A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini focuses on the story of Mariam, a young girl living with her mother in the heart of Afghanistan. Mariam and her relationship with her father Jalil is revealed, and we see how they treat each other. Mariam decides to take her father with her to see a commercial but he bails out, when she decides to return home, she finds that her mom has hung herself. I believe the author's intent s to show the change in emotion in Mariam. Although Mariam is a "harami" or bastard child, her father seems to care and devote time to her. However, after leavings Mariam at the movies and her mother hanging herself, he appears to be an illegitimate father. Hosseini displays a theme of looking at every situation from a different perspective. Khaled Hosseini writes in a way that is generally sullen and reflective, with an undertone of happiness. The beginning of the book shows the two sides of Mariam, a suffering child with her depressed mother, and a girl living a fanciful carefree life with Jalil.

New Yorker article on Choke

Choke, one of many novels by Chuck Palahniuk, tells the story of a Colonial theme park employee, desperately seeking attention and acceptance. The story follows Victor Mancini, a sex addicted lunatic, who uses choking in restaurants as a way of becoming close to people, using their sympathy to his advantage. Victor visits his mother who is in a mental hospital for Alzheimer’s, trying to make her remember him, yet every time failing. He continually remembers his childhood, and looks back on his relationship with his deranged mother. Victor begins an affair with his mother’s doctor and finds that he has the capability to love. However, will he be able to give himself to love and be able to take care of his mother?

Choke Trailer

From the author of Fight Club and Lullaby, comes Choke. A dark comedy about family relationships, sex addiction and how to work at a colonial theme park.

“The way to remember the symptoms of melanoma is the letters ABCD. Asymmetrical shape, Border irregularity, Color variation and Diameter larger than about six millimeters”-Victor Mancini

A story about a medical school drop out with a peculiar addiction…

“The magic of sex is it’s an acquisition without the burden of possessions. No matter how many women you take home, there’s never a storage problem.”

And a mother on the edge of insanity…

“The diseases a mother can pass to her baby are TORCH: Toxoplasmosis, Other (meaning syphilis and HIV), Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes. It helps if you can picture a mother passing the torch to her baby.”-Victor Mancini

“What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all of my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.”-Victor Mancini

Coming to a theater near you…

“Just keep asking yourself: ’What would Jesus NOT do?’”-Victor Mancini

Cast for Choke

Victor Mancini-James Roday

Ida J. Mancini- Meryl Streep

Cherry Daiquiri- Elisha Cuthbert

Paige Marshall- Mandy Moore

Denny- Seth Rogen

Outside Reading Book

I chose to read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. I decided to read this book because I have read a lot of his other books that I have really enjoyed (Fight Club, Lullaby), and this one looked intriguing.

Visual Presention of Voice in The Kite Runner

Analytical quote from The Kite Runner

From The Kite Runner:
“If this were one of the Hindi movies Hassan and I used to watch, this was the part where I’d run outside, my bare feet splashing rainwater. I’d chase the car, screaming for it to stop. I’d pull Hassan out of the backseat and tell him I was sorry, so sorry, my tears mixing with rainwater. We’d hug in the downpour. But this was no Hindi movie. I was sorry, but I didn’t cry and I didn’t chase the car. I watched Baba’s car pull away from the curb, taking with it the person whose first spoken word had been my name. I caught one final blurry glimpse of Hassan slumped in the backseat before Baba turned left at the street corner where we’d played marbles so many times.
I stepped back and all I saw was rain through windowpanes that looked like melting silver.” (108-109)

This quote really speaks to the voice of the book because of the tone and diction Hosseini uses. The way he describes the rain and the environment closely relates to the emotions of the characters. It is almost ironic that it is raining and stormy outside, while such a sad event is occurring. This is a major turning point in the book and the way Hosseini describes it makes the reader completely involved in the book. When he says, “my tears were mixing with rainwater” it painted an image of the despair that Amir shows for Hassan leaving. The reference to the Hindi movies ties in this quote to the rest of the story and creates Amir’s fantasy life. Hosseini continually reflects on past experiences between Hassan and Amir, many times during the book. The tone of his writing is always very melancholy and deep, even when he is talking about joyful things. This creates a very serious but understanding theme of the book. This style of writing causes the reader to connect their life experiences to the book.

Interview with Khaled Hosseini

Interview with Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner:

O: Its great to be speaking with you Mr. Hosseini. You've just written a new novel called The Kite Runner. Could you tell us a little bit about the plot of the book?

KH: Thank you very much, I'm glad to be here too. The novel is set partly in Afghanistan, and partly in the U.S. It follows the story of a boy who witnesses a horrible crime while "running" a kite in the annual kite festival. He soon moves to the United States with his father and begins his life there in the Bay Area.

O: What was the overall message you were trying to convey in telling this boy's story?

KH: I was trying to show the convictions and attitudes of different cultures. I closely related my own personal experience with that of the main character, Amir. I was born and raised in Afghanistan and moved to the U.S. in 1980, just as Amir is in the book. By making this deep connection with the character, I was able to convey his emotions and outlooks much more sophisticated, as apposed to if i had no emotional connection to the character at all.

O: I understand that in the beginning of the book, Amir witnesses an extremely difficult scene involving his best friend Hassan. How does the beginning of the book affect the rest of the novel?

KH: I chose to show the reader that scene in the beginning to show where Amir gets his character from. That scene is what truly changes who he is, and his entire life. The tone of the novel becomes much more melancholy after Amir and his father leave Afghanistan because of the war. However the idea of hope, is always present throughout the entire book.

O: Was it your own childhood that inspired the character Amir?

KH: It was definitely a large part of it. He was a very haunted character and i saw so many people like him, scarred by the images of war and suffering. I wanted to show in The Kite Runner, that no matter what or where people go in life they always know and respect their roots. Respect is something that is one of my greatest ideals, respect for ones possessions, respect for ones ideals, and respect for ones country. A saying that i truly believe in is "home is where the heart is". Where you grow up, and grow into the person you will be for the rest of your life is eternally sacred.

O: Why is Hassan so important to Amir in the book? Even after Amir tried his hardest to push him away?

KH: Friendship, brotherhood, are extremely imporant in all cultures, especially in Afghanistan. Amir sounds so harsh to Hassan, because he loves him so much that he can't accept what has been done to him with his recognition. Guilt and Forgiveness are two main themes in this book. Constantly people are doing wrong, and then forgiving. One example is when Amir hides money under Hassan's mattress and blames it on him so that his father will send Hassan and his father away. Surprisingly, Amir's father forgive him because of their strong relationship. Without the hope of forgiveness, many of us would be very lost in this world.

O: Well it has been so great to have you here today! I hear that they have made a motion picture of The Kite Runner! Are you pleased with it?

KH: Yes, very much so! The actors they cast are extraordinary. It follows the book very closely and the visual just brings out so much more emotion. I would highly recommend seeing it.

O: Thanks for being with us today Mr. Hosseini!

KH: Thank you for having me.

O: Here is a link for the trailer for The Kite Runner, in select theaters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm5e6AqrNF8