"The Kite Runner": Predicting Quotes #1

 “Hassan and I were skimming stones and Hassan made his stone skip eight times. The most I managed was five. Baba was there, watching, and he patted Hassan on the back. Even put his arm around his shoulder.” (15)

          A prediction I can make from this quote showing Amir’s extreme jealousy is that Amir will act rudely towards Hassan as the novel continues. Even though Hassan is illiterate and has no education whatsoever, he is still incredibly intelligent, which bothers Amir. Hassan can solve riddles better than Amir, so he stops reading them to Hassan out of jealously. Amir was also taken aback by the fact that Hassan could make his stone skip eight times, when he could only skip five. Therefore, as a result of the jealousy Amir feels towards Hassan, I predict that Amir will change his attitude and behaviour by constantly teasing him with vulgar remarks.

"The Kite Runner": Significant Quote #2

“You’re a prince, Hassan. You’re a prince and I love you.” (33)

          This quote is significant so far in the novel since it proves that deep down, Amir truly considers Hassan as a friend. Even though he refers to Hassan as his servant, and only his servant, Amir treats Hassan like a true friend. This quote proves that Amir is unable to hide his deep love for the Hazara boy, even though he is embarrassed to admit this friendship to others. Amir constantly changes his perception of Hassan from friend to servant, but the true love he expresses to him in this quote will never fade. The difficulties Amir and Hassan face throughout this novel will always rely on this unbreakable love to bring them back together again.

"The Kite Runner": Significant Quote #1

“After all, didn’t all fathers in their secret hearts harbour a desire to kill their sons?” (Hosseini 32)

          This quote is significant so far in the novel since it proves that Amir truly believes that his father hates him and wishes the worst upon him. He thinks his strained relationship with his father is normal, when in reality, most children receive true love from their fathers. Baba is unable to understand Amir since he is very different from him when he was growing up. Baba wants Amir to play soccer and stop reading so much poetry, but Amir refuses. Due to these differences, the relationship between Amir and Baba suffers, resulting in Amir constantly questioning what his father thinks of him.

"Three Day Road" Book Review: Independent

Independent by Murrough O'Brien

O'Brien, Murrough. "Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden." Independent, Independent.co.uk, 13 Aug. 2005, www.independent.co.uk/artsentertainment/books/reviews/three-day-road-by-joseph-boyden-305861.html. Accessed 16 July 2017.

- Murrough claims that Niska realizes that the mantle has been passed on to her when her father is arrested by the Canadian authorities for the murder of a woman
- Murrough says that Xavier can not handle Elijah’s love for bloodlust
- Murrough claims that even though Xavier is a gentle and sensitive individual, war Schaefer 8 has made him bloodthirsty and desperate
- Murrough states that this book combines both racial and cultural stories

Pragmatic – “From a teacher of creative writing, one would expect a work of more textbook slickness.”
- “From the first page, the reader feels the draw of a giggle at the faux-naïf style, the cumbersome cadences.”

Objective – “Like her father before her, she can read the bones of a moose as augury.”
- “The Windigo, symbol of despair, prowls through these pages.”

Expressive – “Boyden’s prose may lurch from self-conscious simplicity to jarring colloquialism.”
- “He guides us through immensely complex stories with subtlety and grace.”

Mimetic – “His icy bite is as terrible in the trenches as in the woody wastes of Canada.”
- “Perhaps the most startling success of this book is the way it combines a tale of racial and cultural displacement with a mystic saga.”

"Three Day Road" Book Review: Joe Wiebe

Joe Wiebe by Joe Wiebe

Wiebe, Joe. "Three-Day Road." Joe Wiebe: Writer, Editor, and Writing Instructor., Copyright ? Joe Wiebe. All rights reserved., 11 May 2005, www.joewiebe.com/books/three_day_road.htm. Accessed 16 July 2017.

- Joe states that Joseph Boyden still has a long way to go if he wants to be fairly compared to Findley - Joe says that there is no mystery as to who survives the war; Xavier
- Joe claims that Xavier is a new man after the war since he comes back deaf, without a leg, and addicted to morphine
- Joe argues that Boyden does not let the war story take over the book since he alternates chapters from the perspectives of Xavier and Niska

Pragmatic – “Three Day Road is that rarest of books that works on different levels for different readers.”
- “It can be enjoyed as a military history, a study of the tragedy of First Nations people in Canada, or simply as a strong literary novel set against the backdrop of World War One.”

Objective – “Three Day Road will undoubtedly be compared to Timothy Findley’s 1977 breakthrough, The Wars, which firmly established Findley as one of Canada’s leading literary voices.”
- “Elijah and Xavier, though best friends, are very different people.”

Expressive – “Boyden traces two separate Native bloodlines in his family’s distant past, Métis and Micmac, but is otherwise ‘mostly European.’”
- “One of the great strengths of this novel is that Boyden does not allow the war story to take over the book.”

Mimetic – “Because of its focus on Canadian soldiers fighting in World War One.”
- “The events of Three Day Road are inspired by the real-life exploits of Ojibwa Francis ‘Peggy’ Pegahmagabow who was the most decorated Native soldier in World War One.”

"The Kite Runner" Book Review: Trident Media

Trident Media by Georgia Porter

Porter, Georgia. "Book Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini." Trident Media, Copyright ©, All Rights Reserved., tridentmedia.org/book-review-the-kiterunner-by-khaled-hosseini/. Accessed 16 July 2017.

- Georgia was surprised by the homely description of Amir’s perspective of Kabul before the war began
- Georgia claims that Amir nor Hassan predicted that their friendship would be destroyed due to one horrifying event
- Georgia says that in order for Amir to free himself from the ghosts of his past, he must return to Afghanistan and face his mistakes and enemies
- Georgia states that there is never a dull moment in this novel since it is heavily descriptive

Pragmatic – “Rapidly occurring life events experienced by Amir, constantly keeps the reader on their toes.”
- “The reader forms a kind of attachment to the character that allows us to sympathise with him and feel both his pain and joy.”

Objective – “If you enjoy this book I highly recommend that you read both A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed.”
- “From then on, The Kite Runner becomes a quest for Amir – a search for redemption towards his old friend, Hassan.”

Expressive – “Hosseini reveals a well-overdue insight into a pre-war Afghanistan, through the lives of two young boys and their families.”
- “Hosseini skilfully makes Amir’s tale both relatable and extraordinary.”

Mimetic – “The trauma of war caused by the Taliban has made Afghanistan a difficult setting to create literary fiction.”
- “These range from ‘normal’ life events such as falling in love, graduating, and achieving a successful career; to exceptional encounters such as fleeing your hometown from war in a petrol tanker.”

"The Kite Runner" Book Review: The Vienna Review

The Vienna Review by J. Franz Spiegel

- J. Franz states that the main themes of the book are life, love, brotherhood, and courage
- J. Franz claims that the jealously Amir feels towards Hassan negatively impacts their “friendship”
- J. Franz argues that when Amir chose not to help Hassan in his darkest hour, their “happy family” ended
- J. Franz says that The Kite Runner is a vivid novel full of courage, even though the protagonist, Amir, acts cowardly

Pragmatic – “Bringing the reader to identify with a character so despicable that they shudder to recognise their own empathy.”
- “As the story builds to the climax, the anticipated theme of redemption becomes evident – one of the few predictable segments in the novel.”

Objective – “The Kite Runner is a relief from the political and historical take of much of today’s fiction on the Middle East.”
- “The story takes nail-biting twists and turns, briefly adopting Dan Brown’s story-telling style.”

Expressive – “Amir’s character can also be read as a version of the author’s younger self; some experiences seem too vivid to be imagined.”
- “The author’s simple language is surprisingly effective in explaining the complexity of emotions, characters and dynamics which could exist in any culture.”

Mimetic – “It begins in Afghanistan’s relatively liberal monarchy of the 1970s, briefly before a military coup and the Russian invasion would forever change the landscape of the once beautiful Kabul.”
- “However, war and political conflict take the back seat to the human dramas that occur because of and – more importantly – despite of such events.”