22nd march 2007
published in 2003, this book is perhaps one of the saddest books i have read to date. sad because one has to live with guilt and regret all one's life for not doing what one was supposed to have done at the time it was supposed to have been done.
crying was easy, as easy as flipping through the pages till the end. hosseini's debut novel is powerful yet simple. his talent is in his simplicity, no exaggerated words and nothing fancy. very clear in his descriptions.
this story is about love, betrayal, friendship, family (mainly father and son), caste, custom, strength, religion and god, politics and history and doing the right things, with the possibility of redemption at the end. one learns about afghanistan and the situation there during the russian invasion. and how afghanistan suffered after that under the taliban regime and the fact that caste issues never really went away.
it is amazing that hosseini, a physician in california gets to visit kabul only after his completion of this book when he finally sees everything through amir's eyes. amir is the protagonist he creates.
when i read this, i thought to myself and pleaded, please dont tell me this was taken from a true story, please no. not because of the events that happened but because hassan, the servant, the friend, the half brother was perfect in all that he was, and i wondered a while if such goodness is always met with an equal force of evil, or perhaps greater.
and also, he was portrayed to be so accepting of abuse and is always willing to forgive that i wondered a while if forgiveness is a conscious act or does it present itself naturally in character?
after chang and eng, this is perhaps the second novel which affected me, my thoughts, my chain of ideas, my perception in quite a drastic way.
the movie which will be out in november and is directed by marc foster (stranger than fiction, finding neverland and monster's ball)has zekeria ebrahimi,an iranian as amir the child, and hassan is ahmad khan mahmidzada, an afghani who says the rape scene has upset him majorly because his friends would think that he really got raped. i believe they were also underpaid as actors. cant wait to see the film though.
despite the way the critics have condemned this book, i think it is one of the most intriguing 324 pages i have read. :-)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
the good shepherd
gosh..wht do i say? watched the sporian production, `i am stupid' first...and then immediately after that `the good shepherd'. the first was entertaining and actually funny. will be watching `i am stupid too' tomorrow.
the good shepherd?
confusing. one wonders if de niro wanted it this jumbled or did this thing naturally come out this way?...he actually had this project going for 9 yrs...jeez!
seemed to drag a little but then, it really depends on perspectives.
too long n too slow but then to think de niro took this from real life situations of the CIA, relating the first 15 or so years, their plots n plans, one has to say this was a good film. a little difficult for the masses to understand but hey when did i ever belong there? i mean, sorry but i think they over rate the audience's intelligence with such films...n in turn reward those truly alert...hehehe like me.
the film begins with edward wilson commuting n ends with him being the head of the ciu (counter-intelligence unit) of the cia (central intelligence agency). the things we expect dont really happen and that which we dont sort of reveal themselves. great!
i think decaprio would have been a better choice than damon, but then if edward's performance was supposed to have been lifeless then damon did a good job of it :-)
de niro decided to appear in the film too...i mean how could he not? hmm, good that he kept it at the bare minimum...the appearance i mean.
all in all...great film. enjoyed it.
the good shepherd?
confusing. one wonders if de niro wanted it this jumbled or did this thing naturally come out this way?...he actually had this project going for 9 yrs...jeez!
seemed to drag a little but then, it really depends on perspectives.
too long n too slow but then to think de niro took this from real life situations of the CIA, relating the first 15 or so years, their plots n plans, one has to say this was a good film. a little difficult for the masses to understand but hey when did i ever belong there? i mean, sorry but i think they over rate the audience's intelligence with such films...n in turn reward those truly alert...hehehe like me.
the film begins with edward wilson commuting n ends with him being the head of the ciu (counter-intelligence unit) of the cia (central intelligence agency). the things we expect dont really happen and that which we dont sort of reveal themselves. great!
i think decaprio would have been a better choice than damon, but then if edward's performance was supposed to have been lifeless then damon did a good job of it :-)
de niro decided to appear in the film too...i mean how could he not? hmm, good that he kept it at the bare minimum...the appearance i mean.
all in all...great film. enjoyed it.
Friday, March 16, 2007
jsa
17 mar 07 00.01
my first posting. jeez.
been wanting to write to myself for years. finally doing it.
just watched jsa in finas. joint security area, a film by chan woon park.
lee young ae...major sophie, the only woman in the movie actually spoilt the film. bad choice ..too young, too pretty n her english? hmm! the accent was totally wrong. n she's supposed to have been swiss? big mistake.
leaving her out...the movie was a perfect one.
loved lee byung hun (sgt lee) n song kang ho (sgt oh keong).
dint understand the film in the first few mins... but it slowly unfolds n beautifully so. a film abt frendship n humanity, n the irony of soldiers being pushed into ideological wars they themselves do not understand.
loved the beginning as much as the end.
while watching it, wondered if it wud end well. hate films with bad endings...this one ended so perfectly...the whole mystery of how their frendship began was revealed at the very end.
excellent direction, the dmz (demilitarized zone) separating the north n the south has a wooden bridge linking them.
the story:
young ae investigates the murder of 2 north korean soldiers. byung hun from the south gives a totally different version from kang ho in the north.
in actuality...they r frends. the movie is abt their frendship, how they started it n how they saved each others' lives only to end up committing suicide.
one wonders of the waste of war n the sickening notion of there being honour in dying for a cause!!
my first posting. jeez.
been wanting to write to myself for years. finally doing it.
just watched jsa in finas. joint security area, a film by chan woon park.
lee young ae...major sophie, the only woman in the movie actually spoilt the film. bad choice ..too young, too pretty n her english? hmm! the accent was totally wrong. n she's supposed to have been swiss? big mistake.
leaving her out...the movie was a perfect one.
loved lee byung hun (sgt lee) n song kang ho (sgt oh keong).
dint understand the film in the first few mins... but it slowly unfolds n beautifully so. a film abt frendship n humanity, n the irony of soldiers being pushed into ideological wars they themselves do not understand.
loved the beginning as much as the end.
while watching it, wondered if it wud end well. hate films with bad endings...this one ended so perfectly...the whole mystery of how their frendship began was revealed at the very end.
excellent direction, the dmz (demilitarized zone) separating the north n the south has a wooden bridge linking them.
the story:
young ae investigates the murder of 2 north korean soldiers. byung hun from the south gives a totally different version from kang ho in the north.
in actuality...they r frends. the movie is abt their frendship, how they started it n how they saved each others' lives only to end up committing suicide.
one wonders of the waste of war n the sickening notion of there being honour in dying for a cause!!
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