Kite Runner

Monday and all is quiet. The Ice Cream Social is over for another year and the Orland Library got a few more bucks…for books. If only we could get enough money to keep the library open 6 days a week. Yes, that is how libraries operated back in the ‘old days’ before Reagan. It was a system designed to serve the public and was open evenings and Saturdays. I know it’s an odd concept these days; serving the public good? Why do that when you can just as easily serve private interests.

And speaking of books, as I was… I finished the Kite Runner. This was the first book by Khaled Hosseini, published in 2005. It’s definitely another great book, but, it wasn’t quite as good as his latest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Well, maybe it was as good...it was just different. I think he’s close to perfecting his writing style now and I’m looking forward to another book from him.

By reading these books, you can begin to understand the complexities of life in Afghanistan. But it’s only a beginning. Tribalism governs every aspect of life there and it’s almost impossible for this western mind to comprehend. At the same time, the book should make us aware of the fact that we are only one step removed from the same deadly affliction. Tribalism represents a comfort zone for far too many of us. Real freedom requires constant vigilance.