Listen, Read, and Watch

On Tuesday, we went to the Civic Center to see Khaled Hosseini, the author of THE KITE RUNNER, speak as part of the lecture series sponsored by the friends of the Onondaga County Library.  I have to admit that on my first attempt at reading it, I wasn't taken by his book.  In fact, I stopped reading it at the point where the young wealthy boy fails to protect his servant friend.  His failure to act so angered me that I put the book down.  Only when we saw the film version, did I become a fan of Hosseini's story.  He is a very interesting speaker and person. He's been in America since he was about 12 and is probably in his early 40's now.  A physician who now writes full time, he is a cultural combination.  On one side a modern American who is  a great football fan. Hosseini loves the 49'ers, and parties on game Sundays with pizza and nachos.  And yet he's a traditionalist as well, who after talking with a young Afghani-American woman for only 20 minutes, called her within a day or so, and asked her if he could propose marriage to her through her father. Years later, they are very happy.  Although, he has been in America for many, he has real insight about his homeland.  Recently, he visited Afghanistan incognito for the U.N.  He didn't dare travel openly for many Aghanis believe that THE KITE RUNNER and his other novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS reveal too much about their culture. 

That was the listening part. Now to the reading part. A week or so ago, Linda discovered a book on one of our shelves that's been collecting dust since the mid-90's I bet.  It's called MONTANA, 1948 by Larry Watson, and it's one of the best books about which I had heard nothing.  It takes place in the northeastern corner of Montana, almost to the Canadian border.  The novel is the story of a 12 year old boy, who in light of the discovery of horrible events that have been occurring in his town, has to come to grips with his father's ineffectiveness and his uncle's evil nature.  I haven't quite finished it, but I love it and recommend it.  If you see it on the shelf of a library or used bookstore, grab it.

    Finally, last night we saw a really quirky, happy/sad movie called THE 500 DAYS OF SUMMER.  It stars Zooey Deschanel and the guy who used to play the kid in THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN.  It is a love story which is not a love story and which sometimes threatens to become a musical when it isn't transitioning with a cartoon backdrop. Enough said.