jonah

3.5

I find it somewhat difficult to review this book, as I have conflicting feelings towards its various aspects. The author writes quite well, I can see why so many comment on the prose, it's largely effective and entertaining, even if I found it dull and hollow at points.

will looking through some of the reviews, I was again reminded of the utterly unhinged, egoistic, and delusional nature of both negative and positive top Goodreads reviews, Jesus Christ.

Many reviewers despise Amir in one form or another, which I find very interesting. It seems so many are compelled by nothing more than a virtuosic, Disney-esque main character, and any deviation from this is met with hilariously infantile commentary about just how terrible the main character is for possessing very human flaws. There are, however, some very valid criticisms I have of The Kite Runner. I found the highly “coincidental” occurrences in the book to be a bit much, and even found myself losing immersion and my ability to suspend my disbelief because of them. I won't be going in depth, but mainly the reappearance of Assef and Hassan's son becoming a Bache bāzī.

But my greatest issue with this book lies in its dealings with the Taliban and frankly in some of the ways it deals with contemporary Afghan politics in general. Hosseini's depiction of the Taliban is devoid of any material analysis or understanding—they are portrayed simply as a very scary and cartoonishly evil group who are bad just because. I find that much of this book can simply serve to reinforce the warped and backward perspectives many Americans hold of Afghanistan and the Middle East in general, while also making the reader feel as though they are sufficiently educating themselves on this issue. Just a thought.

I had fairly realistic expectations going into this book, anticipating little more than a typical self-help, grindset, get-your-money-up-not-your-funny-up type of book, and I was pleasantly surprised. Clear is very practical and realistic, you can tell how knowledgeable he is every page of the book, but it's not obnoxious or filled with fluff. With a lot of non-fiction productivity type books, I've noticed a lot of repetition and rehashing of the same points, over, and over. This book hardly had any fluff or unnecessary repetition, greatly appreciated.
Clear also includes a bullet list after every chapter summarizing the material, and frankly I don't know why this practice is not more widespread. Additionally, there are many graphs and figures of his own creation, which surprised me in their effectiveness to represent his ideas.
Genuinely insightful and impressive, I would recommend this to anyone who cannot keep their shit together.

3.9

I was pleasantly surprised by the latter half of the book. The author was clearly inspired by [b: My Year of Rest and Relaxation|44279110|My Year of Rest and Relaxation|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597676656l/44279110.SY75.jpg|55508660], which is reflected in the first half or so. However, I was truly impressed by how she developed the story. I believe Irina is brilliant as a main character, and as we discover how unreliable Irina is as a narrator, I loved that I was forced to question the true nature of Irina's experiences, how removed from reality she may be. Very [b: American Psycho|28676|American Psycho|Bret Easton Ellis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436934349l/28676._SY75_.jpg|2270060]-esque. The ending was impeccable, the bag/severed head sequence really stuck with me.

Also I <3 Eddie from Tesco, Fuck you Irina
But also I love her.

-1.1 for the British slang.