the power of fiction

August 8, 2008

The headline story on this morning's CNN.com homepage read "Family Vows Suicide After Daughter's Rape". Underneath the bold typeface was a photo of a distraught teenage Afghani girl shamefully shielding her face with her hand. On any other day, I would have quickly scanned the story, shaken my head at the atrocity of it all, and clicked on the story about the Brangelina twins (about whom I know way too much already). But since I am in the last few chapters of The Kite Runner, a story set in pre- and post-war Afghanistan, I read the whole article, understood the general meaning of words like sharia--Islamic law--and noor--honor, and almost wept for this family whose whole world has been irreparably shattered.

More than likely, we will not get the "Shamed Afghan Family Commits Suicide" follow up story because some celebrity piece will trump the human interest story. Because we follow the stories of the rich and famous with more interest and attention to detail than we follow almost anything else in the media. I can tell you that Brad and Angelina's kids are named Maddox, Zahara, Pax Thien, Shiloh, Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon. But the president of Afghanistan? Something Karzai, I think?

As a child, I was a voracious reader, and an indiscriminate one at that. I read anything from Danielle Steele to Judy Blume to V.C. Andrews to R.L Stein to Christopher Pike to Charles Dickens to the Bronte sisters. Whatever. I just wanted to read. The internet didn't exist, and I didn't like my family that much. I didn't have a TV in my room so reading was my ticket to ride. It was my escape.

I spent 9 years in Catholic school but learned more about the sons of Isaac from The Red Tent. I've never been to Russia but have been haunted for years by the images of St. Petersburg in Dostoevsky's "Dream of a Ridiculous Man". And we've been at war for almost 7 years but this is the first time that words like "Taliban" and "jihad" evoke more than just (a) frustration with the Bush administration's oil thirst, and (b) fear of getting on an airplane. I wonder how things would be different if there was a reality show on Bravo about life in Baghdad.

I guess I can go to the library and check out any number of books on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. I can do a quick google search and get a detailed outline of the key players in this senseless war. But I'd much rather have someone tell me a story about it. Because then I would know what it smells like when "US Puts Violent Iraqi Prisoners In Crates".