KITE RUNNER

Circa 2003 -- Godfather was being shown on HBO. I always wanted to see this movie and jumped at the opportunity to catch this movie on a Sunday night in the comfort of the home. But a very good friend C asked me to read the book first. I still remember the words "If you really want to cherish the movie, read the book first". The rest is history - the one of best books I have ever read and one of the best movies I have ever seen.


Fast forward to today -- With nothing fun to do, I was contemplating which movie to catch and found the Kite Runner. I could not wait for lunch and immediately started it. And what an experience it was.


The ONCE beautiful and prosperous country of Afghanistan, the friendship between 2 boys built on subtle things like story telling and kite flying, the tragic circumstances of their separation, the sad present of today's Afghanistan -- depicted so simply yet so impactfully. Wow.


Though the movie has a happy ending, there were a few moments which have left me stunned... 
1 - Amir dedicating the book to his uncle for all the encouragement for his story writing talent as a kid. The statement -- This book is dedicated to Rahim Khan who enjoyed my stories even before I learnt how to write stories -- is so touching.
2 - The beautiful country that was Afghanistan and the ruins that it is today. Heart wrenching.
3 - The very apt line -- this country is not kind towards invaders.
4 - Last but not the least, the last dialog of the movie -- For you, a thousand times over -- just to see the kid smile.


That got me thinking, and reminded me of the Godfather episode narrated above. What if I had read the book first? Would the book be more memorable than the movie? Would the paperback paint a more vivid and colorful image than the HD DVD?

4 comments:

RS said...

Read the book?

Sneha said...

I haven’t read the book.. But the movie is really good.... Nik I am glad you pushed me to watch the movie when I was losing interest in the first 30 mins trying to read the sub-titles....

Harsha S Rao said...

Yyou shud have read the novel first...

Srikkanth said...

Just thinking...i have never heard anybody saying the movie was better than than the book for any novel converted into a movie... hope that answers your question...