First of all, the hype about The Kite Runner was wildly over-blown, and sadly, the movie is just as disappointing as the book. Most of the novel is outstanding, but it completely falls off a cliff at the end, and then closes with a happily-ever-after ending that seems just as tacked-on as the worst of the Hollywood offenders. True, the movie is remarkably faithful to the novel, but the whole story, especially because of the cartoonish confrontation at the end, gives me the feeling that it is little more than a childish revenge fantasy which is only legitimized because author Khaled Hosseini really can write.
I was an English major when I was in college, and one of the things that I noticed in any creative writing class that I ever took was that, because almost every single person wrote stories starring themselves (as Hosseini has clearly done and like, for example, Stephen King almost always does), many of them wrote stories about something bad that happened to them, in which they augmented the wrong committed against them and then issued a perfectly planned and executed retribution against their offender. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you have with The Kite Runner.
Now, I won't say that Hosseini was bullied as a child lived in a harsh environment and therefore wrote a heroic story about that. Indeed the setting in Afghanistan and the oppressive atmosphere is both well-presented and an important, real life issue. But when the Taliban appears and starts stoning adulterous women to death in front of packed stadiums and bad guys parade little boys around in make-up and get shot in the eye with sling-shots, then it all becomes clear what's really going on.
I remember that the novel was extremely popular when it was released and I remember being at a loss to explain the fame after I read it. It is, indeed, a page-turner, but it has an unfortunately combination of amazingly realistic descriptions and situations with goofy, over-blown movie villains that gives the whole thing a feeling of being an artificial contraption drummed up by someone trying to make his way into the writing business. But hey, Hosseini has succeeded in making the artificial successful twice now, so maybe it's me who should take some advice. But I think it would be difficult for anyone to argue that Hosseini has succeeded as much in the quality of his story-telling as he has in the BUSINESS of story-telling. In that regard, this is definitely a success story!
I also feel like a lot of people are going to pick up on the arrogance of presenting America as this holy land, a paradise on earth where all you have to do is get there and everything will be okay. Of course, it is true of the little boy living under the iron fist of the Taliban, but it's that kind of thinking that has gotten America into a lot of trouble in the past. And I also love how Amir, our hero, goes to Afghanistan but doesn't know enough not to stare at a passing pickup truck full of bearded guys holding AK-47's. Smart.
And by the way, can I just say one thing? What is the deal with the Taliban? Those people are totally insane.
Oh, and the best thing about the movie is that little kid who played Hassan. He had the most important role in the movie and he was OUTSTANDING.
I was an English major when I was in college, and one of the things that I noticed in any creative writing class that I ever took was that, because almost every single person wrote stories starring themselves (as Hosseini has clearly done and like, for example, Stephen King almost always does), many of them wrote stories about something bad that happened to them, in which they augmented the wrong committed against them and then issued a perfectly planned and executed retribution against their offender. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you have with The Kite Runner.
Now, I won't say that Hosseini was bullied as a child lived in a harsh environment and therefore wrote a heroic story about that. Indeed the setting in Afghanistan and the oppressive atmosphere is both well-presented and an important, real life issue. But when the Taliban appears and starts stoning adulterous women to death in front of packed stadiums and bad guys parade little boys around in make-up and get shot in the eye with sling-shots, then it all becomes clear what's really going on.
I remember that the novel was extremely popular when it was released and I remember being at a loss to explain the fame after I read it. It is, indeed, a page-turner, but it has an unfortunately combination of amazingly realistic descriptions and situations with goofy, over-blown movie villains that gives the whole thing a feeling of being an artificial contraption drummed up by someone trying to make his way into the writing business. But hey, Hosseini has succeeded in making the artificial successful twice now, so maybe it's me who should take some advice. But I think it would be difficult for anyone to argue that Hosseini has succeeded as much in the quality of his story-telling as he has in the BUSINESS of story-telling. In that regard, this is definitely a success story!
I also feel like a lot of people are going to pick up on the arrogance of presenting America as this holy land, a paradise on earth where all you have to do is get there and everything will be okay. Of course, it is true of the little boy living under the iron fist of the Taliban, but it's that kind of thinking that has gotten America into a lot of trouble in the past. And I also love how Amir, our hero, goes to Afghanistan but doesn't know enough not to stare at a passing pickup truck full of bearded guys holding AK-47's. Smart.
And by the way, can I just say one thing? What is the deal with the Taliban? Those people are totally insane.
Oh, and the best thing about the movie is that little kid who played Hassan. He had the most important role in the movie and he was OUTSTANDING.