Hi
I thought it would be interesting to know which character each of you took most liking to in the Kite Runner, my favourite was definitely Hassan.
The way his mind works, the size of his heart, his loyalty to Amir...It's almost as if he's the perfect person.
I find it quite hard to describe why I like him so much, I think the part of the book in which I was most impressed by him is when he is confronted by Baba because of the watch he supposedly stole and he admits his guilt, even though he is not guilty. What kind of person would do that? He risked everything he had just so Amir could have things his way and on top of all that never held any type of grudge against him. Later on in the story, Sohrab tells Amir that Hassan always described him as "the best friend he ever had in his life" when Amir wasn't even always a true friend to him.
I am truly fascinated by this character and honestly believe that if we all had some Hassan in us, we would live in a much better place.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
What i thought about Kite Runner
Well i have to admit that i wasn't very thrilled about reading a novel about Afghanistan, besides i hate to read something i was "forced" to. The first few chapters went really slowly, i wasn't enjoying it that much but then the story started to get compelling. Not only the plot was getting better and better but it also shed some light in what Afghanistan used to be, since i always thought that the country was a pit hole full of Talibans and people shooting each other (i know this is a very narrow minded point of view but this is what i got from the media, and besides i couldn't care less about a country thousands of miles away from ours), this led me to research more about pre-Russian invasion of the country and get a little more in touch with the culture, right now i feel sympathy to what that people lost in the course of the years.
Returning to the main plot of the book, i can ramble about at will since we all read the book and there will be no spoilers. I think that the fact that Hassan and Amir were brothers was a juicy one, this was the next step in their strong bonds, and the way the novel comes full circle at the end is really a work of art. The novel is so full of symbolism and every action seems to be balanced by another one along the course of the story, i don't know if this was on purpose or it is only Khalled way of writing, but he did a wonderful work.
Returning to the main plot of the book, i can ramble about at will since we all read the book and there will be no spoilers. I think that the fact that Hassan and Amir were brothers was a juicy one, this was the next step in their strong bonds, and the way the novel comes full circle at the end is really a work of art. The novel is so full of symbolism and every action seems to be balanced by another one along the course of the story, i don't know if this was on purpose or it is only Khalled way of writing, but he did a wonderful work.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Kite Runner:I think that...
This is the second time I read The Kite Runner! The first time I've read it in Italian and the translation was very good. Of course reading it in the original version was very better!
Despite I prefer the second book by Khaled Hosseini “A thousand splendid Suns”; I think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. That’s because Khaled Hosseini succeeded to give his book a suspense rhythm that drives the reader to read it as quick as possible to know what is going to happen in the end(I’ve read it in just 4 days!) ! What I’ve appreciated more in his style are that sudden narrative interruptions fulfilled with the description of a dream or of his thoughts, so similar to James Joyce’s “stream of consciousness”.
I find the book very useful from a socio-cultural point of view because it testify a country unknown by Occidental society: the Afghanistan before the Soviet war and Taliban regime, with no Islamic fundamentalism, where it was still possible to decide of their own lives, where was still very common to meet women doctors or teachers, where most children attended school. In this sense, the book is an important contribution to rebuild a positive image of the country going over stereotypes.
The relationship between Amir and Hassan remind me the novel by Mark Twain “The Prince and the Poor Boy” without happy ending.That’s an other thing I loved!No happy ending ,just a smile, a light of hope that in my opinion, symbolizes the same faded smile of Afghan children that haven’t seen a way out yet but only a little bright of hope.
Of course my favorite character is Hassan. I was amazed by his bravery, his deep sense of loyalty and friendship, his tendency to forgiveness and I remained strongly shocked in reading the part where he was abused. But I’ve also been involved in Amir’s suffering, in his longing for his father attention and love, in his fears. It made me thought about how some feelings are the same in the entire world and in every culture.
The most interesting thing I’ve discovered thanks to the book, is kite flying. I’ve never heard anything about it and I find it isn’t just a sport but also a challenge with nature, with the ache caused by a blooding finger, with the wind...a great challenge! It made me wish to have a kite to fly and to defy my own challenge...
Despite I prefer the second book by Khaled Hosseini “A thousand splendid Suns”; I think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. That’s because Khaled Hosseini succeeded to give his book a suspense rhythm that drives the reader to read it as quick as possible to know what is going to happen in the end(I’ve read it in just 4 days!) ! What I’ve appreciated more in his style are that sudden narrative interruptions fulfilled with the description of a dream or of his thoughts, so similar to James Joyce’s “stream of consciousness”.
I find the book very useful from a socio-cultural point of view because it testify a country unknown by Occidental society: the Afghanistan before the Soviet war and Taliban regime, with no Islamic fundamentalism, where it was still possible to decide of their own lives, where was still very common to meet women doctors or teachers, where most children attended school. In this sense, the book is an important contribution to rebuild a positive image of the country going over stereotypes.
The relationship between Amir and Hassan remind me the novel by Mark Twain “The Prince and the Poor Boy” without happy ending.That’s an other thing I loved!No happy ending ,just a smile, a light of hope that in my opinion, symbolizes the same faded smile of Afghan children that haven’t seen a way out yet but only a little bright of hope.
Of course my favorite character is Hassan. I was amazed by his bravery, his deep sense of loyalty and friendship, his tendency to forgiveness and I remained strongly shocked in reading the part where he was abused. But I’ve also been involved in Amir’s suffering, in his longing for his father attention and love, in his fears. It made me thought about how some feelings are the same in the entire world and in every culture.
The most interesting thing I’ve discovered thanks to the book, is kite flying. I’ve never heard anything about it and I find it isn’t just a sport but also a challenge with nature, with the ache caused by a blooding finger, with the wind...a great challenge! It made me wish to have a kite to fly and to defy my own challenge...
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Kite Runner, what did you think?
Hey all
I read the Kite Runner a few months ago and just finished flicking through it in order for it to be fresh in my memory.
Despite it not being among my favourite book of all time list, I enjoyed the book very much. It is very well written and very easy to read, these are two qualities which I think are quite hard to find in the same book.
Khaled Hosseini is a fabulous story teller, he managed to put so much feeling into the book and makes you wonder if his real name is Amir. He also manages to pass that feeling onto the reader -- The frustration of feeling neglected by Baba, the guilt which consumed him after the Assef/Hassan episode, the will to bring Sohrab back home -- I felt all of that as I read the story, and so did my girlfriend. After I finished the book, she started reading it and sometimes I would come home to find her on my bed reading and she would tell me to shut up as soon as I opened my mouth, as if my house was some kind of library; I also caught her crying once, that is how deep Hosseini managed to involve his readers.
The fact that it portrays pre-war and post-war Afghanistan is of great significance to me. There were a lot of things I did not know like the tradition of kite flying and fighting, the "inferiorism" of the Hazaras, even the existent adoption policies. It all made me feel extremely lucky for living where I live and extremely stupid for the many times I have complained about the way I live. And Hassan...wow... I did not know it possible for someone to have such a big heart, even if it is a fictional character we are talking about.
I guess I can say that The Kite Runner made me think a bit more about life, on how, no matter what, someone will always have it worse than me and still manage to smile and on how I should make the most of the things I have and many people do not.
What did you think?
I read the Kite Runner a few months ago and just finished flicking through it in order for it to be fresh in my memory.
Despite it not being among my favourite book of all time list, I enjoyed the book very much. It is very well written and very easy to read, these are two qualities which I think are quite hard to find in the same book.
Khaled Hosseini is a fabulous story teller, he managed to put so much feeling into the book and makes you wonder if his real name is Amir. He also manages to pass that feeling onto the reader -- The frustration of feeling neglected by Baba, the guilt which consumed him after the Assef/Hassan episode, the will to bring Sohrab back home -- I felt all of that as I read the story, and so did my girlfriend. After I finished the book, she started reading it and sometimes I would come home to find her on my bed reading and she would tell me to shut up as soon as I opened my mouth, as if my house was some kind of library; I also caught her crying once, that is how deep Hosseini managed to involve his readers.
The fact that it portrays pre-war and post-war Afghanistan is of great significance to me. There were a lot of things I did not know like the tradition of kite flying and fighting, the "inferiorism" of the Hazaras, even the existent adoption policies. It all made me feel extremely lucky for living where I live and extremely stupid for the many times I have complained about the way I live. And Hassan...wow... I did not know it possible for someone to have such a big heart, even if it is a fictional character we are talking about.
I guess I can say that The Kite Runner made me think a bit more about life, on how, no matter what, someone will always have it worse than me and still manage to smile and on how I should make the most of the things I have and many people do not.
What did you think?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Group task: Kite Fighting and Kite Running
Afghan kite fighting often depends on the quality of the wire, or string, and how it is prepared. First, glass is finely ground and combined with an adhesive to make a thick paste. The wire is then coated with this paste to make it strong and sharp. After drying, the wire is wound around the spool. Kite fighters often wrap a piece of leather around their fingers to protect themselves from the sharp wire, which can easily cut to the bone.
Fighter kites are, as the name suggests, the kites used for the sport of kite fighting. There are many types of fighter kites which are usually named after the geographical area where they are created: Afghan Fighter Kite, Pakistani Fighter Kite, Indian Fighter Kite, etc. Most of these kites are single line flat kites that are unstable while there is little tension on the sail of the kite. Releasing line will cause the kite to spin and pulling in the line will cause the kite to deform into a shape that allows it to track in a straight path. To control the kite, the fliers have to release line until the nose of the kite is pointed in the direction that the flier wants it to go, and then they will pull in line to make the kite track to the desired point in the air.
Fighter kites are made of either extremely fragile tissue paper, or heavier more durable mylar fabric. They come in many colours, shapes, and sizes and cost from 2,000 Afghanis (just a few cents) to 100,000 Afghanis (around 2 dollars, but I imagine it’s quite a bit of money for Afghanis). Kite flyers stand on tops of buildings, fighting with kites from all over the city. The purpose is to strike down the kite of your opponent with the string of your kite. After an opponent’s kite is set free, it flutters away into the wind and that is when the kite runner steps up for action.
Kite running is the practice of running after drifting kites in the sky that have been cut loose in kite fighting. Kites are flown and fought in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and surrounding regions. The manja (string used to fly these kites) is coated with powdered glass. Kite flyers entangle the manja of their flying kites with each other and try to cut the string of the other by the pull or release method. The winner's kite remains flying while the loser's kite string is cut loose, drifting free with the wind until it falls to the ground. Kite running is the practice of running after these cut kites to try and capture them when they come down; typically the custom is that the person who captures a cut kite can keep it. Running after and capturing these kites is often quite difficult, especially when they are taken long distances with the wind or fall on tree tops or electric poles. In cities and towns, the bigger and more expensive looking the kite, the more people can usually be seen running after it to try and capture it as their free prize.
Several kite runners die each year gazing up and running after kites, being so fixated on the drifting kites in the sky that they run into the path of oncoming traffic and trains or fall from trees and buildings which they were trying to scale to get the kite that landed on it.
In order to have a kit fight, 2 kites have to be simultaneously airborne at a close proximity. As soon as the wires of these two kites make contact with each other, it means the fight has begun. Kite fights can last from a split second up to several hours. It all depends essentially on the wind, the difference in the quality of both kites and, of course, the kite fighter’s skill.
Most neighborhoods have their own Sharti (kite fighting champion, escalated to neighborhood representative). The Sharti title is given to the kite fighter with the less lost kite fights in the neighborhood. They are usually quite experienced and skillfull but, occasionally, even they lose, and this is generally a very big deal to the neighborhood (whose honor is at stake during the kite fight).
From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban government in Afghanistan outlawed kite fighting and kite flying by declaring it "un-Islamic". After the fall of the Taliban government, kite fighting has returned to the country with vigor. Nevertheless, bird lovers have declared all cutting line to be "deadly" and protest regularly against the sport. The truth is that thousands of birds get slashed, wounded and killed every year in most Afghan cities. But Manja (the glass powder coated string I mentioned earlier) is also very dangerous to human beings. Several people die every year because they get their necks cut by the manja, especially when in two wheelers like bicycles or motorbikes.
Under Taliban rule, whoever was caught with a kite would be beaten repetitively and the kite would be destroyed. However, since the fall of the Taliban regime, kite flying has again resurfaced and is much more than a hobby in Afghanistan, it’s an obsession that is shared throughout the entire country.
Fighter kites are, as the name suggests, the kites used for the sport of kite fighting. There are many types of fighter kites which are usually named after the geographical area where they are created: Afghan Fighter Kite, Pakistani Fighter Kite, Indian Fighter Kite, etc. Most of these kites are single line flat kites that are unstable while there is little tension on the sail of the kite. Releasing line will cause the kite to spin and pulling in the line will cause the kite to deform into a shape that allows it to track in a straight path. To control the kite, the fliers have to release line until the nose of the kite is pointed in the direction that the flier wants it to go, and then they will pull in line to make the kite track to the desired point in the air.
Fighter kites are made of either extremely fragile tissue paper, or heavier more durable mylar fabric. They come in many colours, shapes, and sizes and cost from 2,000 Afghanis (just a few cents) to 100,000 Afghanis (around 2 dollars, but I imagine it’s quite a bit of money for Afghanis). Kite flyers stand on tops of buildings, fighting with kites from all over the city. The purpose is to strike down the kite of your opponent with the string of your kite. After an opponent’s kite is set free, it flutters away into the wind and that is when the kite runner steps up for action.
Kite running is the practice of running after drifting kites in the sky that have been cut loose in kite fighting. Kites are flown and fought in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and surrounding regions. The manja (string used to fly these kites) is coated with powdered glass. Kite flyers entangle the manja of their flying kites with each other and try to cut the string of the other by the pull or release method. The winner's kite remains flying while the loser's kite string is cut loose, drifting free with the wind until it falls to the ground. Kite running is the practice of running after these cut kites to try and capture them when they come down; typically the custom is that the person who captures a cut kite can keep it. Running after and capturing these kites is often quite difficult, especially when they are taken long distances with the wind or fall on tree tops or electric poles. In cities and towns, the bigger and more expensive looking the kite, the more people can usually be seen running after it to try and capture it as their free prize.
Several kite runners die each year gazing up and running after kites, being so fixated on the drifting kites in the sky that they run into the path of oncoming traffic and trains or fall from trees and buildings which they were trying to scale to get the kite that landed on it.
In order to have a kit fight, 2 kites have to be simultaneously airborne at a close proximity. As soon as the wires of these two kites make contact with each other, it means the fight has begun. Kite fights can last from a split second up to several hours. It all depends essentially on the wind, the difference in the quality of both kites and, of course, the kite fighter’s skill.
Most neighborhoods have their own Sharti (kite fighting champion, escalated to neighborhood representative). The Sharti title is given to the kite fighter with the less lost kite fights in the neighborhood. They are usually quite experienced and skillfull but, occasionally, even they lose, and this is generally a very big deal to the neighborhood (whose honor is at stake during the kite fight).
From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban government in Afghanistan outlawed kite fighting and kite flying by declaring it "un-Islamic". After the fall of the Taliban government, kite fighting has returned to the country with vigor. Nevertheless, bird lovers have declared all cutting line to be "deadly" and protest regularly against the sport. The truth is that thousands of birds get slashed, wounded and killed every year in most Afghan cities. But Manja (the glass powder coated string I mentioned earlier) is also very dangerous to human beings. Several people die every year because they get their necks cut by the manja, especially when in two wheelers like bicycles or motorbikes.
Under Taliban rule, whoever was caught with a kite would be beaten repetitively and the kite would be destroyed. However, since the fall of the Taliban regime, kite flying has again resurfaced and is much more than a hobby in Afghanistan, it’s an obsession that is shared throughout the entire country.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Group task:Afghans Women
- Under the rule of Taliban, Afghan women could not work,go to school, leave their homes without being accompained by a male relative and had to keep themselves entirely covered
- by now the most important concerns are: revitalizing education, providing livelihood skills, improving health care
- 34% of 4 million Afghan children enrolled in school are girls
- 9% of them continue to secundary school
- these low rates are due to Islamic conservatorism and issues of affordability such as buying uniforms,books or paying school fees
- reopening primary schools is one of the goals of the Afghan Girls Fund(AGF)created by the National Geographic Society in partnership with the Asia Foundation
- another priority is to provide women livelihood skills, this problem is exacerbated by the fact that most Afghan women are widows and frequently the sole providers for their family
- Emergency has created for these women a social project aiming at giving them economic indipendence within their own communities
- most important is providing access to reproductive health care and training in nutrition, family planning and sanitation
- nearly 90% of births are unattended by any kind of health care workers and maternal mortality rate is the 2nd highest in the world
- 25% of children die before their 5th birthday and 50% of children under 5 years old present chronic malnutrition
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
to help Afghanistan
I would like to suggest to my blog mates visiting the web site of Emergency,an independent and neutral Italian organization founded in order to provide free, high quality medical and surgical treatment to the civilian victims of war and that is performing an important role in Afghanistan.His founder, Gino Strada also wrote a very interesting book about Afghanistan: Buskashì-Viaggio dentro la guerra,an important tool for analysis aimed at understanding and interpreting many of the events that have taken place in recent years.But I don't know if english version is avaible:-(
to know more just click on www.emergency.it
to know more just click on www.emergency.it
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Group Task
Hey all
Any inconvenience in meeting tomorrow at 14.00 hrs in the Associação de Estudantes so we can organize the group task? Let me know
Any inconvenience in meeting tomorrow at 14.00 hrs in the Associação de Estudantes so we can organize the group task? Let me know
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Kite Runner Research Project
Please refer to my post Research Project and Group Blogs to fnd out how to develop the task with The Kite Runner.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Welcome
Welcome, fellow classmates, to the fascinating world of....er...blogging.
Good loking Ferry, ice cream Jorge, la bella Barbara and hopefully Miguel (once I get hold of him) will be posting here. I still haven't figured out how to invite people to the blog but once I have I hope we can get things started (and celebrate the blog's grand opening with beer...errr...It seems like a good idea to me anyway).
I'd like to end this first post by quoting Eminem"And Jessica Simpson flew back to the Neverland Ranch with a peanutbutterjellychickentuna sandwich" -_- Sorry, i'm in too much of a good mood today.
Happy blogging
Good loking Ferry, ice cream Jorge, la bella Barbara and hopefully Miguel (once I get hold of him) will be posting here. I still haven't figured out how to invite people to the blog but once I have I hope we can get things started (and celebrate the blog's grand opening with beer...errr...It seems like a good idea to me anyway).
I'd like to end this first post by quoting Eminem"And Jessica Simpson flew back to the Neverland Ranch with a peanutbutterjellychickentuna sandwich" -_- Sorry, i'm in too much of a good mood today.
Happy blogging
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