Stay Away from the Kite Runner

I'm just about to finish reading the blockbuster novel, The Kite Runner. I don't usually read anything that's fiction because I don't like books that play with my emotions just for the hell of it. I'll usually stick to non-fiction or fiction based on actual events. After hearing so much about this particular book, and having an interest in the events occurring in Afghanistan, I decided to take a chance. Well, all I can say is this is a very well written book if you are into VC Andrews or if you watch soap operas. Otherwise there is nothing fabulous about it. Ridden with clichés and absurd plot twists, right up to the classic: my dead best friend was my brother and I never knew, it's nothing more than a story written by a surgeon who claims it's fiction. I personally find it very hard to believe that this is a work of fiction. With a lead character that is so unlikable maybe the author is ashamed to admit that it's him. I want to hear true stories of his life in Afghanistan, not a supposedly made up one that is simply written to make the reader go "Oh my, I was never expecting that." Number one rule of writing, Do Not Play The Reader Like They Are Dumb. It's a shame because a lot of people are probably looking at this book as a history lesson, when there are so many better, TRUE stories out there of this land and it's culture. Do a little research and find the stories that matter, and don't pick up trash that passes off as culture. Now let me get back to finishing up the last chapter. I can't wait to see how little Sohrab turns out.