Question 2:

I read "The Kite Runner" for the novel in the SELF-DISCOVERY theme. The "Kite Runner"'s main character in the novel is Amir, a boy born into a wealthy Afganistan family.  His mother died in giving birth to him, leaving him to be raised by his father who is a local hero and well respected in their community.  Amir felt as though he was never good enough for his father and that he robbed his father of his mother.  For this reason, Amir is constantly trying to impress his father, earn his affections, and live up to his greatness.  Amir and his father had two servants in household, a father and son, and Amir's father treated the two very well.  The young servant was Amir's age and the two were best of friends, separated only by social ranking.   Amir witnesses a shocking act of violence against his friend and doesn't have the courage to help or speak up about what happpend. This event in Amir's life changed him forever.  From that point forward, he struggled with feelings of guilt, self-hate, and regret.  Amir started to believe he was worthless and could never forgive himself for not helping his best friend.

          As the novel progresses, Amir moves to America, becomes educated, marries, and becomes his father's caregiver when he falls ill.  Amir gained confidence through his education and new life with his wife.  As his father's health deteriorates, his father tells Amir how proud he is of his accomplishments and Amir learns to forgive his father for lack of attention throughout his childhood.  Amir begins to discover his self worth when his relationhip with his father grows and then courage when his father passes away. 

     Amir recieves news from Afganistan that his childhood friend and wife had been murdered, leaving their only son orphaned.  Amir realizes this will be his chance to repay his dear friend and goes through many dangerous steps to adopt the child.  Through the process of adopting his friend's son, Amir learns to forgive himself, his father, and appreciates his childhood community in Afganistan.  This discovery completes the novel because all of the struggles Amir had dealt with throughout his life have been resolved and laid to rest.

     Although I have never expirenced the serious struggles and hearbreak that Amir had in his life, I discovered that at some point everyone must come to peace with themselves and accept their journey in life.  The same can go to all readers; not being constantly guily, letting go of the past, and discovering self worth in themselves.  As I witnessed Amir changing throughout the novel, I began to appreciate the life I am priveleged to have with a strong family and safe enviorment.

Question 1

     The book I found to be most interesting from the summer reading list was "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.  In my opinion, a book is made "interesting" by the narrator's tone, interesting characters, unexpected events, and the ability to draw many emotions from the reader.  "The Kite Runner" was interesting because the story was told from the narrator's voice reflecting on his life.  The narrator gave a detailed look at what a wealthy boy's childhood in Afganistan was like and events that occurred to bring him on his journey into America and adulthood.  "The Kite Runner" was fun to read because of the unexpected events that happened throughout the story and of the characters that I began to care about while reading the novel.  This book was interesting because throughout the story I laughed often and also cried a few times!

     Other than the assigned summer reading, I read entertainment magazines, employee handbooks , travel guides of Charleston, South Carolina, "The Last Lecture", "The Lovely Bones", "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", and several Jodi Picout novels.  The pieces I found to be most interesting were the entertainment magazines such as People or US Weekly and the novels by Jodi Picoult.  Her novels were interesting for the same reasons "The Kite Runner" was; detailed backround and insights of the characters, tone of the narrators, and emotions drawn from the stories.

** Good reading list! Way to go! You certainly DO belong in this class! I just read Alice Sebold's newest The Almost Moon this weekend... couldn't put it down, even though it (like her other books) is fairly gruesome!