kite runner review

For once in my life, I finally read a book that I could not put down. Kite Runner is a story of a child named Amir whose life changed the day he ran away when his friend, Hassan, really needed him. Amir grew up feeling guilty, but seemed to show no remorse for his actions. He was in constant need of approval from his father, Baba. When Amir and his father moved to America from Afghanistan, they seemed to live a normal life, only with different standards. Baba was diagnosed with cancer, Amir got married, and there were even some infertility issues thrown into the mix.
The one thing that captured my attention was mostly the fact of how it opened my eyes to the way Afghanistan was, and how the Taliban had completely demolished it.
It was a place of beauty, happiness, and even a place where you could particiate in a kite running contest. It then turned to a fear filled "holocaust-like" area that turned women into useless beings that had no rights whatsoever, and men into cringing animals. When the Taliban rode by in their red trucks, eye contact was not allowed to be made or else you'd get the butt of a gun to the face or beaten to death. Not only was the morbid areas fascinating, but also the areas where the irony just jumped out and smacked you in the face.
Amir's friend Hassan was born with a cleft lip, and after the years of wishing that he had not run when Hassan needed him, he got into a scrap with an old "villain," and got a split in the lip that left him with a scar that resembled that of a "cleft lip." And there was another part where... well, maybe I shouldn't spoil too much for you, so go ahead and pick up a copy for yourself.

Wiseguy book review

This is the most exciting biography you'll ever read. The only book you ever need to read about the Mafia is Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi. Wiseguy is the amazing true story of Henry Hill, as told to Pileggi, who wanted, as far back as he can remember, to be a gangster. His house in New York City was directly across from a taxi depot run by local mobsters. As he started running errands for the taxi depot, his life as a gangster began.

Hill then recollects his meeting and befriending of Jimmy Burke and Tommy DeSimone, how he joined the army (and hustled while he was there), and his life with his wife Karen. The best part of the story is the before, during, and after of the legendary Lufthansa heist, in which over six million dollars was stolen in a little over an hour. The story ends with Henry joining the witness protection program, in order to save himself from his good friend Jimmy.

Anyone will enjoy this book, and I dare you to give me one reason as to why this book isn’t a classic. It was later adapted into a 1990 Martin Scorsese film entitled GoodFellas, which is one of the best films ever made. This book will give you many reasons to want to be a gangster, but just as many (and more important) reasons to not be a gangster. These are people who kill someone because they ask them for a shoeshine.

The Things They Carried Book Review

The Thing They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, is a masterpiece of war literature. It has everything one looks for in a good read: adventure, love and suspense, to name but a few. It doesn't have a definite plot; being more a compilation of short stories, each with their own point to get across. Tim O'Brien is a master of being able to pinpoint so eloquently the feelings that are always so difficult to explain, and does so with a beautiful, almost deadly grace.

"He says cooze. Then he spits and stares. He's nineteen years old—it's too much for him—so he looks at you with those big sad gentle killer eyes and says cooze, because his friend is dead, and because it's so incredibly sad and true: she never wrote back" (pg 69) is an example of O'Brien using his poetic way with words to get his point across softly and yet have a less-than-pleasant meaning. His stories never have truly happy endings, but in the end you feel better having read it.

O'Brien has a certain way with words that gives off an emptiness reminiscent of "Okay, I've just fought in a war, now what do I do?" It's not a glorified story filled with words to boost his own ego. Instead, he tells the same story multiple times, always from a different angle and perspective, adding in or taking away a certain detail.

It's O'Brien's spectacular storytelling skills that make this book what it is. It's not a terribly long collection, but it feels complete. It's truly a masterpiece that shows the horrors of war without being dull, and is also a work of art which is a good tool for aspiring writers to use to become better.