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The Kite Runner Illustrated Edition
by Khaled Hosseini
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Large Photo
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Edition: Hardcover
Publication Date: October 04, 2007
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
ISBN: 1594489602
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 3036
Average Customer Rating: 
List price: $29.95
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Reviews
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 At What Price Comes Frienship ?, October 14, 2008
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My brother gave this book to me and urged me to read it. Although, not one of my usual choices, I got through it on the second attempt, and was glad that I did. What a beautiful place Afghanistan was before the wars and the Taliban ravaged the land and stole its identity. A beautiful story of family loyalties, friendships and youthful bliss gets blown apart as war raged and a horrific event drives a wedge right through everything that the subject 'Amir' held dear. Emigrating and starting anew in America with new hopes and dreams gets interrupted by a phone call and a return to the place he once called home to dire consequences. I was throughly engrossed in this book until the writer's return to his homeland where I found the events that unfolded to be quite cinematic. This left me somewhat disappointed as it moved towards a 'made-for-TV' movie where the plot became predictable. A fascinating and well-written story nonetheless, that I am glad to have been bullied into reading.
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 Living In Afghanistan, October 14, 2008
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The Kite Runner is a very well written novel that portrays the hardships of life growing up in the floundering world of war-time Afghanistan. Khaled Hosseini uses perfect imagery and truth to show the reader the world of his childhood. He describes everything, even (or rather especially) the parts of his life that he regrets the most. He gives the reader all the insight into his thoughts and feelings so that one feels as if they are right there with him while he experiences hate, jealousy, fear, and love. His style of revisiting scenes from his past gives one the connections to everything in his past, and the understanding of how much one small instant can affect him in such an enormous way. The way Hosseini has of describing every detail of an event with perfect clarity sets an amazing mood that, despite the tragedy and hardship in the novel, is actually extremely hopeful and determined. He reveals how good he is inside by showing everything that he has done wrong, and how remorseful he is for every moment of it. He tells it in a light that illuminates him as a coward, but by admitting this, the reader sees him as a hero. He shows that he has done so many horrible things, but he acknowledges them as that, and he feels grief and regret for every moment in which he wronged someone else. Instead of just forcing himself to forget all the things that he regrets doing, he dwells on them, and continually hopes for a way to make it all better. Hosseini truly gives the reader the feeling of living his life with him, and through his wonderful writing, he gives one the chance to experience everything he lived for.
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By its end _The Kite Runner_ completes a perfect circle, October 14, 2008
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The books begins with Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman and his very close, but poor and illiterate friend, Hassan, flying their kites. Later on Amir and his father, Baba, escape the dangerous political termoil in Afganistan and move to America. They live in San Francisco. The author of the novel lovingly describes the orange colored Golden Gate Bridge and the city's early morning fog.
Amir betrays Hassan by leading his father and Hassan's father to believe that Hassan has stolen Amir's watch. The years pass. Baba dies and Hassan disappears. Hassan's son, Sohrab, is placed in an orphanage where he is severely abused by a number of the other children. I will not say what takes place, but some of the novel's most powerfully evocative and very nearly tragic events occur in the book. Amir's great guilt over his conduct towards Hassan, leads Amir to make amends for his behavior. I will say that it involves Sohrab and Amir's great efforts to rescue him from his grave circumstances. There is enough here to make a grown man cry.
Mr. Hosseini writing is always moving and very realistic, particularly related to the friendship of the two boys and that of father, Baba, and son, Amir. The author even ties up the story by ending it the same way it began--with other boys running their kites.
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 look out for the kites, October 11, 2008
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The book centers around an Afghan named Amir who as a child pretty much srews over his friend because of his weaknesses in Afghanastan then moves to America with his father and then lastly he has to go back to Afghanastan to save his friend's son to make up for the wrongs he has done. The first part of the book takes place in early 70's Afghanastan when it was doing pretty good and before the wars. I liked this part of the book the most because for one thing you get to see how nice Afghanastan was a few decades ago and you learn that there hasn't always been war over there or the Taliban. You don't really get to learn that much about the culture, or at least that's how I felt about it, but you get a little insight of it. Another thing is that I feel like this part of the book is more well written than the rest of the book because it seems more like an autobiographical account.
After Amir and his father move to America the story seems to lose steam and pretty much doesn't go anywhere for a while until he goes to Pakistan to meet his fathers old friend who sends him to Afghanastan to find his chilhood friend's son. I liked his visit back to Afghanastan because you get to see how horrible all the wars and the Taliban have transformed the once beautiful cities into wastlands. However during the middle part of the book there are a lot of coincidences which I was able to be okay with but with, because this is fiction, but some of them are just unbelievable. Another thing is that you could see what was going to happen way before it did.
Overall this is a decent book that gives a glimpse of Afghanastan past and present even thought the characters are ficticious and I wouldn't highly recommend it but I would recommend it if this sounds like your kind of book.
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Must read, October 9, 2008
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The book is fascinating, throws you into a world that is hard to comprehend for some and yet a lot of what is being described are things everyone of us "westerners" feels and does as well.
A must read.
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Reviews
