Kite Runner Book Review

        The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a realistic fiction that talks about a boy named Amir who moves to America to escape the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. He then returns to Afghanistan to retrieve his half-brother's son, Sohrab. Along the way, he encounters obstacles in his former homeland.
        The purpose in this novel is clear. Khaled Hosseini's purpose is to explain Amir's journey to retrieve Sohrab and be good again. This is evidenced when he writes, "One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. ... It  was my past of unatoned sins. ... There is a way to be good again." Here, he reveals that Amir has sinned in the past and the only way to be good again is to return to Afghanistan for some unfinished business. It is later revealed that the unfinished business is finding Sohrab. There is a side purpose as well. As you may know, the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 1970s to the 1980s. When that happened, chaos arose and order crumbled. Afghan society is destroyed and civilians die. Although the details are meant to describe the scene to the reader, the purpose of the descriptions is to inform about the hardships of war. The purposes were well achieved. The second half of the story was all about Amir returning to Afghanistan and his quest to find Sohrab. Upon his return, Amir sees poor people and dilapidated structures that act as evidence of the atrocities of war. Another side purpose of the story is to encourage people to solve problems as soon as possible instead of biding your time. Amir watches Hassan get raped, but doesn’t tell Hassan he saw what had happened. Furthermore, Amir keeps this secret to himself and does not try to comfort Hassan. Instead, he actually tries to get rid of Hassan by asking Baba to consider getting new servants. What he should have done was tell Baba what had happened because he is a powerful man and knows Assef’s parents. This lesson can even be applied to problems in everyday life.
Although I think this book isn't as boring as the other ones, it still has some flaws. Because Amir is from Afghanistan, he speaks a foreign language. In the following quote, the word "naan" is foreign.

"He coated my naan with marmalade, placed it on a plate."

In addition, the author does not explain what a naan is. Sure maybe you can use context clues, but the reader would only know it's some type of food covered with marmalade. I suggest the author translate the words into English. Khaled Hosseini mentions Amir's mother, but never develops any major details around her. She was not relevant to the plot because she had passed away after giving birth to Amir, yet Hosseini described her through a beggar in Kabul. Hosseini should just mention that Amir's mother died at childbirth and stop at that or go more in depth with this character. Anything in between leaves the reader guessing what kind of personality this character is. The beginning was a little boring to me. It took a while for me to get into this book. This is normal because the author has to introduce the characters and the setting, but is a weakness nevertheless. Finally, the ending contained loose ends. It ended with Amir and Sohrab flying kites which is fitting because the title is the Kite Runner, but mysteries still remain. The reader never knows the fate of numerous characters.Hosseini never reveals why Amir framed Hassan by planting the money and watch. I believe Amir framed Hassan because he wanted him to leave. Recall that Amir asked Baba for new servants earlier in the book. He didn’t succeed then, so Amir tries to get Hassan kicked out by framing him. No one knows how Soraya got a humanitarian visa for Sohrab and of course, little is revealed about Amir's mother.
A person I would like to discuss us Baba, Amir's father. Baba is unusual in that he despises his son in the first part of the novel, but more about that later. Not much is known about Baba's past. He played with Rahim Khan as a child and the pair were troublesome. He slept with a Hazara and had a child, Hassan. He marries another woman and has another child, Amir. In the process, his wife dies. Later in his life, he moves to America with America because of the Soviet occupation. Baba never returns to Afghanistan and dies in America. Despite all the troubles, he is a successful man. He is a businessman who owns many businesses. That's how Baba becomes rich. His wealth is proven by his lavish spendings on Amir's birthday party and the ownership of a Ford Mustang. Baba also succeeds when he marries a woman of royal descent. Previously, skeptics have claimed that Baba could never marry. Baba even wins in trivial contests. He claims to have won a kite tournament and holds the record for most kites cut in a match. Baba's personality is positive. He is friendly which is proven when he buys everone in an American bar a drink. Baba is generous. He uses his own money to build an orphanage. Baba is glad to help. At his funeral, people tell Amir how they were helped like this person:

"'... helped me build the house in Taimani...'"

There are other people who state how Baba helped them, but you get the point. His relationship with Amir isn't as friendly. In Afghanistan, Baba is ashamed to have Amir as his son because he can't stand up for himself. They never relly bonded in the earlier parts of the novel. In America, things are different. The two get along better. When Amir graduates, Baba is proud and buys Amir a Ford.
        I can see why the Kite Runner has received numerous good reviews. The plot is interesting and the book has a clear main purpose. There are some unusual characters like Baba and Assef that spice up the story. Although I have stated the book has flaws, they are too trivial to interfere with the storyline. I would recommend this book to any teen or adult.

kite runner section 3

        The book has ended and  although I am not a fan of books, I have discovered that this is not such a bad novel. It was boring at first and I thought the book was bulky, but then the author picked it up in the middle and end. Although a lot has changed since the beginning, I still find comparisons in the third section of the book.
        Assef returns in this section and once again becomes Amir's enemy. This is shown when Assef puts on brass knuckles and decides to fight him for Sohrab. Amir's dependence on Hassan is replaced by his dependence on Sohrab, Hassan's son. When he was a child, Hassan defended Amir from Assef. In the fight, Sohrab defeats Assef with a slingshot. After the fight, Amir gets a cut on his lip that resembles Hassan's harelip. Not everything is the same though. The story began in the Afghan city of Kabul. The novel ends in America.
        The ending has loose strings. The author never tells when Sohrab starts speaking after he arrives in America. The fate of Assef is never known as well as that of Rahim Khan's. I decided to try to answer the questions myself. I don't have an answer for the first question, but I think that Assef survives the fight, but is blinded in one eye. Rahim Khan dies as a hermit.
        I did not get the hospital part where Amir wakes up and fades out after brief moments of consciousness. He starts talking about the hospital staff and what their names were. What does it have to do with the story or plot? What is the importance of this and what would it symbolize? I believe those moments aren't relevant to the story. They do explain that Amir is not crazy after taking the beating because his brain is able to remember the names of the staff at the hospital.
        Now that the book is over, I would rate it an eight out of ten. Not spectacular, but worth your time. Eight is a high score because reading is not my favorite hobby.

billy's choice for an ipaaadddddd

        Billy posted a blog about the features of the ipad. It's basically a tablet computer developed by Apple. He seems to praise it as he does in the following quote:

An iPad is portable and a lot bigger than the Ipod touch or the Iphone, but it does mostly the same task like them. A iPad's starting price is 499 US dollars, a lot more compared to the Ipod touch, but also a lot better in many ways.The iPad has a multitouch surface, allowing you to touch the surface with two fingers and both fingers will work finely. The battery is said to last up to 10 hours of video...

I don't think the ipad is that portable as I heard it is big. It doesn't fit in your pocket. The ipod and iphone are more portable as they are smaller in size. The multitouch feature isn't that exciting and I could use one finger and it works fine. There is no need to use two fingers. The battery is surprising and impressive as it can last up to 10 hrs of video. I believe the ipod does not have that much in its battery. This comes in handy when you travel or go outdoors where you can't charge the phone.
        Billy explains the ibook feature and I'm not enthusiastic about that becomes I don't love books. So my reaction to this is ehh. The videos feature is a little more exciting, but not mind blowing. There is youtube on it, but the ipod also has it. The bigger screen is an upside as you can see the video better. This is great for watching movies. I agree with Billy that the ipad is like a computer because it can surf the web as well as send email and play games.
        Overall, I'm not as enthusiastic as Billy is about the ipad. It's not going to change the whole market of phones like the ipod did. I think it's just another touchscreen device that people will forget about in a year. I personally think that the ipod is better because it is lighter and does what the ipad does.

Update on the 2010 NFL season

        It's half way through the season and this one has been an interesting one. There a bunch of story lines like why the Cowboys and Vikings are struggling as well as the slow start by the NFC west favorites, the 49ers. Are the New Orleans Saints going through a Super Bowl hangover? Earlier in the year, I posted my predictions on my blog. Looking back, I think some of them are not too optimistic. In the afc east, I predicted the Jets to win and they are currently tied for first with the New England Patriots. In the afc north, the Steelers are indeed winning, but are trailed closely by the Ravens. In the Afc south, the colts are in first and tied with the titans. In the afc west, the surprising chiefs are leading the way, but Oakland is right on its heels.
        To the nfc east, the giants are leading the division by one game. The packers are indeed leading the nfc north as I predicted and they lead by half a game. In the nfc south, I thought the saints would easily have their way, but the falcons lead the way. In the weakest division, the nfc west, the rams and seahawks are tied for first at 4-4. Because the top teams are at .500, the 49ers are still in this one.
        Currently the two worst teams are the bills and cowboys, 0-8 and 1-7 respectively. Bills are the only winless team and just keep finding ways to lose. This includes losing in overtime. Next week, they have a decent chance to win as they battle the lions who are 2-6. The cowboys as I mentioned above have been a big flop. They were expected by many experts to be a good team. Instead, they are at the bottom of their division and are on the verge of not qualifying for the playoffs.
        If I could change my predictions today, I would take the chargers and replace them with oakland in the afc west. Other than that, nothing would change. The saints will get better after they get over their hangover and the 49ers are likely to come back as they are only 2 games behind.

Response to the kite runner-clip 2

        I believe that a lot has changed between section one and section two. This is due to the flash forward on page 125. However, this manipulation of time has raised many questions for me. It also introduces some changes in the setting of the story.
        The first question I have is how did Amir and Baba get to America from Pakistan in the first place? The two countries are half a world away. The only feasible way they could've left for America was by boat. They probably traveled across the Pacific to the Bay Area. Another question is how exactly did they get their American passports? Did they come to America as illegal immigrants? How did they get someone to help them find a place to live and a job if they are illegals? My ultimate question is why would Khaled Hosseini put a flash forward if it raises so many questions? I would assume he would elaborate on that time period later on in the book.
        Some radical changes are introduced in the second section. First off, the time period has changed from the 1970s to the 1980s due to the flash forward. Another big change is the setting of the story. It now takes place in America, but then reverts back to Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Amir wrote short stories. When he travels to America, he is poised to write novels.He is more independent of his father than before. He can drive and he goes to school. He has a job and later on, a wife. In the part where Baba explodes on the store owner, Amir apologizes for him. In fact, it seems like Baba is dependent on Amir.
        With the death of many characters like Baba, Ali, and Hassan, it seems like a whole new story than the first section. When Amir returnsto Afghanistan, he goes alone and finds that Rahim Khan is the only pre-Soviet occupation era friend alive there and he too is almost dying. Afghanistan is also in ruins due to about a decade of war. There is a clear difference between Kabul in the beginning and the same city about ten years later. I believe the city is an analogy of how Amir's life has been.

Dynamics of a football team

        The football team is diverse with each person doing a different task. Everyone is not doing the same thing. First, let's start with the managers and coaches. The general manager is the one who deals with business matters. He/she decides the hiring of coaches and negotiates deals with players as well as deciding which people can stay on the team. He/she is the boss. There is the head coach. The head coach is responsible for calling plays and making decisions on the field. The offensive coordinator is in charge of determining what to do on offense while the defensive coordinator does the opposite. There are also other minor coaches such as the quarterbacks coach. It's self-explanatory along with tight end, running backs, and wide receivers coach.
        Let's turn to the players on the field. The quarterback is the guy who throws to ball to his/her receivers. That person calls the plays when the huddle. The wide receivers go deep to receive the football when it is thrown to them. The tight end has both blocking and receiving duties. The running back runs the ball instead of receiving. The snapper snaps the ball to the quarterback. A long snapper snaps the ball when the team is punting. The offensive line includes the snapper and is tasked with protecting the QB. The punter is the person who punts the ball when the offense turns it over. The kicker kicks field goals and point after touchdown. The holder holds the ball while the kicker kicks. The kick returner and punt returner runs the ball downfield after the ball is kicked off or punted.
        The defensive line attacks and attempts to get to the quarterback by breaching the offensive line. The defensive end covers the area on the edge of the defensive line. A linebacker performs multiple roles including stopping the run and covering receivers. The cornerbacks cover the wide receivers. Safeties play deep and help cornerbacks cover wide receivers and occasionally to stop running plays. If you think a football team is a bunch of people doing the same job, you are wrong because they all have their jobs.

facebook is distracting

        Facebook is an addicting website and I have to admit it's distracting when I do my homework. There are a ton of stuff to do on that site. You can make friends, take quizzes, like random pages and chat which is mentioned in the upcoming quote from Bassam's blog:

Then when I'm on the Internet I all of a sudden log on to facebook and I see all my friends are on line so I talk to them and most of them are trying to get away from there homework. So I talk to them and one thing leads to the other and next thing you know I am gossiping about every one and I look at the time and I have been on the Internet for at least two hours then in the end I am two hours behind and try to make up all the work in a hour. 

As you can see above, chat seems to be the main culprit. Who wouldn't get sucked into that? After spending hours on homework, anyone can get lonely. Facebook is the solution to that and soon, the victim will be doing other stuff other than chatting.
        Chatting leads to other activities. For example when someone logs on, they see a wall full of people who have commented. This drives curiosity and the next thing you know, you're checking out what your friend or friends' friends said. Sometimes there are links to quizzes and you feel like taking that quiz just to say how you rank or what you are. See how a simple chat leads to so much time wasting. This is called the snowball effect.
        I combat this addiction by closing the Facebook tab like I am doing as I type this. And now I have logged back on. You could also do your homework while chatting on facebook. This task requires the ability to multitask. If you're homework involves typing, you could minimize both the typing program and browser so they share the screen. This way, you could type while seeing what your friends are saying. If you don't have Facebook, I would recommend it if you could make up for the time you are distracted.
       

reflection on the kite runner

        This historical fiction titled The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, revolves around a boy who in his childhood, struggles to survive in Afghanistan. He and his father are forced to move when the Russians occupy Kabul, the hometown of the main character, Amir. To me, history plays a role in the purpose of this novel.
        Khaled Hosseini's purpose is to explain how the Russians changed Amir's life when they occupied Afghanistan. The author hints at this by flash forwarding to 1981 which is when he and his father leave Afghanistan and embark on a journey to Peshawar in Pakistan. After the flashforward, the father seems to have lost much of his wealth. It says in the book that they left some belongings at their old house. No one could be trusted during this period of time. If they had packed everything, the servants would know they are leaving and might tell the Russians. The two also brought whatever they could carry. Since they are crowded in a truck and there is not much storage area, Baba had to leave behind much of his fortune. This affects Amir in that he can't live a lavish life anymore. He can't rely on his father's wealth and must find a job.
        A more obvious change in Amir's life is the fact that he has to live somewhere else. The question is where, but one thing is certain, he can't return to Afghanistan. There are the Russians who create havoc and murder anyone who has been heard to complain about their policies. That's why no one can be trusted in terms of keeping secrets and why Amir can't return to his homeland.
        I would say that the author did a good job getting the purpose across to the reader. The reason being is because the changes are so radical. Baba changes from a rich man to a poor one with a need to start over in a new place. Afghanistan assumes a similar analogy. It was once an independent country, but in the 1980s, the Russians occupy it. Once a quiet life has turned into a journey for Amir.