The Kite runner, by Khaled Hosseini

[anotheradmirer]

I'm still reading "The Kite Runner." I hope to finish it tonight and share some of my points of view with you all tomorrow. So far, the story has been heart clenching, even tearful sometimes. There are symbols and foreshadowing. (Well, Amir's first word is Baba and Hassan's is Amir. How clear can you get!) I like the vivid image narrated. I see colorful kites soaring in the sky and the brown pants on the pile of newspaper. It's a horror picture but in the sense of literary technique, it's what brings us into the story and feel with the characters more.

I like analyzing characters in my own way - just reckoning on them as individual human beings - I don't like to be restricted by being told what you're supposed to think about and what you're not supposed to think about.

WildCityWoman,
I also read the way you do, "in my own way." In college, my classmates were obsessed about symbols, trying to interpret every single object in the stories until the lecturers had to tell them to relax. The point is they tried to find the "right" interpretation, which is not what we were meant to do. There is nothing such the right interpretation, except you resurrect the dead writer and ask what (s)he had in mind when writing the story and what the symbols mean. We were supposed to exercise our thinking and share what we thought and discuss it together, not copying what's on the internet and pretending it's your own idea.

Have a nice day!
Wid-Sha-Ya

[anotheradmirer]

Sadly, I haven't finished the novel. 80 pages to go.

[realiz]

First, for those of you who studied (or are studying) literature at university level, I was taught that you do not write about your impressions or feelings when you write about novels. Nor do you write a psychoanalysis of the characters. I still firmly hold that belief in the context of university or academia.

I am certainly glad this is not a university class and it is my fervent hope that the climate on this site makes everyone feel free to post anything and everything, impressions, feelings, analysis, sybolism, theme, plot in as simple or complex way as they are moved to without fear of getting the wrong answer.

[giselle]

the thread here is that context matters when it comes to writing about novels .. how so? are there no absolutes when it comes to writing well? or is it just about writing what the reader wants within the context or situation? this could be a recipe for downward spiral from authoritative writing to meaninglessness. yet feelings are a huge part of human experience, and as all writers and readers are humans, could it be that we all become scholars of feelings over our lifetimes, our own and others, hence our ability to write about them with authority? of course, the reader is under no obligation to accept that authority.

[maybelline]

I`ve read the Kite runner and think it is a great novel. Although some parts were like flashbacks from a mexican soap opera, (like the fact that the other boy, forgot his name now, turns out to be his long lost half-brother; I think the book could have survived without this detail), I was fascinated and stuck awake in my bed until I realized it was 5 a.m. and I was finished with the book!
I`ve just finished Hosseini`s other book, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and am now trying to find a forum to share my opinion about that one too, but I can`t find it. Could anyone help me? Thanks!

[Chris OConnor]

Although some parts were like flashbacks from a Mexican soap opera.

LOL I love this descriptive.

We discussed "A Thousand Splendid Suns" here on BookTalk.org.

http://www.booktalk.org/a-thousand-sple ... i-f72.html