Almost like a Hindi movie

Family, fate, betrayal, friendship, redemption, Talibans... they sum up The Kite Runner. I mentioned that I cried in the 1st quarter of the story. Entering the 2nd quarter onwards, life settled into monotonousness. Life went on, boringly, until one phone call. A phone call which Amir dreads to answer. A phone call which is long overdue. A phone call that offers redemption.......... *jeng**jeng**jeng*

I have to say that reading it was almost like watching a Hindi movie. No, there wasn't any chasing and running around trees. Neither did anyone break into singing nor the dance troupe forming all of a sudden. Just a lot of drama. A lot of times I was caught in startles, going, "Oh, no... no..," and "That can't be it...," and "Is that him...........*long pause*..." Yups, a lot of drama.

But I love all the drama Hosseini created. I love him most for the way he shed light into the lives of Afghans before and during the Taliban regime. Full of brutality and insanity. Once again, it tells me how one country's unity and harmony could easily be jeopardised by some nonsensical believes.

Breathtaking

I've finished The Kite Runner. Man, I'm very sleepy now. I stayed up for 2 nights reading it.

Again, I will only sing praises to this piece of masterpiece. It's brilliant. One of its kind. Breathtaking.

I'll do more writing later. I really need to sleep now.

And Werns, don't worry, I won't be a spoiler lar.

Pre-review: The Kite Runner

I classify myself as an emotional reader. And I earned myself another star to this self-ranked category. At page 71 of The Kite Runner, I found myself wiping snot and tears off my face, and that's not even a quarter of the book.

Perhaps I'm not all that much emotional... but it's undeniably true that Khaled Hosseini is a great storyteller. A vivid one, of course. There aren't many books which I've read (or reading) that makes me think aloud - 'No, don't do that', 'Oh no, no, no, no...', 'Be a man!' And this is also one of the few rare books which I bring along in my car trips. That's how great this book is.

And like any great story, it comes with the elements of 'common expectations'. There's an unsung hero, which is pretty expected; the villain, another give away; the betrayal, like any other stories. But what makes this awfully great is a dose of 'bad things happen to good people' element. I hear you groaning, "I, too, can write a novel then" But hey, hear me out.

In this story - 'bad things happen to good people'. The 'bad things' which will rouse great contempt to the characters in the book. But what is most heart wrenching is when you see a servant boy whom had pledge lifetime loyalty to his master being betrayed by his cowardice master. I felt like jumping into the story and boxing him. I can't tell you more than this. I still have a lot more to go.

Though I'm only almost finishing half the book, I can assuredly tell you that you won't want to stop reading it. And I can only imagine how much more vivid the movie would be. Cherie said that she cried a few times watching it. I can't wait...

The Killing Field

Many would know by now that I've this thing for Cambodia. Not because she's poor, but more so of the lives that were affected by the Khmer Rouge regime. And these are the lives that I can put faces to. I know too many Cambodians to make me understand the intensity of the damage war had done.

There's no better movie that I can recommend to you to just have a glimpse of what happened in the 1970s - The Killing Fields.

The Diary of a Young Girl

"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again."

"Is discord going to show itself while we are still fighting, is the Jew once again worth less than another? Oh, it is sad, very sad, that once more, for the umpteenth time, the old truth is confirmed: What one Christian does is his own responsibility, what one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews."

Such mind blowing, deep and sensible quotes were pieced together by a young fourteen-year-old during WWII. Those who have watched Freedom Writers are no strangers to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.


I'd just finished reading this book. It's one of the most heart-rending piece of writing that had moved me. Reading her diary reminded me of my teenage years, and the heart issues we had to deal with - family, ambitions, emotions, best friends, siblings and boys - was not that different. Of course she had it the harder way.

Anne, a jew, was 12+ when WWII began and her family went on a hide-out for 2 years escaping death from the Nazis. At 12, like most teenage girls, she started her first diary, penning down her deepest thoughts and most intimate secrets, and didn't stop until the Secret Annexe was busted.

As I read her diary, there's this curiosity and eagerness wanting to know what next. Towards the end of the diary, Anne was noticeably more mature and hopeful especially it was almost the end of war. Always misunderstood, she was finally able to grasp hold of adulthood and was beginning to get it right. Her relationship was also blossoming, not just with the only young male in the hide-out but with her family as well.

And when I finally reach the end, I regretted knowing it. The Franks (except her father) and Van Danns (another family who shared the hide-out) were so close to surviving. Following a tip-off, their hide-out was busted. They were the last batch whom were sent to the concentration camp. Too dampening.

Her death was perhaps inevitable but to learn how she died especially in the heights of her optimism left a bitter after taste. It further raged me learning about another life having to suffer the inhumanity of war in the name of justice by a certain someone.

Nevertheless, it's a good read. And I'm glad to have read it.

I'm home

I'm back. And I actually missed home for the first time being away. I do travel a bit but i hardly miss home. This time, i anticipated for the day to fly home. I was thrilled being on the plane home. Not to mention, for the first time in my travelling with AirAsia, I touched down KL 30 minutes earlier than expected.

Sorry (especially to Werns) for not updating any earlier. I've been busy. It's been crazy for the past 2 months, and it is still as crazy now. It's between works, mission trip, meetings, works, exams, etc. To be honest, I haven't had time to recollect myself.

All in all, I'm glad that I'm home. And oh, I got myself the Kite Runner. Can't wait to dwell on it.