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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Book time - Part One
Choose a passage you liked or thought was important from the book you read.
What was the meaning of what happened?...Why was he who he was? This passage is on page 260. I think that this is a really important passage because it shows what this book is really about. Its the absurd reality that they are all looking for a meaning in their life. This character is trying to find out what the meaning id within his life and why all these things happened to him. It shows the whole meaning within the book.
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.
This quote is indicative of not only the change in Amir's attitude, but the entire novel. Its a solid truth that you can not change the past. But burying and forgetting it is a disparagement and disgrace to everything in life. You must face your adversaries head on, even if such an adversary is yourself.
“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft....When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.”
I thought that this passage stuck out more then any passage in the book for me. It is ironic, because later on it is revealed that Baba has kept a huge secret from everybody for many years. It is because of this that the hypocrisy is revealed. But also, it is a passage which is constantly referenced by Amir as something that is important to him, a quote that he has lived his life by. It furthermore serves to show how much of Amir’s life has been lying to himself, to make himself feel better.
The Kite Runner pg. 301 "He loved you both, but he could not love Hassan the way he longed to, openly, and as a father. So he took it out on you instead-Amir, the socially legitimate half, the half that represented the riches he had inherited and the sin-with-impunity privileges that came with them. When he saw you, he saw himself. And his guilt. You are still angry and I realize it is far too early to expect you to accept this, but maybe someday you will see that when your father was hard on you, he was also being hard on himself. Your father, like you, was a tortured soul."
This passage from the letter from Rahim to Amir is perhaps one of the most important parts in the development of Amir. It is explaining his past and why Baba acted the way he did. I liked it because it gives closure to Baba and Amir's relationship.
"Not even you knew you were dividin' your time between two identities. Our paradigm of one watch in one pocket, another watch in another pocket. You probably had your own junction box that gave you a kind of mental immunity (268)".
This quote really connected the paralleling stories. From this point, the stories converged and almost raced each other and time to reach a common resolution. This quote also ties the part from the beginning of the novel when the narrator split his brain to count the quantities of change. This ability to experience two separate things simultaneously sets up the foundation for the entire book.
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.
This quote is extremely important because it sums up the whole feeling of the book. It discus’s how you can’t run from your past and how the decisions we make define us. It shows how long guilt can be carried with us. It also describes how the people we love bind us with their memories.
But the real trouble was with the older kids. They chased him on the street, and mocked him when he hobbled by. Some had tqaken to calling him Babalu, or Boogyman. (8)
I chose this quote because it's ironic that the "older kids" are calling this poor kid the "boogyman". The other reason why I chose this quote is because I am deathly afraid of the boogyman and I would never think to call anyone that name (unless they were the scariest person alive!)
“Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories… It gives me strength, almost unbelievable strength, to know that you are there… How blessed are we to have each other? I am alive and you are alive and we should fill the air with our words... How can I pretend that you do not exist? It would be almost as impossible as you pretending that I do not exist.” -Eggers 535
I chose this passage because it touched me emotionally. To see Valentino’s resilience, his strength, and his love for humanity was the most amazing thing. For him to be so beaten down and still have hope was the greatest showing of human strength I have ever seen. It gives me the hope that I can survive anything, just as he did, and that I can find a way to believe in the goodness of people too, even when they have proven themselves to be cruel.
At times my mind grows heavy and dark; at other times it soars high and sees foreveer. By the sound of this tiny accordion, my mind is transported great distances. I call up different images of the Town behind closed eyes. Here are the willows on the sandbar, the Watchtower by the Wall in the west, the small tilled plot behind the Power Station.
I like this passage because of the imagery invokes and the fact that music can transport someone from their position to something so much greater than that. I also have quite an affinity for the accordion and enjoy when it comes up in music.
-Let'S dance? -And take forever with US? -Yes. -Let'S go. -We're so poor. -We'll work it out. -I wast you just this way. To never have to go away. From you. From US. Allways kissing, adored. The rest. And smiling. To hold you when we'er happy, we're lazy. Sad. When you're stubborn. When you're brave. When you're mad. When you're scorned. But allways beside me and my moods. -That's too easy. -Then be difficult.
I really liked this part of the book because it shows the passion and commitment in their relationship. Sam and Hailey are romantics who just want to feel whole by holding each other close. I felt that this particular line is very cute and romantic because they want the other to be there with them through hard times and good times. They request that the other is difficult so they can experience all parts of having a relationship with someone and working together to make things work.
- This is it, Kur said. – We are now in Ethiopia. - No, I said, knowing he was making a joke. – When will we reach it, Kur? - We’ver reached it. We’re here. I looked at the land. It looked exactly like the other side of the river, the side that was Sudan, the side we left. There were no homes. There were no medical facilities. No food. No water for drinking. - This is not that place, I said. - It is the place, Achak. Now we can rest. Already there were Sudanese adults spread out across the fields, refugees who arrived before us, lying on the ground, sick and dying. This was not the Ethiopia we had walked for. I was sure we had father to go. (227)
I chose this passage because throughout the novel Valentino has been let down about almost everything in his life and he has been through so much that you just want to ask God to give him a break. This chapter in the novel seemed to be the biggest let down of them all in his youth and I am close to his age at that time and I can’t even imagine going through what he went though at that age.
But he didn't know then, and neither did they, just as none of them knew that I would one day write this. -pg. 93
I love this quote. This is during one of Jonathan's narratives. This relates to the book somewhat, but I appreaciate it more as a philosophical view on the life we live. No one can ever predict anything, because we never know. For all we know, one of us may become an artist and paint our AP Lit class in the computer lab. But we don't know. We'll never know.
Hailey- Thuuuuuuuuuuuuunder. -I do Chimes!Chime!Chimes!
This is the point in the book where Hailyer and Sam get officially married. Hailey is being very dramatic as usual and showing her emotions off. I really like this part, I think its cute and shows her feelings with still being fun.
“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If ever I love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometimes in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”
I chose this passage because while reading the book, it was one of the quotes that made me tag the page. I was surprised to find that someone who had been through so much, and who had been so close to losing his life on many occasions could take something like love for granted. It killed me that Achak had dealt with war, famine, disease and death throughout his childhood, and he still had to face hardships when he came to America. Also, I just think this is an important lesson to learn and I love the way he words it.
“Long before the Roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools were destroyed, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves, Kabul had become a city of ghosts for me. A city of harelipped ghosts.”
I chose this passage because it shows one of the major themes of the novel, that the sins of our past often revisit and haunt us. It also shows the parallelism of the fact that Kabul was already desolate and dead to Amir before the war, and before the Russians invaded, the peace of the city was also invaded by the cold fact of what Amir did and did not do, how he hurt his best friend, and how every way he looks he cannot escape it.
"I'm afraid of dogs," he said. "I've had some pretty bad experiences with them." I told this to Grandfather, who was still half of himself in dream. "No one is afraid of dogs," he said. "Grandfather informs me that no one is afraid of dogs."
I like this passage because it kind of sums up their attitudes the whole book. The characters ask a lot of questions of eachother and want explanatations whenever someone feels differently then them on a certain subject. For instance, they have the dog, Sammy Davis Junior Junior, but Jon is scared of the dog. Yet they do not want to accept his fears and tell him that no one is afraid of dogs.
"And then, calming herself, she peered out the window.
It was night and the lights of Nueva York were everywhere" (165).
I liked this quote, which is the final two sentences of Beli's tale. After everything she'd been through, the description of seeing New York created a hopeful mood. Maybe I connect with this because I like New York so much, but I think anyone seeing New York at night for the first time would completely be in awe. I also liked how that last sentence was stated, with the rhyming of "night" and "lights." I think the rhythm of the sentence also made it very powerful and hopeful.
"(Remember, your father was a doctor, a doctor, and your mother was a nurse, a nurse)...Your father was a doctor, La Inca repeated, unperturbed. Your mother was a nurse. They owned the biggest house in La Vega" (Diaz 82)
Just by the number of times this line was repeated, I'm going to assume that this line is important to the novel. The way La Inca stresses this detail, and brings it up to Belicia all the time suggests her wholehearted belief that the successes of one's ancestors had something to do with the successes of one's life. Because Belicia's parents were rich and had great jobs, this meant that Belicia was meant for more. Cleary though, La Inca's wish in Belicia is left unfulfilled.
"Closed his eyes (or maybe he didn't)...--and then the whistle blew again and his eyes snapped open (or closed) and it was gone."
The book is, to me, a play on reality. The title itself is an honorary, yet mocking title. The brevity of his life is so upsetting, however, it's never viewed like that. The passage above is before he jumps off the bridge, I like how his eyes being opened or close is the difference between being in or out of reality.
"But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in." (pg. 209)
This quote immediately jumped out of the page for me. It holds importance to Oscar, but in a way affects the reader as well. It was basically a word of advice – a morale that every being should live by.
20 comments:
What was the meaning of what happened?...Why was he who he was? This passage is on page 260. I think that this is a really important passage because it shows what this book is really about. Its the absurd reality that they are all looking for a meaning in their life. This character is trying to find out what the meaning id within his life and why all these things happened to him. It shows the whole meaning within the book.
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.
This quote is indicative of not only the change in Amir's attitude, but the entire novel. Its a solid truth that you can not change the past. But burying and forgetting it is a disparagement and disgrace to everything in life. You must face your adversaries head on, even if such an adversary is yourself.
“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft....When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.”
I thought that this passage stuck out more then any passage in the book for me. It is ironic, because later on it is revealed that Baba has kept a huge secret from everybody for many years. It is because of this that the hypocrisy is revealed. But also, it is a passage which is constantly referenced by Amir as something that is important to him, a quote that he has lived his life by. It furthermore serves to show how much of Amir’s life has been lying to himself, to make himself feel better.
The Kite Runner
pg. 301
"He loved you both, but he could not love Hassan the way he longed to, openly, and as a father. So he took it out on you instead-Amir, the socially legitimate half, the half that represented the riches he had inherited and the sin-with-impunity privileges that came with them. When he saw you, he saw himself. And his guilt. You are still angry and I realize it is far too early to expect you to accept this, but maybe someday you will see that when your father was hard on you, he was also being hard on himself. Your father, like you, was a tortured soul."
This passage from the letter from Rahim to Amir is perhaps one of the most important parts in the development of Amir. It is explaining his past and why Baba acted the way he did. I liked it because it gives closure to Baba and Amir's relationship.
"Not even you knew you were dividin' your time between two identities. Our paradigm of one watch in one pocket, another watch in another pocket. You probably had your own junction box that gave you a kind of mental immunity (268)".
This quote really connected the paralleling stories. From this point, the stories converged and almost raced each other and time to reach a common resolution. This quote also ties the part from the beginning of the novel when the narrator split his brain to count the quantities of change. This ability to experience two separate things simultaneously sets up the foundation for the entire book.
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.
This quote is extremely important because it sums up the whole feeling of the book. It discus’s how you can’t run from your past and how the decisions we make define us. It shows how long guilt can be carried with us. It also describes how the people we love bind us with their memories.
But the real trouble was with the older kids. They chased him on the street, and mocked him when he hobbled by. Some had tqaken to calling him Babalu, or Boogyman. (8)
I chose this quote because it's ironic that the "older kids" are calling this poor kid the "boogyman". The other reason why I chose this quote is because I am deathly afraid of the boogyman and I would never think to call anyone that name (unless they were the scariest person alive!)
“Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories… It gives me strength, almost unbelievable strength, to know that you are there… How blessed are we to have each other? I am alive and you are alive and we should fill the air with our words... How can I pretend that you do not exist? It would be almost as impossible as you pretending that I do not exist.”
-Eggers 535
I chose this passage because it touched me emotionally. To see Valentino’s resilience, his strength, and his love for humanity was the most amazing thing. For him to be so beaten down and still have hope was the greatest showing of human strength I have ever seen. It gives me the hope that I can survive anything, just as he did, and that I can find a way to believe in the goodness of people too, even when they have proven themselves to be cruel.
At times my mind grows heavy and dark; at other times it soars high and sees foreveer. By the sound of this tiny accordion, my mind is transported great distances.
I call up different images of the Town behind closed eyes. Here are the willows on the sandbar, the Watchtower by the Wall in the west, the small tilled plot behind the Power Station.
I like this passage because of the imagery invokes and the fact that music can transport someone from their position to something so much greater than that. I also have quite an affinity for the accordion and enjoy when it comes up in music.
-Let'S dance?
-And take forever with US?
-Yes.
-Let'S go.
-We're so poor.
-We'll work it out.
-I wast you just this way. To never have to go away. From you. From US. Allways kissing, adored. The rest. And smiling. To hold you when we'er happy, we're lazy. Sad. When you're stubborn. When you're brave. When you're mad. When you're scorned. But allways beside me and my moods.
-That's too easy.
-Then be difficult.
I really liked this part of the book because it shows the passion and commitment in their relationship. Sam and Hailey are romantics who just want to feel whole by holding each other close. I felt that this particular line is very cute and romantic because they want the other to be there with them through hard times and good times. They request that the other is difficult so they can experience all parts of having a relationship with someone and working together to make things work.
- This is it, Kur said. – We are now in Ethiopia.
- No, I said, knowing he was making a joke. – When will we reach it, Kur?
- We’ver reached it. We’re here.
I looked at the land. It looked exactly like the other side of the river, the side that was Sudan, the side we left. There were no homes. There were no medical facilities. No food. No water for drinking.
- This is not that place, I said.
- It is the place, Achak. Now we can rest.
Already there were Sudanese adults spread out across the fields, refugees who arrived before us, lying on the ground, sick and dying. This was not the Ethiopia we had walked for. I was sure we had father to go.
(227)
I chose this passage because throughout the novel Valentino has been let down about almost everything in his life and he has been through so much that you just want to ask God to give him a break. This chapter in the novel seemed to be the biggest let down of them all in his youth and I am close to his age at that time and I can’t even imagine going through what he went though at that age.
But he didn't know then, and neither did they, just as none of them knew that I would one day write this.
-pg. 93
I love this quote. This is during one of Jonathan's narratives. This relates to the book somewhat, but I appreaciate it more as a philosophical view on the life we live. No one can ever predict anything, because we never know. For all we know, one of us may become an artist and paint our AP Lit class in the computer lab. But we don't know. We'll never know.
Hailey-
Thuuuuuuuuuuuuunder.
-I do
Chimes!Chime!Chimes!
This is the point in the book where Hailyer and Sam get officially married. Hailey is being very dramatic as usual and showing her emotions off. I really like this part, I think its cute and shows her feelings with still being fun.
“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If ever I love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometimes in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”
I chose this passage because while reading the book, it was one of the quotes that made me tag the page. I was surprised to find that someone who had been through so much, and who had been so close to losing his life on many occasions could take something like love for granted. It killed me that Achak had dealt with war, famine, disease and death throughout his childhood, and he still had to face hardships when he came to America. Also, I just think this is an important lesson to learn and I love the way he words it.
“Long before the Roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools were destroyed, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves, Kabul had become a city of ghosts for me. A city of harelipped ghosts.”
I chose this passage because it shows one of the major themes of the novel, that the sins of our past often revisit and haunt us. It also shows the parallelism of the fact that Kabul was already desolate and dead to Amir before the war, and before the Russians invaded, the peace of the city was also invaded by the cold fact of what Amir did and did not do, how he hurt his best friend, and how every way he looks he cannot escape it.
"I'm afraid of dogs," he said. "I've had some pretty bad experiences with them." I told this to Grandfather, who was still half of himself in dream. "No one is afraid of dogs," he said. "Grandfather informs me that no one is afraid of dogs."
I like this passage because it kind of sums up their attitudes the whole book. The characters ask a lot of questions of eachother and want explanatations whenever someone feels differently then them on a certain subject. For instance, they have the dog, Sammy Davis Junior Junior, but Jon is scared of the dog. Yet they do not want to accept his fears and tell him that no one is afraid of dogs.
"And then, calming herself, she peered out the window.
It was night and the lights of Nueva York were everywhere" (165).
I liked this quote, which is the final two sentences of Beli's tale. After everything she'd been through, the description of seeing New York created a hopeful mood. Maybe I connect with this because I like New York so much, but I think anyone seeing New York at night for the first time would completely be in awe. I also liked how that last sentence was stated, with the rhyming of "night" and "lights." I think the rhythm of the sentence also made it very powerful and hopeful.
"(Remember, your father was a doctor, a doctor, and your mother was a nurse, a nurse)...Your father was a doctor, La Inca repeated, unperturbed. Your mother was a nurse. They owned the biggest house in La Vega" (Diaz 82)
Just by the number of times this line was repeated, I'm going to assume that this line is important to the novel. The way La Inca stresses this detail, and brings it up to Belicia all the time suggests her wholehearted belief that the successes of one's ancestors had something to do with the successes of one's life. Because Belicia's parents were rich and had great jobs, this meant that Belicia was meant for more. Cleary though, La Inca's wish in Belicia is left unfulfilled.
"Closed his eyes (or maybe he didn't)...--and then the whistle blew again and his eyes snapped open (or closed) and it was gone."
The book is, to me, a play on reality. The title itself is an honorary, yet mocking title. The brevity of his life is so upsetting, however, it's never viewed like that. The passage above is before he jumps off the bridge, I like how his eyes being opened or close is the difference between being in or out of reality.
"But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in." (pg. 209)
This quote immediately jumped out of the page for me. It holds importance to Oscar, but in a way affects the reader as well. It was basically a word of advice – a morale that every being should live by.
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