TRAGIC!

TRAGIC! The Swallows of Kabul - Yasmina Khadra


I really enjoyed this book, though the ending was so tragic. Books that stir up human compassion and understanding are wonderful. We are so quick to judge, to be so sure 'I would never do that! or How could they?'. This book shows how terrible events and situations can lead to unspeakable, unthinkable, and horrendous outcomes.

A couple of passages that made me think:

Chapter 6 - Page seventy two:

Zunaira is no Taliban, and her husband's not mad; if he lost his way in a moment of collective hysteria, that's because the horrors of everyday life are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm all defenses, and human degeneracy is deeper than any abyss. Mohsen is behaving like other people, recognizing his distress in theirs, identifying with their degradation. His deed provides proof that everything can change, without warning and beyond recognition.

Chapter 9 - Page one hundred and eighteen:

Even if you find an answer to every question today, you still won't be safe from whatever unknowable event may take place tomorrow. The learned man knew many things, but he was ignorant about the essential thing. Basically, being alive means keeping yourself ready for the sky to fall in on you at any time. If you start from the assumption that existence is only an ordeal, a test we have to pass, then you're equipped to deal with its sorrows and its surprises. If you persist in expecting it to give you something it can't give, that just proves that you haven't understood anything. Take things as they come; don't turn them into a drama. You're not piloting a ship, you're following the course of your destiny. Yesterday, I lost my mother. Today, I went to spend a few moments in silence at her grave. Now I'm at Khorsan's getting a bite to eat.

If you managed read this book during the busy month of December, please leave a comment! If you are unable to comment, please email me at littlemrsw@yahoo.ca.

Soon to come, January's Book!

Happy Reading!

Adding to My Vocabulary!

A Challenging Read!

The Swallows of Kabul, December's Book, has been tough to get into. Around page 20 or so I started to get hooked and I am still enjoying it now. 'Kabul' has many words I do not recognize and at first that put me off but I decided to use it to my advantage. Here are some of the words and their meaning...

According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary:

banality- in sense 'compulsory', hence 'common to all'.

puritanical- often derog. practising or affecting strict religious or moral behaviour.

latent- concealed, dormant.

vacillate- fluctuate in opinion or resolution.

impassive- deficient in or incapable of feeling emotion.

impoverished- make poor, exhaust the strength or natural fertility of.

inordinately- disorderly

languid- lacking vigour; idle; inert; apathetic.

eruditely - showing great learning.

funereal- (not funeral)- of or appropriate to a funeral. gloomy, dismal, dark.

litanies- a series of petitions for use in church services or processions.

compunction- the pricking of the conscience, a slight regret.

precipice- a dangerous situation.

loquacious- talkative; chattering, babbling.

Phew! So, looking up these words has definitely made this book more time consuming; on the other hand I am challenged to add these new words to my vocabulary.

What do you think? Tough read?

Happy Reading!

Have you gotten your hands on December's Book?

Have you gotten your hands on December's Book?

The Swallows Of Kabul written by Yasmina Khadra is our December's book. For more information about it go to the earlier post under December's Book on 'Tea Time'. Let me know if you have any problems getting this book.

Looking for suggestions for January's Book, please let me know if you have some ideas.

I am always interested in what books people are reading and what they think of them. Please don't feel obligated to only comment on the book of the month, let me know what you are reading!

Happy Reading!!

December's Book

The Swallow of Kabul, written by Yasmina Khadra.

As written on the back of the book:

Kabul under the Taliban, a devastated city ruled by executioners and crows, where laughing in public brings down the wrath of the religious police. This is the world in which Yasmina Khadra - the pseudonym of a former officer in the Algerian army - sets his cauterizing novel of fanaticism and tenderness.

With an implacable eye, Khadra follows two couples: Mohsen and Zunaira are dispirited survivors of Afghanistan's educated middle class; Atiq is a brutish jailer bound by a debt of gratitude to his dying wife, Musarrat. One day the horrified Mohsen finds himself taking part in the stoning of a condemned prostitute, an action that will impel all four characters toward new destinies. As spare as carved bone and filled with images that explode like bombs, The Swallows of Kabul is a work of haunting power.

"Beautifully written...Puts a human face on the suffering inflicted by the Taliban.... The Swallows of Kabul will stay with you long after you've finished it."--San Francisco Chronicle

This book is rather short, one hundred and ninety five pages, which is a good size for December because I am sure everyone finds themselves very busy.

I picked it up at Chapters today, $16.00, less with a Chapters Card.

Happy reading!!