You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2006.
This is the only book my sister has ever recommended to me and she hasn’t even finished reading it. My sister isn’t a big reader so for her to tell me about a book I thought I should read it.
When I began the book I read the introduction and the foreword by Charlotte Bronte. They all died so young and didn’t ever get to understand the full impact their writings had on English literature. I hope they realize the contribution and understand the joy people feel when they read their books (Emily died shortly after receiving a bad book review).
I had a preconceived notion of how the story would play out before I began and I was completely wrong. It is said to be a romance story for the ages and yes it had some romance but it wasn’t the common every day garden variety. The romance centers on Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff (you know out on the moors “Oh Heathcliff, Heathcliff… sigh). Catherine instead of realising her love for Heathcliff marries Edgar Linton and what follows is Heathcliff’s constant pursuit of Catherine and bringing misery to Linton and his downfall.
I really enjoyed this book, it took me a little bit to get used to the old English phrasing and I had trouble understanding the Yorkshire characters ramblings. In the end I was satisfied for the story and the achievement of reading another classic (and crossing no. 46 of my list).
The hardest thing about this story is trying to understand the workings of Heathcliff; he is a man angry at the world, foul tempered and foul mouthed. All though he is a brute you can’t help feeling like one of those strange women that think “maybe I can change him”. Unfortunately, I think he is beyond redemption but maybe his hate is driven by an unrequited love.
Every time I went to the book shop I was distracted by this book. I think it was the bright red colour, the interesting collage cover and the catchy title that always drew my attention. The story also caught me (off guard) and I can safely say this was one of the weirdest books I have read (lots of others must like it, it’s number 28 on the list).
It is a difficult story to explain. I would describe it as a book within a book. The story follows an anonymous young woman who is newly married and not happy, she is unfulfilled. She discovers a book that outlines all the wife/womanly duties a woman should perform. From this book, the idea of writing a story comes to her, the story that results is ‘The Bride Stripped Bare’. As I said before it is quite a strange read.
I was shocked, horrified, intrigued and felt I had to stick with it to the end. I warn you though if you don’t like smut you won’t like this book and don’t leave it around for your children to read. The best way I feel to sum it up is literary porn. I wouldn’t say I liked this book but I read it to the end and was left feeling slightly confused as to its point. Some women may see it as empowering but in the end I thought what a slight waste of paper if I wanted to read something like this I would have paid $8 for a Cosmo rather than the more expensive $25 version.
There is a simple explanation as to why I chose to read this book. I used to work in a hotel cleaning rooms, if we found any lost property we had to hand it in. Once the property had been kept and unclaimed for three months, the person that found it got to keep it. This book was left behind and after the three months it was mine. At that time I had no idea it was in the top 100 (No. 42) and I will read anything I can find. I took it home. Maybe it was fate because I really enjoyed it, it is another one of those books where you become emotionally attached and cry for the characters.
Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion (this will sound ignorant but I didn’t know Russia invaded until I read this book) and the years following in which the Taliban reigned. It follows the life of Amir and his servant/friend Hassan. Best friends from the beginning, theirs is a friendship saddened by discrimination and betrayal. Hassan would do anything for his friend and it is this leads to there eventual separation. Through out the book Amir is haunted by his past. Through out the story he searches how to right the wrongs he and others committed against his friend.
This is a story of a man trying to compensate for the faults he made as a boy. One man’s hard and unsettling story is reflected and interwoven with the turmoil of Afghanistan. I cannot begin to understand the horrors the Afghan people faced once at the hands of the Russian and then a second time by the Taliban, but reading this book I caught a glimpse and was moved. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys fiction stories based on actual events. Kite Runner reveals and hidden world that is fragile, beautiful and recovering from a tumultuous history. Please read it you won’t regret it.
