner to me, I just went with it. I don't know much about it, but they told me that it was a very good, but depressing story. The book takes place in Afganistan, just before the country's revolution. When you think about it, if the country is going to have a revolution, it's going to tear apart the characters' lives. Terrible things happen in violent revolutions. Families are torn apart, friends become enemies and no place is safe. I can only imagine what Hosseini's characters will have to go through. I don't really like reading in increments of time, just when I do have the time so:

-page 142 by February 22nd
-page 202 by March 5th
-page 310 by March 17th
-page 371 (end) by March 24

Hopefully this will be flexible enough!