The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Book Review

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Book Review The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is one of the best books I have read in years. This is a page turner with complex characters and situations that will make you think hard about friendship, good and evil, betrayal, and redemption. It is intense and contains some graphic scenes; however, it is not gratuitous. A great book by many measures. Reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini On one level, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of two boys in Afghanistan and Afghan immigrants in America. It is a story set in a culture that has become of increasing interest to Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks. It also explores the history of the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. On this level, it provides a good way for people to learn more about Afghan history and culture in the context of the story. Looking at The Kite Runner as a story about culture, however, misses what the book is really about. This is a novel about humanity. This is a story about friendship, loyalty, cruelty, longing for acceptance, redemption, and survival. The core story could be set in any culture because it deals with issues that are universal. The Kite Runner looks at how the main character, Amir, deals with a secret in his past and how that secret shaped who he became. It tells of Amirs childhood friendship with Hassan, his relationship with his father and growing up in a privileged place in society. I was drawn in by Amirs voice. I sympathized with him, cheered for him and felt angry with him at different points. Similarly, I became attached to Hassan and his father. The characters became real to me, and it was difficult for me to put the book down and leave their world. I highly recommend this book, especially for book clubs. For those of you who are not in a reading group, read it and then loan it to a friend. You are going to want to talk about it when you finish.

About Semiramis Also Known as Sammu-Ramat

About Semiramis Also Known as Sammu-Ramat Shamshi-Adad V ruled in the 9th century BCE, and his wife was named Shammuramat (in Akkadian). She was a regent after her husbands death for their son Adad-nirari III for several years.  At the time, the Assyrian Empire was considerably smaller than it was when later historians wrote of her. The legends of Semiramis (Sammu-Ramat or Shammuramat) are likely embellishments on that history. Semiramis at a Glance When: 9th century BCE Occupation:  legendary queen, warrior (neither she nor her husband, King Ninus, is on the Assyrian King List, a list on cuneiform tablets from ancient times) Also known as: Shammuramat Historical records Sources include Herodotus in his 5th century BCE. Ctesias, a Greek historian and physician, wrote about Assyria and Persia, opposing Herodotus history, publishing in the 5th century BCE. Diodorus of Sicily, a Greek historian, wrote Bibliotheca historia  between 60 and 30 BCE.  Justin, a Latin historian, wrote Historiarum Philippicarum libri XLIV, including some earlier material; he probably wrote in the 3rd century CE. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports that she invented the idea of eunuchs, castrating males in their youth to be servants as adults. Her name appears in the names of many places in Mesopotamia and Assyria. Semiramis also appears in Armenian legends. The Legends Some legends have Semiramis raised by doves in the desert, born the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis. Her first husband was said to have been the governor of Nineveh, Menones or Omnes. King Ninus of Babylon became captivated by the beauty of Semiramis, and after her first husband conveniently committed suicide, he married her. That may have been the first of his two biggest mistakes in judgment. The second came when Semiramis, now Queen of Babylon, convinced Ninus to make her Regent for a Day. He did so - and on that day, she had him executed, and she took the throne. Semiramis is said to have had a long string of one-night-stands with handsome soldiers. So that her power would not be threatened by a man who presumed on their relationship, she had each lover killed after a night of passion. Theres even one story that the army of Semiramis attacked and killed the sun itself (in the person of the god Er), for the crime of not returning her love. Echoing a similar myth about the goddess Ishtar, she implored the other gods to restore the sun to life. Semiramis is also credited with a renaissance of building in Babylon and with the conquest of neighboring states, including the defeat of the Indian army at the Indus River. When Semiramis returned from that battle, the legend has her turning over her power to her son, Ninyas, who then had her killed. She was 62 years old and had ruled alone for almost 25 years (or was it 42?). Another legend has her marrying her son Ninyas and living with him before he had her killed. Armenian Legend According to Armenian legend, Semiramis fell in lust with the Armenian king, Ara, and when he refused to marry her, led her troops against the Armenians, killing him. When her prayers to raise him from the dead failed, she disguised another man as Ara and convinced the Armenians that Ara had been resurrected to life. History The truth? Records show that after the reign of Shamshi-Adad V, 823-811 B.C.E., his widow Shammuramat served as regent from 811 - 808 B.C.E. The rest of the real history is lost, and all that remains are stories, most certainly exaggerated, from Greek historians. Legacy of the Legend The legend of Semiramis attracted not only the attention of Greek historians but the attention of novelists, historians and other storytellers through the centuries since. Great warrior queens in history have been called the Semiramis of their times. Rossinis opera, Semiramide, premiered in 1823. In 1897, the Semiramis Hotel was opened in Egypt, built on the banks of the Nile. It remains a luxury destination today, near the Museum of Egyptology in Cairo. Many novels have featured this intriguing, shadowy queen. Dantes  Divine Comedy  describes her as being in the Second Circle of Hell, a place for those condemned to hell for lust:  She is Semiramis, of whom we read /  That she succeeded Ninus, and was his spouse; /  She held the land which now the Sultan rules.