THE KITE RUNNER
I read the book, "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini, several months ago. It was a powerful and riveting tale, and I enjoyed it a lot. Today I watched the movie, and it was every bit as excellent as the book was, staying true to the tale. It brought me near to tears at the end.
Set in Afghanistan, it began with the tale of two close young friends -- Amir, the son of a fairly wealthy man, and Hassan, the son of his servant -- who loved to spend time together, especially flying kites. As a team, they won a Kabul kite-flying tournament, where the object was to cut the strings of the other kites and then to run and retrieve the last fallen kite. Due to jealousy of some older bullies, Hassan suffered a horrible indignity after retrieving that last kite. The awful act was secretly witnessed by Amir. The remainder of the story had to do with how this drove a permanent wedge into Amir's and Hassan's friendship. Interwoven was the relatively recent history of Afghanistan, with the invasion and occupation by the Soviets, and then the rising up of the Taliban. These historical events ultimately influenced Amir's life more than he expected, as he had relocated to America, and in the end, his early relationship with Hassan became something that he could not escape.
Watching this movie, I was made very aware of how much we have compared to people in other countries, even with the difficulties we face here in the U.S. at the moment. I was also struck by a realization of the way in which human mistakes can be overcome, and redemption achieved.
I highly recommend this movie. It is well worth watching.
*****
The air conditioners are on. I don't know if I'm going to leave them on while I'm gone -- maybe just the newer one, upstairs. I don't want my poor cats to swelter in the heat while I'm gone!
I may write one final post tomorrow morning before I leave, but if I don't, have a great weekend, everyone!
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