"This country is not kind to invaders..." - 'The Kite Runner' Review...
Posted on December 14, 2007 - 2:29pm by michael
First of all, the hype about the novel version of
The Kite Runner was wildly over-blown, and sadly, the movie is just as disappointing as the book. Most of the novel is outstanding, but it completely falls off a cliff at the end, and then closes with a happily-ever-after ending that seems just as tacked-on as the worst of the Hollywood offenders. True, the movie is remarkably faithful to the novel, but the whole story, especially because of the cartoonish confrontation at the end, gives me the feeling that it is little more than a childish revenge fantasy which is only legitimized because author Khaled Hosseini really can write.
I was an English major when I was in college, and one of the things that I noticed in any creative writing class that I ever took was that, because almost every single person wrote stories starring themselves (as Hosseini has clearly done and like, for example, Stephen King almost always does), many of them wrote stories about something bad that happened to them, in which they augmented the wrong committed against them and then issued a perfectly planned and executed retribution against their offender. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you have with
The Kite Runner.
Now, I won't say that Hosseini was bullied as a child and lived in a harsh environment and therefore wrote a heroic story about that. Indeed, the setting in Afghanistan and the oppressive atmosphere is both well-presented and an important, real life issue. But when the Taliban appears and starts stoning adulterous women to death in front of packed stadiums and bad guys parade little boys around in make-up and get shot in the eye with sling-shots, then it all becomes clear what's really going on.
The story is about the very different lives of two young boys named Amir and Hassan living in Afghanistan long before 9/11 completely changed the modern world. They come from completely different social classes (Hassan's father is a servant who works for Amir's father) but have not reached the point in life where such things matter. Personality issues are noticed and worried about by their parents, and ultimately result in a tragic thing happening to Hassan, which is made even worse by Amir's selfish and heartless reaction.
20 years later, Amir is a rising author living in San Francisco with his wife when one day he receives a mysterious phone call urging him to go back to Afghanistan to right some of his wrongs from the past. It would be nice if we were all given such opportunities to go back and right wrongs from the past, but Amir's wrong was particularly catastrophic, so it's not unexpected that he is initially reluctant to go. But when he does go, it begins the movie's real journey of soul-searching and redemption.
I remember that the novel was extremely popular when it was released and I remember being at a loss to explain the fame after I read it. It is indeed a page-turner, but it has an unfortunately combination of amazingly realistic descriptions and situations with goofy, over-blown movie villains that gives the whole thing a feeling of being an artificial contraption drummed up by someone trying to make his way into the writing business. But hey, Hosseini has succeeded in making the artificial successful twice now, so maybe it's me who should take some advice. But I think it would be difficult for anyone to argue that Hosseini has succeeded as much in the quality of his story-telling as he has in the
business of story-telling. In that regard, this is definitely a success story!
I also feel like a lot of people are going to pick up on the arrogance of presenting America as this holy land, a paradise on earth where all you have to do is get there and everything will be okay. Of course, it is true of the little boy living under the iron fist of the Taliban, but it's that kind of thinking that has gotten America into a lot of trouble in the past. And I also love how Amir, our hero, goes to Afghanistan but doesn't know enough not to stare at a passing pickup truck full of bearded guys holding AK-47's. Smart.
Note:
The Kite Runner, both the film and novel versions, emerged to glowing critical reviews. Many critics gleefully predicted that the movie would be a major presence at the Oscars. It wasn't until I saw that it was completely absent that I started to feel like I wasn't the only person who was unimpressed...
The Bean Meter
[caption id="attachment_24665" align="aligncenter" width="222" caption="3 Beans out of 5."]
[/caption]
First of all, the hype about the novel version of The Kite Runner was wildly over-blown, and sadly, the movie is just as disappointing as the book. Most of the novel is outstanding, but it completely falls off a cliff at the end, and then closes with a happily-ever-after ending that seems just as tacked-on as the worst of the Hollywood offenders. True, the movie is remarkably faithful to the novel, but the whole story, especially because of the cartoonish confrontation at the end, gives me the feeling that it is little more than a childish revenge fantasy which is only legitimized because author Khaled Hosseini really can write.
I was an English major when I was in college, and one of the things that I noticed in any creative writing class that I ever took was that, because almost every single person wrote stories starring themselves (as Hosseini has clearly done and like, for example, Stephen King almost always does), many of them wrote stories about something bad that happened to them, in which they augmented the wrong committed against them and then issued a perfectly planned and executed retribution against their offender. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you have with The Kite Runner.
Now, I won't say that Hosseini was bullied as a child and lived in a harsh environment and therefore wrote a heroic story about that. Indeed, the setting in Afghanistan and the oppressive atmosphere is both well-presented and an important, real life issue. But when the Taliban appears and starts stoning adulterous women to death in front of packed stadiums and bad guys parade little boys around in make-up and get shot in the eye with sling-shots, then it all becomes clear what's really going on. 
The story is about the very different lives of two young boys named Amir and Hassan living in Afghanistan long before 9/11 completely changed the modern world. They come from completely different social classes (Hassan's father is a servant who works for Amir's father) but have not reached the point in life where such things matter. Personality issues are noticed and worried about by their parents, and ultimately result in a tragic thing happening to Hassan, which is made even worse by Amir's selfish and heartless reaction.
20 years later, Amir is a rising author living in San Francisco with his wife when one day he receives a mysterious phone call urging him to go back to Afghanistan to right some of his wrongs from the past. It would be nice if we were all given such opportunities to go back and right wrongs from the past, but Amir's wrong was particularly catastrophic, so it's not unexpected that he is initially reluctant to go. But when he does go, it begins the movie's real journey of soul-searching and redemption.
I remember that the novel was extremely popular when it was released and I remember being at a loss to explain the fame after I read it. It is indeed a page-turner, but it has an unfortunately combination of amazingly realistic descriptions and situations with goofy, over-blown movie villains that gives the whole thing a feeling of being an artificial contraption drummed up by someone trying to make his way into the writing business. But hey, Hosseini has succeeded in making the artificial successful twice now, so maybe it's me who should take some advice. But I think it would be difficult for anyone to argue that Hosseini has succeeded as much in the quality of his story-telling as he has in the business of story-telling. In that regard, this is definitely a success story!
I also feel like a lot of people are going to pick up on the arrogance of presenting America as this holy land, a paradise on earth where all you have to do is get there and everything will be okay. Of course, it is true of the little boy living under the iron fist of the Taliban, but it's that kind of thinking that has gotten America into a lot of trouble in the past. And I also love how Amir, our hero, goes to Afghanistan but doesn't know enough not to stare at a passing pickup truck full of bearded guys holding AK-47's. Smart.
Note: The Kite Runner, both the film and novel versions, emerged to glowing critical reviews. Many critics gleefully predicted that the movie would be a major presence at the Oscars. It wasn't until I saw that it was completely absent that I started to feel like I wasn't the only person who was unimpressed...
The Bean Meter
[caption id="attachment_24665" align="aligncenter" width="222" caption="3 Beans out of 5."]
