Khaled Hosseini's riveting Kite Runner has put Afghanistan back on the world map for me, in a way its unstopping presence in the news since 2001 hasn't been capable of doing. This breathtaking book manages to weave together illuminating bits and pieces of Afghan modern history with the protagonist's epic journey of discovery.
Amir grows up in a wealthy neighbourhood of Kabul with his father Baba, a successful merchant and a towering figure in the city. They are a liberal family, distrustful of religion but following a strict moral code that compels them to aid the poor or treat the weaker with respect. Being ethnic Pashtuns, they belong to a dominant and priviledged social class, but in contrast to a budding group of radicals, they are not hostile towards the Hazara, the ethnic minority whose treatment borders on persecution. In fact, the family's servants are Hazara, which does not stop Amir and Hassan, the servant's son, from playing together and becoming friends. During one kite flying competition, a national pastime in pre-Taliban Afghanistan, Amir witnesses Hassan get raped by a neighbourhood bully, a radicalized Pashtun. Out of cowardice, he fails to react and this sets in motion a series of events that will transform his life. Incidentially, they coincide with the political turmoil in the country - the anti-monarchy coup against Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, the Saur Revolution, the Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban. Baba and Amir manage to escape to California, leaving the Afghanistan of their early days behind. What happens later is a truly engaging story of self-discovery and personal adventure.
What I love about Hosseini's prose is his uncanny ability to concentrate the attention of a reader by rolling out intense suspense that finally culminates in some heightened moment. A good example is Amir's tense struggle to find Hassan after he runs the last kite that climaxes in the rape scene, the stealth journey into Pakistan from a war-torn Afghanistan with the pinnacle being Baba's face-off with the Russian soldier or Amir's conversation with the Talib he remembers as a childhood bully that culminates in a gruesome fight.
Things to remember about Afghanistan:
. The Pashtun are predominantly followers of Sunni Islam, while the Hazara are predominantly Shi'a, a division that fuelled hostility between the two, leading among other things to the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif,
. naan is flatbread popular in the region,
. Khoda hafez means goodbye in Farsi, is the most widely spoken Persian language, common in Afghanistan,
. The Shahnamah is the Persian epic that triggered Amir's fascination with story-telling, other inspirations included such poets as Rumi, Saadi, Hafiz or Khayyam.
. One of the most controversial acts of the Taliban was the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan,
. Salaam alaykum is a popular greeting among Muslims, meaning peace to you,
. Dostet daram means I love you in Eastern Persian, as spoken in Afghanistan,
. Khyber Pass links Pakistan and Afghanistan,
. Inshallah means if it is God's will, if God permits,
. "Afghans cherish customs but abhor rules".
Other interesting things:
. mulberry = morwa,
. locust = szarańcza,
. children skip rope = skakać w gumę, skip stones/rocks or play ducks and drakes (UK) = puszczać kaczki, build train sets = składać kolejkę, play insect torture = wyrywać nóżki owadom and high-five each other = przybijać piątkę, shoot a slingshot or a crossbow = strzelać z procy/kuszy, get a scrape on their knee = zadrapać się w kolano,
. you can pelt sb with tomatoes,
. if you are bedridden for too long you can get a bedsore,
. you stand your ground if you don't change your mind,
. you cup your hands to make sure they can hold water or sand,
. your conspicuos hair can draw looks.
. spent = drained,
. a stray dog, a stray bullet,
. to be on welfare and collect it at the welfare office,
. grubby = dirty, grimy,
. calloused = hardened, toughened (stwardniały, gruboskórny)
. Dress warm!
. have the look of the lamb,
. to declare an English major = to choose,
. to enrol in the teaching track,
. have appendicitis,
. she should know better (= have experience or wisdom not to do something wrong)
. a saving grace is another way to say a redeeming quality,
. when cancer moves from one part of the body to another it metastasizes,
. like sunflowers turning to the sun,
. "Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors",
. parents tell children stories of a bogeyman to scare them,
. No sweat = No problem,
. an ilelgitimate half-brother,
. you don't preach to the choir,
. to toss around in bed all night,
. lacerations = cuts,
. a headstone on a grave,
. a world of thanks for you,
. live in oblivion,
. like father, like son,
. to nurse somebody back to health,
. live to see the end of the day,
. a flyswatter is a useful summer gadget to have at home.
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