The Kite Runner: of things I want to remember

A book should be a garden that fits in the hands. Word-petals of color. Stems of strength. Roots of truth. Turn a page and turn the seasons. Read the sentence and enjoy the roses.

“It’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.”

“How could I be such an open book to him when, half the time, I had no idea what was milling around in his head? I was the one who went to school, the one who could read, write. I was the smart one. Hassan couldn’t read a first-grade textbook but he’d read me plenty. That was a little unsettling, but also sort of comfortable to have someone who always knew what you needed.”

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime”

“Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that? When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see? There is no act more wretched than stealing.”

“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”

“Zendagi migzara, we say, life goes on.”

“Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don’t have to say anything.”

“Panic.
You open your mouth. Open it so wide your jaws creak. You order your lungs to draw air, NOW, you need air, need it NOW. But your airways ignore you. They collapse, tighten, squeeze, and suddenly you’re breathing through a drinking straw. Your mouth closes and your lips purse and all you can manage is a strangled croak. Your hands wriggle and shake. Somewhere a dam has cracked open and a flood of cold sweat spills, drenches your body. You want to scream. You would if you could. But you have to breathe to scream.
Panic.”

“But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie”

“A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”

“Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.”

• Hassan: What's the story about?
• Amir: It's about a poor man who finds a magic cup. He realizes that if weeps into the cup, they turn into pearls. At the end of the story, he stands on a mountain of pearls with a bloody knife in his hand and his dead wife in his arms.
• Hassan: So he killed her?
• Amir: Yes, Hassan.
• Hassan: So that he'd cry and get rich.
• Amir: You're very quick, Hassan.
• Amir: What?
• Hassan: Nothing Amir. Are you done with breakfast? (Hassan is Amir's family servant's son)
• Amir: What?
• Hassan: Well, will you permit me to ask a question about the story?
• Amir: Of course.
• Hassan: Why did the man have to kill his wife?
• Amir: Because each of his tears becomes a pearl.
• Hassan: Yes, but why couldn't he just smell an onion?

“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.”

“there is a God, there always had been. I see Him here, in the eyes of the people in this corridor of desperation. This is the real house of God, this is where those who have lost God will find Him, not the white masjid with its bright diamond lights and towering minarets.”

“There is a way to be good again.”

_________________________________________________________________________

just so that i won't forget.

it's not the greatest book i've ever read, yet.

but a good book is worth a visit,

to be reread

after a long time of uncertainty 

and the transitions became blurry image of fading faith

there's always a way to be good again!

________________________________________________________________________

Haniff, shafiq,

sewaktu membaca naskah ini

seringkali akak membayangkan persahabatan Hassan dan Amir

dan cuba meletakkan kalian di tempat mereka

kalian, tentulah lebih indah ukhwahnya.

kan?

terima kasih, untuk catatan

yang kalian tinggalkan.

mohon izin dipinjam buat bekal perjalanan

terbanglah layang-layang
petang indah angin menderu
naiklah tinggi ke awan
apa dikira sakit jarimu

terbanglah layang-layang
terbang tinggi melihat bumi
kejarlah burung melayang
usah kauhirau terputus tali

terbang jauh jangan pulang
terbang tinggi jangan kembali
layang-layang yang tidak terbang
seperti sampan tiada kemudi

*

jawabku abang,
hitam-putih pelangi
layang-layangku kan tetap tinggi

kalaupun aku belum berani.

***

begitulah.
tapi kau lebih tahu kan, layang-layang tak terbang seorang.

bukan ia tak mahu.

kadang setelah pelangi putih,
angin tak kencang lagi.


antara layang-layang, tali, kemudi, dan angin, siapa yang harus lebih berani sebenarnya?

_______________________________________________________

hanya supaya saya tidak lupa!

.