The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini -- Chapter One

In listening to the audio recording of the first Harry Potter, it struck me that the first chapter was something of a masterpiece. Not a mention of magic or wizards in the whole of it. I decided that "The Kite Runner" had become something of a looming cloud, that was sure to overcome me soon. At a few minutes past nine, I opened the book, and read from the acknowledgments, to the end of the first chapter.

Now, the first chapter is very short, and this, coupled with the general light weight of the paperback, encouraged me. But the mass of the first chapter stopped me cold. I picked up a piece of loose-leaf paper that had fallen out of my Algebra 2 binder, stole a pen from "Inherit the Wind", and began to write.

The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

Chapter 1-Wonderful beginning -- I like the concept that a whole life can be defined by a single moment. He was twelve, and I'm thirteen.

I like how he sneaks the setting in: "peeking into the alley near the frozen creek"-tells me that it's cold outside. I can see him, "crouching behind a crumbling mud wall," his breath showing in the cold air. Also, the combination of "a crisp breeze" and "on a park bench by a willow tree" gives me the picture of a man by a willow tree, that is swaying in the breeze.

It seems symbolic, as though no man would sit by a willow tree that is swaying in the wind, unless thinking about something important.

But then I realized that I had written almost a whole page, about the setting, in a chapter that is two half-pages long. Either this Khaled Hosseini is an amazing writer, or I am suddenly the most insightful reader in the world.