posted
Two of my favorite books in recent memory, and I'm wondering if the plot structure in The Kite Runner provided any of the inspiration for Ender in Exile.
Both books feature a central character who commits an act in their childhoods regarding which they are (justly or unjustly) overcome with guilt. Perhaps guilt is too simplistic a description. Suffice it to say, that it continues to haunt them, and becomes an emotional touchstone for their entire adolescence and early adult life.
Both characters spend many years unconciously longing for some kind of punishment for their "crimes." And when, at the climax of the novel, that punishment is unintentionally doled out by a third party (both in the old-fashioned form of being beaten nearly to death), an emotional dam breaks —along with noses, jaws, and other assorted bones— and the healing process is finally allowed to begin.
A beautiful plot arc, used effectively in both books. Anyone else who's read both care to weigh in on other similarities, or differences? Also, has Card ever mentioned The Kite Runner? I would hope that by now he's read it (Card and others: if you haven't, DO. It's an absolutely gorgeous book. Beautiful, powerful, and honest.)
Posts: 61 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Yes, I thought of the Kite Runner when I was reading that part too. I was like, where have I seen this before? But I agree that it definitely works really well in both cases.
Posts: 930 | Registered: Dec 2006
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I could not read the Kite Runner again. It was a fantastic book, don't get me wrong. I had just finished The Namesake and was just emotional drained by both books. Maybe it is because I knew Ender would be "okay" (okay by ENDER STANDARDS)the scene didn't bring the Kite Runner to mind.
Posts: 204 | Registered: Aug 2001
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The scene really didn't work for me. I liked the rest of the book, but that particular scene called for too much emotional investment with Ender and Arkanian, when there really had been no insight into Ender's emotions through the entire book, and even less time spent dealing with Arkanian at all. When you compare the treatment of characters in the beginning of Shadow and the end of EG, this ending tried to incorporate the two and fell flat for lack of groundwork. What made the original Ender and Bean character sketches so powerful was all missing, imo.
And when you compare this ending to KR, it's the same thing. KR spent an entire book dealing with Amir's guilt, when OSC had already done that with Ender's guilt 7 books earlier- it didn't need a rehash. And the villain in KR was a representation of evil, not one of naivete and ignorance, which is what Arkanian is. I definitely saw the parallel when I read it, but having read KR first, I wasn't into it this time.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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