I picked up this book because after I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns I could not wait to get my hands on another one of Khaled Hosseini's writings. And once I began it, I fell in love again with Hosseini's modern story telling composed of his beautiful diction and simplistic syntax. This book often appears on the AP Literature free response exam. Now think about this, the Kite Runner was published in 2003. The majority of the books on this exam are from the 1800s or 1900s. No, not this one. 2003. That should tell you how literary acclaimed this book is. I simply can not praise it enough. When I go back and think about the events in the book I am at a loss for words. I cannot do this book justice.
    This book is set in Afghanistan during the time period the Taliban ruled. Ultimately, this novel tells the tale of two boyhood friends who grew up together. One was a servant, the other the servant's master. They shared a bond that could not be broken. The story is told from the view point of Amir, the master of the servant. Naturally, one would think that it would be hard for the boys to have such a special friendship due to the fact that their societal statuses are at complete different ends of the spectrum. It would also be easy to assume that Hassan, the servant to Amir would be jealous towards Amir's extravagant life. However, it is the other way around. Amir never says he is jealous, but it is inferred through his dynamic character.
    Anyway, Hassan always seems to be sticking up for Amir. He often says for you Amir, "a thousand times over." Until one day when Amir witnesses something being done to Hassan that is detestable, but Amir does not swoop in and try to save Hassan. Here, the guilt sets in. Amir becomes an insomniac. He has this huge surge of guilt for a friend that was so loyal to him and he could not even step in and stand up for Hassan who has always been there for Amir. This causes a life of guilt. Until Amir learns how to be good again. There is always a way to be good again. This story is not about being a "perfect" person because no one is perfect and no one is good 24 hours a day, seven says a week, 52 weeks out of the year. This story is about loyalty to true friends, how special bonds are never broken no matter the distance between them, and how no matter the circumstances, there is a way to be good again. You just have to find it.

Some of my favorite quotes from The Kite Runner :

“There is a way to be good again...”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

"Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“And this is what I want you to understand, that good, real good, was born out of your father's remorse. Sometimes, I thing everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, that I'd stood there and done nothing. He knew that I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. ”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“For you, a thousand times over”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."
--Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

"Miriam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Miriam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings.”
--Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

"Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope.”
--Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

“But the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her.”
--Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns


“Each snowflake was a sigh heard by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. All the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how women suffer.”
--Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

        I choose to read A Thousand Splendid Suns because I have heard nothing but praise for Khaled Hosseini. I can not even put into words how captivating this novel is. It consumed my life for three days. Every night I could not wait to get home to pick up where I left off. It is a beautiful story of hardships, coping, destruction and through it all: hope.
        This is story set in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Through that small time frame a lot happened in this country. Different rulers came and went, leaders were assassinated, towns destroyed, innocent civilians killed and hearts broken. The novel is centered around two women, Mariam and Laila. I do not want to go into too much detail without giving spoilers. But in a nutshell, Mariam and Laila share a husband. At first Mariam feels resentment towards Laila because she has no intentions of sharing Rasheed (husband). What comes next is unexpected, yet it will last forever, Laila and Mariam find an unbreakable bond. They rely on each other to make it through the day, the week, the year. Together they deal with Rasheed's outbursts and beatings. They deal with what it means to be a woman in Afghanistan. And they deal with hardships no mother would want to go through. Somehow, through it all, they find hope.
        Just when you think Hosseini is done toying with your emotions, he does it again. He will make you laugh, cry, have empathy, allow you to find hope and in the end makes you realize what it means to be human. He reminds how all humans want the same things, and no matter the circumstances all humans are beyond resilient. He forces you to realize that everything that happens in life, good or bad, still advances life forward and no matter the situation you are dealt, there is always hope for those who keep pushing forward.

        While looking for a next great read I came across Wide Sargasso Sea. I had never heard of this novel before, but I saw that it appeared quite a few times on the AP Literature exam. I looked up a description of the book and went to the library immediately. For those of you who had read Jane Eyre and fallen in love with it, have you often wondered Mr. Rochester's wife life story? Well, that is exactly what Wide Sargasso Sea does. From the beginning of her life, to her time at Thornfield Hall, Jean Rhys, from the point of view of Bertha (the crazy lady) and Mr. Rochester, tells their story.
        Initially reading Jane Eyre, I completely thought Bertha was insane. Until I read this prequel, I did not even think about understanding Mrs. Rochester's point of view. And oh, how things changed. Antoinette (Bertha) grew up in the Caribbean with her mother. Her father often left them because he did not like where they lived and his peers threw insults at him for marrying Antoinette's mother, a Martinique girl. So right from the get go Antoinette grew up in a not so ideal situation. It would be reasonable to say that perhaps a  psychologist could have diagnosed early on that someday Antoinette would follow in her mother's footsteps. And as you all can infer, she did. But that is not why I fell in love with this book or felt a great sense of sympathy for Antoinette.
        I loved her dynamic character because she saw the world in a way that no one else did. She saw the natural beauty of the Caribbean islands, the flowers, waterfalls, the sun rising and setting. While everyone else was complaining how hot it was or how England was much prettier. She lived in the moment. Money was never important to her. Early on it was evident that she figured out that money can do nothing but create destruction. Even though everyone believed her to be crazy, she believed them to be insane because they let their thoughts reside in silly, unimportant manners. At the end of the novel, at Thornfield Hall, Bertha snuck out of her room in the attic once again and wandered into the study, noticed all of the fancy decor and said, "Then I heard a clock ticking and it was made of gold. Gold is the idol they worship," (Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys, 111). Telling the point of view from Bertha exploited the beliefs of everyone else and maybe, just maybe Mrs. Bertha Rochester was the sane one.