August 2004: The Kite Runner (Hosseini)

Post date: Jan 06, 2010 7:51:0 PM

After gazing in awe from Nancy Spaeth's window at the low-lying fog completely covering the bay on August 11, gathered readers started with a discussion of Eve Ensler's play, The Good Body, last month's book-club outing. We were curious to know what teenage daughters thought of it, which seemed to vary as for grown-ups: humorous, saddening, resonant, or angering. Those with few body issues found the play less engaging. Either way, it ignited discussion about body image, which is good to have in the open especially for teens.

Everyone found this month's book, The Kite Runner, well-written and poignant, the characters and scenery so well portrayed that we could picture everything, uncomfortable as that can be sometimes in the course of this story. After noticing a few pat literary devices that were balanced by the compelling story and other plot twists, we mused about the author (see http://www.khaledhosseini.com for more information) and the history of Afghanistan. Without coming to a definite conclusion, we also discussed whether the ends justified the means in the case of the US bombing Afghanistan and ousting the Taliban. Is life better now? Was it worth the price?