When you're on a golden sea, you don't need no memory.

"This isn't you, Amir, part of me said. You're gutless. It's how you're made. And that's not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you've never lied to yourself about it. Not about that. Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. but when a coward stops remembering who he is...God help him." pg 275

This very statement pretty much characterized Amir for the entire story thus far. The funny thing is that he's telling himself this. This character flaw drives most of the story in the beginning. Then the cowardice of dealing with guilt drives the post-America "let's go on an Afghan safari for orphans" drives Amir to do what he does in good 'ol Kabul. Such a charming place. Anywho, he get's crazy healed shortly after and it's cool then and his motivation shifts from caring for Sohrab out of a debt he feels he owes to Hassan to a general love and concern for his half-nephew who is equally messed-up but through no fault of his own. Also, the Weezer lyrics are a shameless attempt for brownie points.

I used one of her steps ;)

Giraffes have a neck like whaaaaaat?

"My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed." pg 289

There are quite a few climaxes in this book, but this seems to be the biggun'. Sure there's another after this with the whole "this is the most depressing suicide attempt ever" dealie, but I take it this story is more focused on Amir trying to atone for his utter douchebagginess to Hassan during his childhood. This bizarre catharsis as a result of the hooliwad (word my mom uses) being punched out him was necessary in Amir's eyes to feel healed. I personally think Assef and Amir are insane. To want to feel physical pain to atone for your emotional torment would definitely rack up some extra sessions on the psychology bill. I also found it odd that Amir laughed like Assef when he had his little epiphany in jail. And just for the record, getting a kidney stone kicked out of you is not a sign from AllahGod. In other news, Hosseini made this super cool 'cuz teh cLiMAXX ez pARiDoxIcAL!

*sigh*

Too dumb to chew gum.

"That's Henry Kissinger." pg. 21

There really isn't much depth to this quote. I just kind of picked it to see if I could make a random post about it. So far I've got three sentences. I had to look up Henry Kissinger on Wikipedia because I'm a sheltered dumb American. I'd heard the name before. But I'm glad he did a lot of super-duper things for America. And it was nice of him to visit Afghanistan. I guess it may have been a kind of foreshadowing with the whole Russian situation that was to come, so that's cool.

Hey Costello, he stole your glasses!

Food and Wet. I call it soup.

"Years later, I learned an English word for the creature that Assef was, a word for which a good Farsi equivalent does not exist: 'sociopath.'" pg. 38

Hmm, usually I hear it the other way around. Like oh, there just isn't a good English equivalent for this word. We've even adopted words like zeitgeist and schadenfreude and doppelganger from German because in English we have to use entire phrases like "the general thoughts and feelings of the time", "taking pleasure in one's pain", and "someone who roams the world who looks exactly like you." I really think schadenfreude should have it's own English equivalent. You can make it up. Submit it to Websters. Either way, I'm glad to learn English has one-upped Farsi. Maybe because they didn't have the word for it, that's why nobody did anything about Assef when he ran around raping children...Bazinga!

On a fun note, here's a whole song about schadenfreude from Avenue Q. It's very questionable as far as language and themes go, but hey, I'm reading a book about child rape for class, so we can't get too nitpicky can we?

Everything needs to smell like lemons, OK?

"You greeted the guy across the aisle, you invited him for a bite of potato bolani or a little quabuli, and you chatted. You offered  tassali, condolences, for the death of a parent, congratulated the birth of children, and shook your head mournfully when the conversation turned to Afghanistan and the Roussis - which it inevitably did." pg. 138

This quote, to me, goes beyond mere dialect or style. It's a crucial description of an important routine of, it seems many, Afghan immigrants. What really spices this and the rest of the story up is the constant bombardment of Farsi words. Who knew I'd ever learn how to say thank you in Farsi? The constant repetition of familiar words such as thank you, naan, bread, and others make it seem more real, colloquial, but even deeper. It immerses the reader in Afghanistan. The Afghan way of life is very important to Amir and his people, so the local color of Afghans in Kabul and Afghans in California is quite prevalent. It makes me want to eat Mediterranean food.

Get me some naan up in hurr.

Cheese is just a lump of old milk.

"And I could almost feel the emptiness in Soraya's womb, like it was a living, breathing, thing. It had seeped into our marriage, that emptiness, into our laughs, and into our lovemaking. And late at night, in the darkness of our room, I'd feel it rising from Soraya and settling between us. Sleeping between us. Like a newborn child." pg. 189

I don't know why we can't be cool people and call this personification. Or is this personification/anthropomorphism at all? Sure it's giving human characteristics to "emptiness," but it's not an inanimate object or animal like the definition says. Am I bound to the strict definition like a Constitutionalist is to every word of the, uh, Constitution? Is there a totally different word for this altogether that I'm just missing? What IS tempo? But claps for Hosseini on taking something intangible and making it into something creepy like a newborn child just popping up outta nowhere. It really fits this metaphorical specter that has manifested itself in Amir and Soraya's life. Poor things, no chillins for them or their Afghan pride.

C'est la vie, eh Amir?

Congratulations! You're America's Next Top Babushka!

"I knew I was being cruel, like when i'd taunt him if he didn't know some big word. But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan. Kind of like when we used to play insect torture. Except now, he was the ant and I was holding the magnifying glass." pg. 54

Oh Amir, you're such a selfish little prick, you! I don't understand why Amir would ever want to mess with Hassan. I don't think Amir knows why he does it either. It especially makes him super antiheroic when Hassan is so foily (does that mean he's shiny? =D). Hassan's total submission to Amir's will and his portrayal as someone pure and innocent is right out the antithesis of an antihero which helps to draw a starker contrast between the two characters. Yet what complexifies it is their relationship as practically brothers. They spend most of their time together, playing, talking, doing kid things. Yet social customs, like Amir's being a Pashtun and Hassan's being a Hazara, and Amir's whacked-out personality make this relationship tragic.

It's Hassan. He's a foil character. Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk.