Too Much Driving For A Broken CD Player

OK, my CD player is busted, so I didn't finish "Clan of the Cave Bear," although it was getting pretty interesting. I did finish all three of the books I got on cassette, though. Steven King's "The Green Mile," "The Kite Runner," and I think I already mentioned "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood. Commuting gives me plenty of time to listen to books, but bad news for me: the new Weld County Library doesn't carry cassette tapes. They only have CD's. I was thoroughly disappointed to find that out. Now I have to go on the website and request them from other libraries. That sucks, because part of the fun was picking out books that I know nothing about.

At any rate, let's get back to the books. I know that at least some of you are familiar with at least one of these stories so I would really like to hear your thoughts on them. "The Green Mile" was, well, "The Green Mile." I saw the movie first, and I thought it was a marvelous adaptation. Sure, it left out the back story about Paul in the nursing home and Mr. Jingles living to the age of 60 or whatever it was, but I didn't think that was all that compelling anyway. Here is one instance where I think I prefer the movie because they really did a good job of casting. John Coffee (only not spelled the same way) was such a compelling character, I don't see how anyone could not find the story interesting on some level.

"The Kite Runner" (sorry, forgot the author's name and I am too tired to go look it up) was another great story. It was full of complex characters. Although the story line got a bit formulaic at one point, I thought it was a spectacular tale of human shame and redemption. It is, of course an interesting commentary on Afghanistan and it's recent history, and I think it is more well known for that (you are all welcome to leave your comments on that aspect if you wish), but I liked it for other reasons. One thing that struck me was when Amir writes his first short story about the man whose tears turned to pearls. In the book it is praised for its irony, but I thought the greatest irony was that it was actually the story of his own life. I guess they say, "you write what you know." It made me so sad. Then again at the end when he drives his nephew to attempted suicide...it nearly made me cry.

Well, I am out of energy for this tonight. Please leave me your thoughts and we can discuss in greater detail some of the more interesting and complex parts.

'Til next time...keep on reading those books!

--out--