reading is fundamental
“There is a way to be good again.”
– Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
I’ve been reading a lot more lately. It seems while I was drifting off the grid for awhile, I wasn’t finding much solace in the one thing that used to both let my imagination soar and restore the life to my roots. It turns out reading is fundamental – I’ve found two authors recently who seem to have opened up my brain and found the words that I frequently have difficulty forming.
Two books that were on my “to read” list have found permanent residency in my brain. With Bel Canto, Ann Patchett cleverly weaves in and out of the constructs of love, survival, longing, captivity and character. Throughout the development of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini comes back to the central quote (above) that memorably sets the stage for a tale of regret, forgiveness, conditional/unconditional love, loyalty, friendship and decency. The many ways in which Hosseini explores the realities of war – the physical deterioriation of Afghanistan itself and the emotional devastation caused by your own wars within yourself – is something painfully beautiful to behold.
I could go on and on about how much this book resonated with me while reading it, but the author’s own words below do far more to exemplify the universal truths that this tale of two boys from Afghanistan than anything I could conjure up. If you have a chance and the inclination, I would heartily recommend The Kite Runner as required reading.
"And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too."
"Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."
"War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace."
"Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything"
“I want to tear myself from this place, from this reality, rise up like a cloud and float away, melt into this humid summer night and dissolve somewhere far, over the hills. But I am here, my legs blocks of concrete, my lungs empty of air, my throat burning. There will be no floating away."
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
"It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.”
– Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
I’ve been reading a lot more lately. It seems while I was drifting off the grid for awhile, I wasn’t finding much solace in the one thing that used to both let my imagination soar and restore the life to my roots. It turns out reading is fundamental – I’ve found two authors recently who seem to have opened up my brain and found the words that I frequently have difficulty forming.
Two books that were on my “to read” list have found permanent residency in my brain. With Bel Canto, Ann Patchett cleverly weaves in and out of the constructs of love, survival, longing, captivity and character. Throughout the development of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini comes back to the central quote (above) that memorably sets the stage for a tale of regret, forgiveness, conditional/unconditional love, loyalty, friendship and decency. The many ways in which Hosseini explores the realities of war – the physical deterioriation of Afghanistan itself and the emotional devastation caused by your own wars within yourself – is something painfully beautiful to behold.
I could go on and on about how much this book resonated with me while reading it, but the author’s own words below do far more to exemplify the universal truths that this tale of two boys from Afghanistan than anything I could conjure up. If you have a chance and the inclination, I would heartily recommend The Kite Runner as required reading.
"And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too."
"Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."
"War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace."
"Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything"
“I want to tear myself from this place, from this reality, rise up like a cloud and float away, melt into this humid summer night and dissolve somewhere far, over the hills. But I am here, my legs blocks of concrete, my lungs empty of air, my throat burning. There will be no floating away."
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
"It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.”
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