The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini , New York Times Bestseller and Major Motion Picture, which is not a book about the Christian faith, is a great study for Point of View (POV).
The book is about a young boy who has an idyllic childhood in Afghanistan. Things change as he matures through government turmoil until he and his father are forced to flee to America. He finishes school, marries, and is awaiting the birth of his first child, when an old family friend contacts him and begs him to come to Pakistan for an important farewell.
The book is interesting on several levels. First, it shares the culture of another country I knew nothing about. Second, it shows how political unrest can steal all the good things in life that we all take for granted. Third, it shows how a strong character can change and survive.
I was looking over my notes about POV that I wrote at different workshops. Two ideas stuck out as I read. Mary DeMuth told us at last year's ACFW Conference, we should pretend we were looking through a pirate's spy glass to understand the concept we could only write what the character could see through the spy glass. Karen Kelley stated she becomes the character as she writes the book.
I became Amir as I read the book. I saw the changes in Afghanistan through his eyes in a deep and personal way the nightly news can never capture.
An expected delight in the book was the author's use of parallelism. Seemingly, unimportant information at the beginning of the story ended the book with great importance with A-Ha moments.
I appreciated how the story challenged my reasoning and opened my emotions. The narrative is so closely limited to the character, reading it you would assume it was an autobiography.
I have two recommendations. Read The Kite Runner, which will lead you to reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, and putting your name on the reserve list for the movie, The Kite Runner. Secondly, as you read books, notice what the author does to make it work for you. As many have said, "If you want to be a writer, you must first be a reader."
Moonine Sue Watson
You are right. We should read across the board, not only to gain a broader sense of understanding, but also to study the craft of writing.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I buy a fiction book. Mark notes in it and hightlight specific devices, so I can learn the authors creative design.
Fiction as well as non-fiction can serve as a useful tool for writing.
I LOVED The Kite Runner, Sue!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the second book yet, but I definitely will. :-)
Sue, loved your post. I haven't read that book, but that makes me want to read it. Good job.
ReplyDeleteJanet