I just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini last night--as usual, I intended to read a chapter or two before going to sleep and the evening ended several hours later as I turned the last page. Part of my personality is that I love to FINISH projects--it is the portion of the project I enjoy most. (Which one are you?) Naturally, when I start a book, I enjoy reading it but I just can't wait to finish it. It's not that I want it to be over with...I just enjoy the feeling of closing the cover of a good book with a rewarding sigh. Hosseini is now two for two in writing books that make me cry my little heart out. Somehow I can say that I love reading his books, I dread reading his books, and I can't stand reading his books. His writing style forces me to emotionally invest in his characters while imagining that I am in the story. His story lines are unbearably tragic and heart-soaringly hopeful. My whole worldview shifts as I learn more about Afghan culture, as I live the Afghan culture through his beautiful stories.
I remember finishing "The Kite Runner" and not being able to read anything else for months. No other book would be as challenging, as fulfilling, as emotionally draining as I had found that one to be, and I could bear to crack another book until I was "over it."
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" is similar in many ways to "The Kite Runner," but also just as different. I'm okay with going on with my life and reading about how every friggin thing in America is made of corn in "The Omnivore's Dilemma," but I also feel profoundly changed as a result of having finished Hosseini's second book. I know some truths about our world of which I was previously unaware. And those truths make me want to take action in a new way.
Now that is the mark of a good book.
Question for you: What, in your opinion, is a good "light summer read" to shake off the heaviness from my Hosseini experience? (Also, what is a book you've read that sat heavy on you for awhile?)
4 comments:
kristy left a good light read suggestion on her blog...ive been too busy reading parenting books! womp womp. but i do need to read the kite runner! i am behind the times in the literary world for now.
this is TOTALLY off the subject of your blog post, but i just realized owens had a "blog" so i went to it and wow - what a champ! i didn't know he was so famous!!!! hee - larious!
Yeah, Savannah from Savannah did the trick for me. :)
Let's see, a light book. Try Flabbergasted by Ray Blackston. It's actually the first of a trilogy, and they are witty and fun without being ridiculous. And Christian to boot (not CofC)). They actually have them out on CD, read by Andrew Peterson and he does a great job of voices and rhythm, if you need a commute-time story.
The last books that kind of rocked my world were Organic Church and Simple Church. Kind of like a spiritual/church habits slap in the face. Despite lacking the emotional force that Irresistible Revolution had on me, they provided more clarity to the problems described and the obvious solution that we choose to ignore. The theme is that Jesus meant what He said. No really, literally, get off your duff and do it. Love, give, serve, die. No excuses. Kind of felt like I had my head slammed up against a brick wall, but in a good way?
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