The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner was an amazing story that leaves a powerful trace in the readers mind. This story defines a new meaning in the term "friendship" and tells a tragedy that would lighten the hearts of Romeo and Juliet considerably.

Amir, the main character, and his relationship with his family is mostly the whole story; the tangled relationship between father and son, the tattered friendship between half-brothers, and a love that yields nothing from its existence are all reflected in the story. Great love that is never answered nor recognized flows throughout the whole story. A father who loves a son who can't be loved for who he is and a son who loves and fears his father greatly produce a crooked tale of fathers and sons who love accordingly to a truth that is false. Also a love that loves endlessly without asking for anything in return can be seen in Amir's friend, brother, and servant: Hassan. A pure boy who is polluted by the greed and violence of the world still remains devoted to a master and friend without limit. The Kite Runner shows the full extent of pure love that remains untainted throughout any tragedy and disaster in heartbreaking circumstances.

The stark reality of a world crashing to pieces is shown in its entirety to the readers as the author paints a portrait of Kazakhstan filled with poverty and corruption. A repetition of the Holocaust can be seen in the shadows of the plot, along with the devastating truth of the ease of crushing the weak.

I have not seen such a powerful story for a very long time. The fall of the innocent and the rise of the corrupt hit the readers of this book with full force. I recommend this book strongly to teenagers and older readers as well. The story seems unreal in its revealance of such a powerful love and stunningly true in the showdown of ultimate devastation.

By the time Amir has grown up, he seems to understand his father more.

Just to lift up the gloominess of this post, I am posting a quote I found:

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong."

-Charles Wadsworth

The Runaway Jury

I have read several John Grisham books before, but I personally think that this book I have read recently, The Runaway Jury, was one of his best books. I was attracted to the story quickly, and soon I couldn't stop reading after about 50 pages. The story is easy to follow, and the plot flows smoothly and in several directions that keep the audience's attention from going anywhere else.



The story begins where the main characters are revealed one by one. Starting from the first page is important details about a main character that are not boring and seem mysterious. Tension builds up easily and action steadily shows itself, not giving the reader any time to yawn or look up from the book. Endless schemes of characters trying to trap each other with stakes ever so high are entrancing and amusing at the same time. Huge questions that hold the key to everything in the story keep readers intrigued in the story until the last page, and the ending was quite a satisfactory one, where most questions are answered and has a clean cut for the end.



If I had one question, it would probably be about who Marlee herself is. She seems like a person too strong and too untouchable for her to seem very real. Especially her skill in finding information, recognizing schemes, and hiding her trail is so professional that it is not much fun. Having a character that seems so invincible sometimes makes a story seem a bit dull.

The characters were well developed and the plot was carefully planned out, also the facts about cigarettes, trials, and money issues were so realistic that they added nicely to the fun. Descriptions were given adequately and none of the story was hard to follow. This book would be entertaining for most age groups starting from 14 and older, and gender would not matter in enjoying this book.

The schemes that go on endlessly behind the plot show the greed and deceptiveness of the human race, the controvercial issue of smoking, and the power of a person who has enough brains and money to get revenge underway. There were also various plots that showed how difficult yet easy it is to control a person as one wills to do so. As I read this book, I kept repeating over and over the same thought: how far can a person go to reach his or her goal? The only answer I could get for the question from reading this book was simple: very far.


I enjoyed reading this book a lot, and I hope the next book would be as equally or more fun than this one.