Thursday, December 27, 2007
Reading Material
You may have noticed that Michener's novel Chesapeake was on my "Currently Reading" list in the right-hand sidebar for a loooong time. No, it was not an oversight. I read VERY slowly and Michener's novels are VERY long! But I love them, and I love to take my time with them and enjoy them thoroughly. Chesapeake is a wonderful novel. The story only covers about 400 years (some of his novels cover thousands!), and includes four main families that live on one particular river that feeds into the Chesapeake. I started the book when I was in Africa this summer. I figured that it was a great book to be reading when I had two 24-hour travel days going and coming back from Kenya, as well as any random times in between things while there. I read a lot during those two weeks, but didn't come near to finishing. I have continued to enjoy the book for the past several months, and finally finished it this weekend.
Thus, I began the book that you see now in the sidebar, The Kite Runner. I wanted to read that book in anticipation of seeing the movie. It is a very powerful book. It reads almost like an autobiography. I can't tell you how much the book makes me cry. And I can't even begin to describe to you how the book has been keeping me awake at night. Not that I'm sitting up late reading it (five days into reading it, I'll probably finish this evening) ... but that the story is SO upsetting to me that I have laid awake thinking about it. And believe me, I'm not a "lay awake nights" kind of person. I am typically asleep when I hit the pillow. But this book ...... well, let's just say that I'm not so sure I want to see the movie now. And my mother, the Librarian, says that if THIS story bothers me, then I probably shouldn't read the author's next book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which she says would upset me much more than this.
Without giving away any of the story, I guess I have to say that I am appalled at the things that human beings are capable of. And, so often, children are the victims.
I don't know if I would recommend either book. I loved Chesapeake, but if you don't like the epic aspect of Michener's novels, you won't like it (it's 1000 pages long!) And I know that The Kite Runner is a powerful novel. But you might not want to read it if you don't want to be upset.
I think that I need to find a happy book to read next...
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