forgiveness | unscripted

You know that book that seems to take you forever to get comfortable in? Be it audio or paperback, you can’t seem settle in and enjoy the story. Then, all at once, it grabs you and pulls you in and you can’t stop until you’ve read the whole thing. That’s what happened when I read The Kite Runner.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Rating: 5.0 – 5.0

My Thoughts:

Okay so I didn’t read the paperback that’s sitting on my shelf. I came across the audiobook and decided to listen instead. It took me a couple of tries. While it was good from the beginning, it didn’t grip me until about halfway through. It was a fascinating ride though and I’m glad I stuck with it.

It’s an extraordinary look at life through the eyes of a boy named Amir whose coming of age is anything but happy, peaceful, or normal. Political upheaval is on the horizon and family life has much to be desired. From his boyhood in Kabul Afghanistan to his adulthood in America, Amir’s life takes twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. His is a story of betrayal, a fierce, unconditional love that is strong enough to forgive, and redemption that didn’t seem possible.

This is the first book I’ve ever read set in the Middle East and I have to say, for the first time, it wasn’t just a place on a map, images on the news, reports on the radio, or overheard bits of other peoples’ conversations. For the first time I saw actual people who live in actual villages and lead actual lives with their actual families. And it was ridiculous because I know this stuff. I know there are people in other countries who eat, sleep, drink, breath, laugh, cry, fear, and feel and experience all the millions of things I do be it as differently as it is. But it wasn’t until I stepped inside the pages and walked around in Amir’s shoes that I got a better perspective of what it’s like on that side of the world–I LOVE that about reading!!

I haven’t seen the movie but I plan to now that I’ve finally read the book. One thing I will say about the audio version–it’s an abridged performance. I didn’t realize it until I was halfway through and I was flipping through my hard copy to see how far I was and compared what was on the page with what I was hearing. Yeah, kind of disappointing. I’m not planning on picking up the paperback anytime soon but it sits on my shelf if the desire ever arises.

The movie is rated PG-13 and I would give the same to the book. Some of the scenes are more than a bit intense.

I’m planning on reading Hosseini’s other books A Thousand Splendid Suns & And the Mountains Echoed. Anyone else read them? What did you think?

Happy reading, y’all! :)

This book counts towards the following challenges: