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The Kite Runner |
The Kite Runnerby Khaled Hosseini |
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The timely and critically acclaimed debut novel that's becoming a word-of-mouth phenomenon...
From Amazon.com Review:
In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")
Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg
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Rayovac Reading Light: Pillow Light (Colors May Vary) |
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A Modern Classic -  |
The Kite Runner Review |
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I've read some good books in the last several years. Lately I've read a fair amount of good novels, fiction in particular. "The Double Bind" by Chris Bohjalian, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and "House of Sand and Fog" by Andre Dubus are a few examples.
I didn't know what a GREAT novel was until I read "The Kite Runner". It has been a long time, maybe the first time in fact, that for me personally a book has been so incredibly moving that it brought me to tears. I had forgotten how deeply satisfying great writing can be to read and I can only hope that I have the opportunity to read more than one novel as great as this. "The Kite Runner" is a tour de force of modern literature, one that digs deep into the soul of its characters and exposes their greatest faults and vulnerabilities for the world to see. It seeks to breach the core of human suffering, to cross-examine it and to show how in moments of weakness we revisit this suffering upon each other time and again whether it be with our words or our actions. It examines the fight against the tide of change and the hardships of war. It preaches a powerful message about integrity, about knowing and accepting the truth about ourselves and each other and the consequences we face when we dishonor that truth. Most of all, it demonstrates that the bonds of love and family yet hold strong despite the worst of circumstances. Author Khaled Hosseini brings us all these elements in the form of Amir, a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim whose life begins as one of privilege in Kabul, Afghanistan. Brought up with him in the same household is Hassan, a Shi'a from Hazarajat. Hassan's religious sect and place of origin make him a lower-class citizen and though he and his father Ali work as servants in Amir's house, the divisions of class are invisible to the boys and they are the best of friends. Nursed from the same woman while they were infants, the boys are told they have been bonded for life but this very bond would be tested in Amir's struggle to win his Baba's affection. Hoping to gain his father's pride through a raucous Afghan sport known as kite fighting, Amir wins the tournament but his shining moment would be forever marred by an event that he would keep secret for many years afterward. This secret would not only destroy his friendship with the staunchly loyal Hassan but it would also affect many of his personal relationships throughout his lifetime. From the beginning, the novel paints a vivid picture of life in Afghanistan and makes of Amir a sullen and sensitive boy that suffers the constant and quiet criticism of his father. His confusion on his father's emotional distance begins transforming into resentment as he observes a special bond going on between Baba and Hassan, Baba reserving the customary suffix of endearment ("jan") for a servant instead of his own son. Their strained relationship would change once they were forced to flee Afghanistan for the US in 1981 in the wake of a Soviet invasion, followed by the ruthless sweep of the Taliban regime. Their life in America versus life in Kabul is a stinging contrast - as Afghans they were well-to-do, but as American citizens they fight borderline poverty in the small city of Fremont, CA. Though Amir manages to make a life for himself and become the writer he'd wanted to be since his childhood, the memory of Hassan haunts him in everything he does. Amir is eventually given the chance to redeem himself but by this time the reader is somewhat apathetic toward him, his cowardice and selfishness creating skepticism as to whether he has the courage needed to carry out such a task. The revelations of this powerful story are born from a beautifully strategic storyline and the reader will become so absorbed by Hosseini's exquisite narrative that in subsequent readings of the novel, they will gain a new appreciation for his subtle foreshadowing. More than once my hand flew to my mouth in shock as I audibly murmured "Oh God, no" when the climactic moments in the novel came to pass, the realization of what was about to transpire hitting me like a ton of bricks. Hosseini also provides an eye-opening depiction of Afghan cities under the dictatorial thumb of the Taliban, providing many factual elements including a public stoning of a man and woman claimed to be adulterers in Kabul's own soccer stadium. His inclusion of true events lend an important history lesson to his story and serve to educate those oblivious to the tyranny of a radical Islamic group and the devastation of a people and their country. Bottom line: A five-star rating on this book simply doesn't do it justice. Were there five more stars on Amazon's rating system, I'd give it all ten and then some. "The Kite Runner" is bound to become a new classic, rivaling the works of renowned authors like John Steinbeck, Harper Lee and Ernest Hemingway. I am of the opinion that it should become required reading on high school English curriculums, as its ageless and resonating themes of family, friendship, love, loyalty, betrayal and redemption transcend the fickle and minute realm of popular fiction. |
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Ki - |
The Kite Runner Review |
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Innocence...a child's life, each day a chance to improvise
Storybooks read to the illiterate with pieces revised Hills to climb trees to climb, dads car to go to the bizarre in Pomegranates aroma, a true friend to find yourself in A pledge to eat dirt or not to define who you are or not Hazara and Suni unaware of their world as children they sing In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things A larger Afghan world of traditions bent on stature One up over one down One man determined to rupture A divergence of advantages mixed upon the disadvantaged Bound together by a family in secret genetic heritage Brute upon hero as in David and Goliath Innocence faces brutality in a Kite Runners undoing In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things to read the complet review please go to my blog http://cigarroomofbooks.blogspot.com/2008/04/kite-runner.html |
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Wonderful - |
The Kite Runner Review |
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I loved this book! A story of loyalty, love, guilt, shame and jealousy all with very credible characters. Shows the best and worst of people and did not have a corny ending. That is very important to me. I don't have time to read as much as I would like so to get hold of a gem like this was a real pleasure. |
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Fantastic - |
The Kite Runner Review |
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If there is a book that must be read, it is this, it is this, it is this... |
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powerful and moving - |
The Kite Runner Review |
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Wonderful book. The story is powerful and moving. The characters are vividly and realistically portrayed. You feel the pain of the hero's flaws. Hosseini's story allow you to vicariously experience life in pre- and post-war Afghanistan, as well as experience the culture shock of becoming an immigrant transplant to the US, including the subtleties of interactions among fellow transplants.
This is an immensely compelling read on so many levels, and it is one of the most enlightening books of fiction I have ever read. |
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