good stuff

a couple of quick reviews...

ONCE
this little gem had been in the netflix queue for some time and i was delighted to finally find it in my mailbox the other day. i'd been hearing great reviews for it for a while. it's a very simply shot, but emotionally packed film about two musicians in Ireland who find each other and the relationship and music that comes from that...it is a very touching film and I haven't heard such refreshing music in a long time. we immediately went to emusic after watching the film to download the music. this film is bare bones and seems like you are there with them watching it unfold before you, which makes it touch your heart even more. go to the amazon link and listen to the song with the 2 of them in the music store and tell me your heart doesn't break. it won at Sundance and is nominated for a Grammy among other awards.
the music is just...wow! i can't do it justice in words, just rent it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

this is the newest book by the author of the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini. This man, who was born in Afghanistan, moved to America as a teen, and is now a doctor. He has written, I believe, 2 epic novels of our generation. I loved the Kite Runner. A book like that leaves quite an impact on you. But ATSS, unlike Kite Runner, is about women thus resonating with me even more. The gut wrenching part of reading his novels is knowing that millions of people live this life every day. Again, I am not much of a reviewer. I can't find words to do this piece of literature the merit it deserves. It opens my eyes to the plight of women around the world. Women who are the majority, women who are basically slaves and prisoners in their way of life, women who face war and death every day, women who love (no less) their families than I do, yet find love and joy in the midst of their circumstances. Certainly a lesson I need to daily remember in this cushy American life. I find that it is easy for me to block out what happens elsewhere across the ocean...I don't want to think about it...this tends to make me think of these women as faceless, who don't somehow feel the same that I feel. ..who don't have the same hopes and dreams that I have. They are different, I think. But they are not. If not for the grace of God, I could have been born an Afghan woman. I pray that God would continue to open my heart and call me to pray for them.
It truly, as my friend Angie says about the Kite Runner, makes me forever change the way I view immigrants.

I think to myself, if my family were starving, if I knew that there was a strong likelihood of my children being killed or taken prisoner to evil, would I not do everything in my power to flee that hell and take them to a place of freedom? If I knew that having my child born in the U.S. would offer it a life wholly different, wouldn't I go to great lengths to bring my child that life?

But, I ramble. This book is much more than what I can say here. I highly recommend reading it.