Mar 04, 2008 07:25 PM
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(Updated May 29, 2008 08:31 PM)
Sometimes, a book is written with the heart. Such a book ppl naturally connect with and appreciate; they love it, and recommend it to others who love it to and who recommend... ad infinitum...
*But let me here spoil the fun.
The lang. of the book is not up to the mark if not completely amateurish. The story is good but not out of the box. The setting is Afghanistan, a land plagued by warfare later in the novel. Also, much before you have read the final page, you anticipate easily the predictably poetic end to follow. And herein lies the fallibility of the book. The writer, Hosseini, is our everyday guy, and unlike other seasoned writers, who, given their genius, judge the pulse of their readers better and stay ahead of them, thus continuing to surprise; Hosseini, on the other hand, as he writes, seems to "follow his invisible reader and listen to his dictate" or perhaps to mould his story to a pre-set frame so that it meets its purpose.
The not-so-good-language
He will employ only the simple past tense; he will write: 'He went there, sat, ate, kissed her cheek, got up, and came back' instead of 'he went there and sat down. When he had eaten, he kissed her cheek, then got up and came back.' The book is a recall written in the first person and not once in the entire length of the novel do you come across the past perfect tense! Some may put forth the lame argument: 'simplistic writing', but insofar as a reader, a customer has the right to be judge, so I adjudge Hosseini as not having a good command over the language, besides reading monotonous.
The goodness factor to the book
The father-son relationship of Baba and Hassan has been depicted very well; it has a warm edge to it. The personality of Baba is strong, and leaves an impression. (On a slight tangent: I am reminded of another literary father-figure, here, Atticus Finch, of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird. One an Afgha "Pashtun", the other an American.)
In fact, the "poetic distribution of the genes" to the two sons -- which is the sub-plot at the very heart of the book -- and the tender father-son equation will warm your heart so much so that you will fall in love with the book perhaps to never again criticize it , or even tolerate criticism against it.
The romantic-at-heart may well shed a few tears.
*Why you you may not lose your heart completely...
Last but not least, dear readers, this book has its heart in the right place, AGREED, wholeheartedly! -- a reason why it has been loved by the ppl so much -- however, there is something to its soul, that you spot only when you look hard, -- and most do not -- and look for long enough, that disturbs you because it is ugly, because it is coarse and earthy and very basal. That's the reason why even if you praise the book, you can't go all ga-ga over it. And even if you love the book, may be on another day, you will hate it.
*Personal Criticism (political)
I think the Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini should have criticized the Americans and not been pro-America in this book. Afghanistan has been a land brutally raped throughout its history because of its geostrategic positioning in Eurasia. In one line that he writes w.r.t. Americans, he writes: '[The taliban] ran away like rats when Americans came...". The book denounces the Russian attack and the Taliban atrocities and misgovernance but says nothing anti-american, however, this above-quoted line does read a bit pro-american. To be an Afghan, a Pashtun (Afghan male), and not criticize America is to not be aPashtun at all. Amir's father -- a character central to the novel, and a true Pashtun -- would have agreed. Perhaps Hosseini failed his country in real life too...
Nevermind the hoopla to it, and a film, a book you can easily leave. (The film is even more boring!)*
