Ive been hearing bout this book for sometime....and people told me its fiction ...and since my interest is in reading memoirs or stories based on true events...i just didnt think of reading this book. But then i was curious as to why it was so popular. Saw it in MPH a few times...but somehow ended up buying another autobiography. Till last month , when i went over to my uncles house in Ipoh...and i was going through the books in the books shelves in the reading room....i came across an interesting Egyptian story book....and decided to pick that out...and went to the porch where theres a swing facing the garden...it was raining, so i sat there enjoying the breeze and was flipping through the first pages of this book....thats when my cousin Nithya came with another book in her hand ...gave it to me and said...Ka , have u read this book...you really should ...its awesome...and that book happened to be The Kite Runner. This time i thought....i better read this now...to find out why its so popular. So started reading a few pages there...and then brought it back to KL to continue...
And when i started reading it....i couldnt put the book down..i was going on and on...for hours...and finished the book in about a week....
And then i sat there wandering...Why on earth is this book categorized as FICTION ?? Its all too real...its based on the real life situations in AFGHANISTAN....yeah , a name i always thought to be the most beautiful . Such a majestic name...with so much pain contained in its soil that you can squeeze blood out of it...
Yes....there were times ...as i was reading...suddenly my view would be blurred...and i will realise it was my tears welling up ...then i close the book for a while...and then continue reading after a few minutes to let the reality of life digest in me.
It is appalling to know that the very same flesh and blood that i am made of is capable of inflicting such cruelty to its fellow humankind...and it makes me wander ..WHY ?????? Though the story was suppose to be fictitious...truth is , there are thousands of such little innocent children over there being tortured..ripped of their childhood and flung into hell on earth ...how are these children going to come out of it....while the rest of the world is too busy complaining about fast food not being served fast enough ?????!!!!! We must be insane to complain about ANYTHING at all...for God had chosen ( for some reason i really cant figure out) a paradise like Malaysia for me and not AFGHANISTAN ! Whatever the system of selection is based on ...i am THANKFUL a BILLION times and more to have been put where i am today ! Simply to have the privilege to be sitting at home, comfortable...with so much ease at heart...safe....reading about these beautiful people being tortured for NO REASON !!! And the scarry part is we co exist with it...its not something of the PAST...its happening while we sit in our car sulking bout the weather...!!!!
And now i realise that...though i had no intention to read this book...nature had somehow handed the book over to me...as a reminder of what life could have been...if only i was born a few thousand kilometres away...! and PHEW ! what a relieve it is...a relieve that comes with guilt for sometimes thinking life is HARD....
Though Afghanistan is a WELL KNOWN story to the world...going inside and living the daily happenings...and situations of the people gives a totally different view of it....a far too cruel one compared to what we gather from the news....
So if you think life is hard....go grab this book and read it ! I BET YOU WILL REJOICE in every minute of your life after that...
And ohh i must mention that Khaled Hosseini (the author) has written the most painful moments with the most beautiful words you can imagine...his writing heals the reality of its content...in fact made pain look appealing...great writing...awesome book...!!!
