A New Read: The Kite Runner

I am late on this one but I finally finished the one of the most talked about book by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner a couple of weeks ago and it was one of the best reading experiences of my life, thus far. It was devastatingly beautiful, heartbreaking, funny and all the emotions I can ever think of. It was like the first time I read Looking For Alaska, except that wasn't nearly as tragic as The Kite Runner.

The story is about - of course if you've read it, you'll know more about it - friendship, loyalty, religion and most importantly liberation and redemption. If you have yet to pick this book up, I suggest that you do. You will not regret it. A few friends told me it was way too depressing, but personally I don't think so. I think it is a wonderful book with a good reminder to those who are well and healthy, those who do not live in such conditions to always be grateful with the life that they are given. Of course I don't think that was the point Hosseini was trying to make, but then again when it comes to literature, there's always more than one perspective.

I don't really want to write a 'review', because I don't know if I can write it without giving away the entire story, because I am the kind of person who can explain an entire 3 hour movie (novel in this case) in one go if I try - which I'm not going to, because unlike myself, no one likes a spoiler. I am still learning on this blogging thing too so, please forgive me.

I do however want to write about my experience throughout the whole novel and I'm going to attempt to write it without making it sound like I am writing an essay for English class. So, reading it in Amir's voice, it felt like I was him or rather I was there with him but just there as a mere shadow.  I felt helpless and confused, it genuinely upset me when I couldn't do anything to help. With that being said, it wasn't hard for me to control my tears, heck in fact the water works just kept flowing throughout my entire read.

A particular scene which I read and sobbed, like a child who lost his mum, was at the alley. I literally had to pause and put the book down for a couple of days before I could continue the journey with Amir. I have never felt so sick, sad, disappointed and devastated in my life. Like I said, it literally felt like I was in Kabul in the winter of 1975, except I wasn't there and these characters do not even exist. But that does not mean the feelings that I felt and issues that happened in the book isn't real.

Besides the alley, I lost count at how many times I wept and end up looking like a raccoon the next morning. Raccoons are cute, don't get me wrong but me, looking like a raccoon? That's an absolute, no no. This is probably the most famous line in the book, 'for you, a thousand times over' and I still feel my heart ache whenever I come across it. I don't know if I thought of the tragedy that took place behind the alley or if it's something else.

Regardless of what it is, it's a good kind of sadness. The kind of sadness you know you have to endure, in order to move forward and live a better life. This is why I want to become a writer myself, I want to make other people feel things when they read the words that I've written. I want them to remember me, through my words.

Right after the very last page, which ironically is where I began, I started to think about how lucky my life is. I think of how blessed I am in this life and compared to those who are actually suffering, my problems seems so insignificant.

I pray everyday that those who live in such conditions will one day be free of all the pain, I pray that those people whose homes were taken from them, will return and reclaim back what belonged to them. I pray, because somehow that's all that I can do. For now.