ALONE!

Soooo, I recently finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni AGAIN!

As I was reading it this time around, the thought came to me that sometimes we must take a figuratively journey, and we must take it alone. We may go through something, life happens, and the only person who may be able to help us is us. Other people may be there for support, but sometimes we must take the journey alone, with a higher power, that some of us call God.

One of the main characters in The Kite Runner, Amir, was compelled to take a journey. On this journey he had support and even a few guides, but he had to take this journey alone; no one could walk it for him. On this journey he had to rely on himself, and he discovered a lot of things about himself like the fact he could stand up for himself and others and that he could face fear head on and survive. At the end of his journey, Amir was a changed man.

As I was reading about Amir, I thought a lot about Milkman, one of the main characters in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, who also had to take a journey, and he had to take it alone. Like Amir, Milkman had support and guides, but he had to take the journey alone in order to grow.

Once Amir and Milkman took their journeys, there seemed to be some type of shedding of skin along the way, and they both seem to grow new skin that came with happiness, peace, and even relief.

Now, I believe that if we learn and grow through the small lessons that life teaches, we will be well equipped for the journey that we must take alone. You know how sometimes we will try to avoid tough situations or blame other people when things happen? Well, doing these things do not allow growth to take place and therefore our alone journey may be tougher than it should be or may even take longer than it should.

I believe that life does prepare us for next if only we would heed the lessons alone the way.

So, I try to be mindful about what I put into my spirit, because what I put into my spirit, may be just what I have to rely on when I take my journey and take it alone....

Life Will Force Us To Grow.........Ohhhhh Boy!!!

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

One thing that I know for sure is that Khaled Hosseini is a master storyteller. He can tell a story that will leave an imprint on a reader's mind for quite a long time.

I remember when I read The Kite Runner many moons age, I was so moved by the characters, and it took me quite a long time to get them off of my mind. A Thousand Splendid Sun is a must read; this story is riveting and my heart went out to the women in this incredible story. And, Hosseini does the exact same thing in And The Mountains Echoed; he tells a darn good story.

There is a character, Pari, who was sold by her father to a husband and wife who could not have children. There was Pari's stepmother, Nila, whom I could identify with once I knew her story. There was Masooma's who was left paralyzed after a fall. There was, Nabi, the older brother of Pari, who arranged for Pari to to be sold.....

Khaled writes this books as if it is nine different tales with each tale told from a different characters perspective. Yep, I loved all of the characters' stories, but they were disjointed and left me wondering how did the stories fit together.

Individually, all nine chapters were great stories, but when I put them together, I am not sure if all of the pieces fit together.

Khaled is a great writer, and I enjoyed this book, but it left a little to be desired!!

However, I still think that it is a novel that definitely should be put on your reading list.

My next read is Local Girls by Alice Hoffman; why don't you join me?

If You Love Books and Authors....

then you may want to consider making it your business to attend the annual National Book Festival in DC!

The National Book Festival is always held in September on the National Mall. Upon arriving on the mall, there are sooooo many tents. Under the tents, there are authors talking about books, there are children coloring and talking about books, there are books that are for sale, and there are LOTS of authors signing their books... This wonderful festival is all about books and authors.

My love for books and authors is strong, and every time that I attend this festival, I can't contain my joy... I run, and laugh, and talk. Today, my coworker and friend, Rosa, who loves books and authors as much as I do, and I had a complete ball. We patiently waited in an extremely long line to get our books signed by none other than Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner. Then we hurried along to another tent to hear Hosseini talk about his books and his life... Oh how fascinating.

Of course while Rosa held our place in the autograph line, I scurried around to get autographs from other authors and to take as many picture as I could....

Joyce Carol Oates

Khalid Hosseini

William P. Jones

Juan Felipe Herrera

Alfredo Corchado

As I was walking to my car feeling completely happy and satisfied, I heard music, and I had to follow it RIGHT? Well, on Pennsylvania Avenue, a huge festival was going on to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and you know that I had to partake....

I LOVE where I live!!

Ok, back to the Book Festival.....

It is like the Grammy's or the Oscar's...All of the major writers are in attendance.

If you love books and authors, then you must put The National Book Festival on your calender!

A Thousand Splendid Suns AGAIN!

I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns a few minutes ago, and I must say that I love this novel more and more with each read. Tomorrow, I will start student led discussions on this novel, and I can't wait.

Today, my students turned in all of the preliminary work that I expect to be completed before we start a discussion on a novel. After collecting the work, we had a discussion about what they thought about the novel or anything else that they would like to discuss about this novel. One of the students stated something, I can't remember what right now, and one of my quiet thinkers started smiling. I turned to him and stated "What made you smile; do you have something that you want to say? He stated "I don't have anything to say, and I was smiling because you are so excited." Everybody, including me, started laughing, because it is true that I am very excited about A Thousand Splendid Sun.

As my students left the room, I told them that I wanted them to think about women and our roles in the world.

This novels never fails to make me think about the life of a woman and how much we can endure and how much we should not have to endure. The women in this novel were faced with so many adversities, and they were able to stand boldly and move forward in spite of all that they went through. (I want to start a women's revolution all over the world! Really..)

There are some women, such as the women in some parts of Afghanistan, who have to take the oppression because it is dictated by the law. However, there are other women in countries, like the United States, who are oppressed and sometimes it is self-inflicted by things that we allow into our lives.

You know that I love freedom, but I am not speaking of the freedom of being a single woman, I am talking about the freedom to make decisions for myself, the decision to be able to state what I like and don't like, the freedom to chose my career etc. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a reminder that not all women have freedom of the mind and/or body, and there is not much that they can do about it but maybe start a revolution.

"Freedom IS a beautiful thing!"

If you want to read just a good, old-fashioned story, then this is the book for you.

I can't wait to discuss this novel with my students and read their essays on this novel.

You must read A Thousand Splendid Suns!

Before I go to bed tonight, I am going to started reading The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. This book was recommended by my friend, T. Smith, who is one of the most well-read brothers that I know. So, you should get this book, and join me in reading it. If T. Smith recommended it, then it is a must read.

Happy Monday!!!!

The Kite Runner AGAIN!!

In preparation to write this post, I went back and read another post that I wrote almost exactly one year ago about The Kite Runner, and all that I can say is that "people do change and grow."

This is my third year teaching The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I went back and forth trying to decide whether or not I was going to teach this book this year. I remember the last time I read it, I was thinking that it was just a good book but not necessary on my list of books that I really wanted to experience with my students again. However, after polling my class, I realized that quite a few of students had never read this book before, so I decided to give it a try again. And, I am so happy that I did.

This time around I really thought about what makes people good or not so good and the idea of redemption.

Amir, one of the main characters, really mistreated Hassan, who was the child of his servant. He mistreated him mainly because Amir's father was not giving him the attention that he desired. Also, Amir felt that his father really respected Hassan, and he was quite jealous of that. So, being a child, he took his frustration out on Hassan.

In class, we have been having the most lively discussion about the idea of whether or not Amir was a "bad person" because of the way that he treated Hassan when they were mere children. The class and I have been all over the place with this discussion. I am thinking today that humans want to feel accepted and that children, and even adults, will sometimes do whatever it takes to be or feel accepted. Amir did not know how to tell his dad what he needed, and maybe his Dad was "doing the best that he knew how to do." (If only parenting and children came with handbooks.)

I also thought about religion, and God, and discrimination, and living in Afghanistan and America......

This book really helps to generates lots of thoughts!

Next week, my students will do student-lead discussion on some of the themes in The Kite Runner: choices, guilt, father and son relationships, fear etc.

I am looking forward to the discussions, because this time around, unlike the last time, I do believe that this is well-written book that gives the reader so many things to ponder. (People do change!)

The Kite Runner is a little sad and also a heavy book, so why don't you read it after the holidays and tell me what you think?

Next, I am reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Please, get a copy, and join me in reading it?

Reading is so much fun when others are reading the same book with me. I guess that's one of the reason why I love teaching literature; I have a whole bunch of people reading the same book that I am reading at the same time.

Read a book and change your thoughts.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

There was a time when I would not read a book more than once. I'm not sure why I felt this way, but I am so grateful that I am a person who is willing to change.

Everytime that I read a book, I normally see something that I did  not see before or sometimes I completely change my thoughts about a book like I did with The Kite Runner.

The first time that I read The Kite Runner, I read it for enjoyment. I was not planning to teach this novel or do any type of deep analysis with it, so it served its purpose. The second time that I read it, I was reading it teach it to a class, and on this read, I really did not like it. I felt that the second part was totally unrealistic and that the ending was written so that he could turn this book into a movie. I was totally disappointed.

However, I finished reading it for the third time yesterday in preparation to teach it, and this time, I absolutely loved it. I loved the language that the author uses. I loved that many of the phrases that he used in the beginning of the book were used later in the book to reinforce or make a point. Also, this time, I was much more forgiving of the main character, Amir, and I realized that it is easy to judge other people, but we all have secrets of our own.

This morning, most of the the students stated that they loved The Kite Runner, but they felt the language used and the lack of depth would keep this novel from being a classic.

I totally understand what they meant, but I also realize that everyone does not want to do DEEP analysis as they are reading; some people just want a good story, and that is exactly what The Kite Runner is. But, I must add that this novel is an avenue to learn about the Afghan culture, to see what happened to the country once war was waged on it, and to see how life was for people who left and stayed in Afghanistan after the war started etc.

So, it is a good read, but so much more.......

Khaled Hosseini