Category Archives: General

The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead Books
324 pages

The is a story about two boys named Amir and Hassen who live in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir is a sensitive boy who loves to read books. He believes that his father thinks less of him because his mother died giving birth to him. He also thinks that his father thinks less of him because he does not like to take part in manly pursuits such as soccer.

Hassen is the son of Amir’s father servant. He is a Hazara. He is a loyal servant and is an excellent kite runner. Hassen and Amir grew up together and are great friends. Some in the community believe that a Hazara are inferior.

Assef is a local bad boy. He is known for carrying around brass knuckles and beating up other kids. One day Assef corners Amir and Hassen in an alley. Assef is going to beat up Amir because he associates with a Hazara. Hassen bravely stands up to Assef by threatening to shoot him in the eye with his slingshot.

Hassen is an excellent kite runner and can seem to find kites without looking at the sky. There is a local kite tournament. The kites battle in the sky until the kite string breaks. The kite runner then runs after the kite that falls to the ground. The last kite remaining is the winner. At this tournament Amir is flying the kite and is the last kite in the sky. Amir is so happy because he knows that his dad will be so proud of him. Hassen takes off running to find the fallen kite. Amir takes off after Hassen. Amir finally catches up with Hassen, he sees that Assef is threatening Hassen again. Amir wishes that he was brave enough to stand up to Assef especially since Hassen protected him earlier. Amir does not stand up for his friend and Assef commits the unthinkable. He rapes Hassen. Amir sees this but is so ashamed of his cowardice that he runs and hides. He then pretends that he does not know what happened.

As time goes by, Amir stops being a friend to Hassen. Hassen is still the servant but the relationship has changed. Amir wants for his father to send Hassen and his father away. On Amir’s thirteenth birthday party, Amir receives many presents. He then comes up with a plan to get rid of Hassen. He hides some birthday money and a watch in Hassen’s bedroom. He then accuses Hassen of stealing them. Hassen confesses to this crime even though he did not do it. Amir’s dad forgives Hassen. Amir does not know what tp think about this forgiveness from his father. But more astonishing is that Hassen’s father declares that they are leaving. Amir gets what he wanted. Hassen is now gone. Once again Amir feels that he has disappointed his dad in someway.

Eventually, Amir and his father move to the United States. Amir gets married and life goes on. Until one day Amir receives a phone call from Afghanistan asking him to come to Afghanistan because to discover the “way for him to be good again”. The Taliban has taken a firm hold over Afghanistan so making this journey is very dangerous. While in Afghanistan he discovers that Hassen had a family. Hassen had a son named Sohrab. Amir also discovers that Hassen was his half-brother. This is very distressing for Amir because he feels like he has lived a lie. So Amir goes on a hunt to find Sohrab. He finally finds Sohrab in the hands of Assef. Assef has been sexually abusing Sohrab. Amir and Assef fight and it is Sohrab who ends the fight by shooting a pebble in the eye of Assef. Sohrab and Amir make their escape. After more heartache Sohrab comes to America to live with Amir.

To me this is a story of friendship, loyalty and betrayal. It moved me to read about Hassen and his loyalty to Amir. I would like to think that I would stand up for my friends but I am afraid that I would fail just as Amir did. It was also a story of redemption. Amir was able to make amends for his actions against Hassen by helping Sohrab. I also think Amir was able to find peace at last for what he saw as his cowardice.

  Publisher: Riverhead Books

 384 Pages

I was very touched by this story of two Afghan women and how their lives cross spanning from the 1960’s to the year 2003.  This story starts with a woman named Mariam.  At the beginning of the story she is a small child and knows that she is different.  Different because she is not wanted.  She thinks that her father loves her and that it is her mother that dislikes her.  When Mariam turns fifteen, Mariam realizes that her father is ashamed of her too.  Through the chain of events Mariam finds herself married to a man quite a bit older than her.  As time passes, Mariam is unable to give Rasheed the son he so much desires.  Because of this he becomes quite abusive toward her. Years pass.  Mariam does not have many friends. 

  In the same neighborhood that Mariam lives is a young girl named Laila. Laila is very beautiful.  All during Laila’s childhood she has been friends with a boy named Tariq.   At this time the war comes to Afghanistan, and Kabul is bombarded.   Tariq’s family is going to leave Kabul.  When Tariq comes by to say good bye to Laila the emotional farewell ends with them makeing love.  The war becomes bad that Laila’s family decided to leave Kabut too.  But before they do their house is bombed.  Laila parents are killed and Laila is badly wounded.  Laila is dug out of the rubble by Rasheed.  Rasheed and Mariam nurse her back to health.

During this time Laila realizes that she is pregnant.  She agrees to become Rasheed’s second wife after being told that Tariq is dead.  Laila gives birth to a daughter named Aziza.  Rasheed is very unhappy with the birth of daughter and becomes suspicious.  Rasheed becomes even more abusive.  Eventually Mariam and Laila become confidants.

As the years pass,  Laila gives birth Rasheed’s son – Zalmai.  The Taliban has risen in power.  The region is experiencing a drought and the living conditions have become poor.  The family sends Aziza to an orphanage.  One day Tariq appears outside the orphanage.  Tariq comes to Rasheed’s house and the passion between them has never died. When Rasheed returns home from work, Zalmai tells his father about the visitor to the house.  Rasheed savagedly beats Laila and is about to kill her.  Mariam takes a shovel and kills Rasheed. 

Laila and Tariq leave together.  Mariam confesses to killing her husband and is executed.  After the war Laila and Tariq return to Kabul.  But first Laila returns to Mariam’s hometown and discovers that Mariam’s father always regretted sending her away.  

This book gave me a glimpse of how life must be in a country where women do not have many rights. I do not believe that Mariam knew what is was like to have companionship and a good relationship with someone until Laila through her actions shows her friendship.  I was much touched with Mariam’s sacrifice so that Laila and Tariq could be together.  I do not think that as a mother, wife, friend that I truly know what it means to sacrifice so much for someone else.  I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to others to read.

The Invisible Wall By Harry Berstein

297 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books

The is a true story about the life in the early 1900’s on a street in a small English mill town.  On one side of the street lived the Christians and on the other side of the street lived the Jews.  Even though the Christians and Jews live only a few feet apart from each other, there is an invisible wall that socially separates the street a very great distant.  This wall at times seems insurmountable.

Harry’s father does not interact much with his family.  He hardly provides enough for the family to live on.  Harry’s mother is devoted to the family.  She survives on the dreams she has for her children and hopes that one day the family will be able to go to America where everything will be better.  Harry’s sister Lily does the unthinkable – she falls in love with Arthur.  Arthur is the Christian boy that lives across the street.

During World War I, the invisible wall seemed to crumble.  The families were friendly toward each other.  During the war, a girl named Emily would bring the telegrams to announce to families who had died in the war.  Whenever, Emily brought the bad news to a family it did not matter if the family were Christian or Jewish.  Everyone, could feel the loss of the loved one and gave comfort to each other.   However, once the war ended the wall was back in place.

This wall becomes most evident when Lily and Arthur get married and then tell their families.  It is not acceptable for a Jew to marry a Christian.  For the Jewish family, it becomes like the person has died.  And that is exactly what Harry’s family did – conducted a funeral for Lily.  This funeral offended the Christians on the street.  On the Sabbath the Jewish families had Christians that would come over to light their cooking fires.  Because of this funeral, the Christian who regularly attended the fire would not come.  Arthur’s mom comes over to do it but it does not alter the wall.  Personally, I was thought it was very neighborly for Arthur’s mom to do this.  During the newlywed stage only Harry had contact with his sister.   That is until the baby was born.  The baby made it possible for the wall to come down a bit.  The Christians and Jews celebrate the baby with a big party.

Another amazing thing about this book is the author – Harry Bernstein.  He wrote this book when he was ninety-six years old –  after the death of his wife Ruby.  I found his memoirs to be most interesting and moving on what it must have been like to live the life of the working-class people in the 1900’s.

I liked this book very much.  This may be because I am (as the book calls the Christian) a “goy” married to a Jew.  Fortunately, for me a funeral was not conducted.  However, I do believe that relations with family members were strained for many years on both sides of the family.

This fictional book has 292 pages.  It is Lisa Genova’s first novel. Lisa also holds   a      Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University.  She is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer’s Association.

This is a story of a fifty year old woman named Alice who has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.  Alice is a very successful psychology professor at Harvard when she starts experiencing moments of forgetfulness and confusion.

I was very moved in the story over the  agony that Alice experiences when first diagnosed with this disease.  Alice believes that Alzheimer’s  is worse than cancer.  With cancer there is an enemy that you can fight, but with Alzheimer’s there just the inevitable loss of one’s mind.

I could feel the pain that Alice experiences over finding the right time to tell her husband that she has Alzheimer’s.  Alice knows that her husband loves her for her mind and wonders if he could love her this part of her that makes up her thoughts, feelings and person.  This is such agony for Alice that she contemplates suicide.

Before reading this book, I did not really understand much about Alzheimer’s disease.  I knew it was a form of dementia but I did not really understand what all that might entail.   I knew that a person with Alzheimer’s might forget a person and things but I did not realize that it also affects perception.  The part of the book that most illustrates this is when Alice thinks that there is a hole in front of the front door but in reality it is just the rug.

Toward the end of the book it was sad when the family was discussing Alice as if she was not present and Alice was only vaguely aware that her loved ones were discussing her.

I would recommend this book very highly to others to read.

The book has 401 pages and was published by Spiegel & Grau.  It is Janelle Brown’s first novel.  This book is about three women who only ever wanted everything – money, status, popularity, being the best.

Janice is the mother and wife who has devoted her life to her family.  Her husband is a successful executive in a company that is going public.  Janice has devoted her whole life to her family and the success of her husband.   However, on the day the stock goes public and the family finances would increase substantially, Janice discovers that her husband is filing for divorce.  To make matters worse, he is leaving her for her best friend and tennis partner.  During the summer Janice hides her pain by experimenting and becoming addicted to Crack.

Margaret is Janice’s oldest daughter.  She has been living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and is the publisher of a feminist magazine called Snatch. Margaret believes that her magazine is very successful and hoping for the sale of the magazine to help with her finances.  However, Margaret is dumped by her boyfriend when he makes it as a Hollywood star. To make matters worse, the sale of her magazine falls through.  She goes home to hide from her creditors and to try to find a solution to her money problems.

Lizzie is fourteen years old and  on the swim team.  She has struggled with acceptance from her girl friends and wants to liked by her peers.  Lizzie has sex with several of her male classmates.  She believes that she has gotten what she has always wanted – acceptance by her peers.   Much to Lizzie’s horror, she discovers that her name is written on the bathroom wall and she really is the school slut.

All summer long these three women live in the same house but are unaware of the struggles and sorrows that each are facing.  Fortunately, as the summer ends each become aware of the others “problem”.  Because of this, they become somewhat closer to each other.

This book made me sad for these three women.  They could not confide in each other about their hurts and failures.  It makes me sad when family cannot confide in each other because they are afraid of being judged as lacking.