Just watched "Now You See Me." Started off great (how the heck did the movie producers know that the whole audience would be thinking 7 of Diamonds - even if it was slightly more prominently shown for a longer period of time it was a pretty cool party trick) and I thought the plot built really well and the cast was awesome - BUT the ending....WHAT???? Too unbelievable - not in a magic sort of way, but just a really farfetched non-believable way.
Also just read "And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini. I am a huge fan of Hosseini - his storytelling skills are incredible and his signature themes of the ties that bind family set against the history of Afghanistan shine through once again. The style in his latest book is different from the other two in that the story is told by many characters that jump across time and geographies. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, I was left heartbroken (a recurring theme in all his books) that Pari and Abdullah never really get to reunite - even though they physically find each other at the end of their lives, Abdullah has already started his descent into dementia/Alzheimer's and he never realizes who she is. It made me even more sad that on her end, she didn't remember the box of feathers. The missed connection killed me - maybe even more than if they never would have physically found each other (something about the the whole "so close, yet so far away" thing was even more heartbreaking).
I think what makes Hosseini such an amazing storyteller and writer is his ability to really reflect the complexity of the human condition through his characters. Also his unique ability to never really provide a happy ending, yet have the reader feel thoroughly satisfied after reading his books (not satisfied with the ending per se, but satisfied with the story itself). All day I couldn't shake the feeling of ashwi-um (Korean for sorrow/regret/longing/what could have been), but I suppose that was exactly his point.
Also just read "And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini. I am a huge fan of Hosseini - his storytelling skills are incredible and his signature themes of the ties that bind family set against the history of Afghanistan shine through once again. The style in his latest book is different from the other two in that the story is told by many characters that jump across time and geographies. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, I was left heartbroken (a recurring theme in all his books) that Pari and Abdullah never really get to reunite - even though they physically find each other at the end of their lives, Abdullah has already started his descent into dementia/Alzheimer's and he never realizes who she is. It made me even more sad that on her end, she didn't remember the box of feathers. The missed connection killed me - maybe even more than if they never would have physically found each other (something about the the whole "so close, yet so far away" thing was even more heartbreaking).
I think what makes Hosseini such an amazing storyteller and writer is his ability to really reflect the complexity of the human condition through his characters. Also his unique ability to never really provide a happy ending, yet have the reader feel thoroughly satisfied after reading his books (not satisfied with the ending per se, but satisfied with the story itself). All day I couldn't shake the feeling of ashwi-um (Korean for sorrow/regret/longing/what could have been), but I suppose that was exactly his point.
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