I picked up this book after reading the plaudits of many RP'ers but found it disappointing, or at least not living up to all the 'hype' surrounding it. Nor could I understand why so many people here seemed surprised at the brutality that has been going on in Afghanistan for years. Perhaps this was something not reported in the US press in the '80's.
Although I'm sure the author was very sincere in what he wrote about his country I felt the lack of a good editor to help him with his English greatly diminished his 'style'; it could have been so much better written.
The film is due out here on 'Boxing Day'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kite Runner Trailer

The stilted language didn't bother me as much as the simplistic presentation: the morality of the characters reminded me of "good guys wear white hats; bad guys wear black hats" of old western movies and television shows, just in case the reader/viewer couldn't understand something a little more subtle.

Vee, the brutality in Afghanistan was reported in the US press in the 1980s, but most Americans barely paid any heed because Afghanistan was not on their day-to-day radar. After 9/11 suddenly it was, and people were scrambling to understand this enigmatic (to them) country. Hosseini came along with an easy-to-understand, palatable form (autobiographical fiction) that could make readers feel they were au courant. It is the same sort of phenonemon that The Da Vinci Code brought -- things that had been around for a long time suddenly igniting American mainstream imagination.

The "dumbing-down" may be less evident in the movie, but I'm sure the pathos aspect will be milked for all it's worth. I have more tolerance for that sort of thing in a film than in a book.

I actually did like the book quite a bit. Last night I saw the movie with my book club. We all liked it. The reviews have been mixed, but we thought that for once the movie was better than the reviews had lead us to expect. It wasn't Great Art, but it was compelling storytelling. I think that could be said of both book and movie.

I suspect that some of the people who did not much like the book might have liked it more if they had not heard exaggerated reports of its brilliance before they read it. It has been my experience that almost nothing lives up to wild acclaim, and that such praise generally leads to disappointment.

Rosefolly

I agree with Rosefolly. Almost everyone I know has found the book compelling and hard to put down. I was interested to see that the rating of the film is PG-13, so I am assuming that some of the more disturbing scenes were watered down or left out altogether.

> I understand why so many people here seemed surprised at the brutality that has been going on in Afghanistan for years

I wondered about that too, veer. In both discussing this one and Thousand Splendid Suns, I heard comments from women who were just aghast that all of this has been going on. And what rock have you lived in for the last decade or so? And yes, it was very much reported, esp after the Taliban took power. There is a group in Afghanistan called RAWA that many of us donated to back in the 80s and 90s, to help women groups in the country. But it took 9/11 to really get the point across. There was so much information about it that Im just dumbfounded how someone wouldn't know.

THe horror I felt wasn't in the treatment of women or the atrocities - it was the inaction of the narrator. He redeems himself in the end. But I was so upset I had to put the book down for days. And I would have been just as upset if the story took place in the US or Brit.

>Hosseini came along with an easy-to-understand, palatable form (autobiographical fiction) that could make readers feel they were au courant.

What frieda said. The writing is not the best, the character rather cardboard, but the power of the book was the story itself, that it was a true story, and it is still happening. Ditto for Thousand Splendid Suns.

I'm a little concerned about seeing the movie. The controversy over the three young boys, and whether or not they knew about the rape scene before accepting the parts, has made me wonder just how they are going to show this. And I also wonder what aspect of the story the movie concentrates on. There are some beautiful passages in the book about the history of the country and the boys relationship with his father, who was certainly a man of that time period before the Russians. There is also a lovely section of the book when he meets his to be wife. I hope they don't mess those up.

>might have liked it more if they had not heard exaggerated reports of its brilliance before they read it.

Ditto. Same with Curious Dog at Midnight or whatever the name is. Both books are well written and interesting. But there is no way they live up to the hype. They are not great literature. They are stories that interest people. Thirteenth Tale is another example, and I was taken in by the hype. Boy was I disappointed. Yet if I didn't hear the hype before, I might have found the book intersting.

Actually, according to Hosseini, the story of the KR is pure fiction although he has used scenes and background from the life he knew as a child/young man . . . and kite flying is/was a great national tradition.
I suppose we in the UK (or at least older people) have some understanding of Afghanistan because we used to learn about the 'First and Second Afghan Wars', the dangers of the Khyber Pass, Russia entering India by the 'back door' the extreme difficulty of trying to conquer a very tough and proud people.
If modern military strategists took the trouble to look at the not so distant history of the area they would realise that the possibility of peace is too much to expect.

Oh, I knew the story was; but much of the historic and cultural background was not.

Ok, you guys who went to see the movie - out with it! Your comments, please!

A lot of us that keep up with current world events already knew the history of that region. So, for those that didn't this book & his new one were obviously 'eye-openers' for a lot of people-at least he wrote the book, regardless of the criticism of his writing- and people read it-so apparently they are now aware of what has being on for years over there!