The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Published in 2004. 400 pages.
Check out The Kite Runner and
Author's website
What its about: Hosseini provides an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over.
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. 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.
Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. 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.
What I thought: I loved it! Truly. This is usually not my typical type of book - but I like to check out the NYT Bestsellers to see what all of the hype is about. And this one deserves it. The characters were so real. My jaw dropped at certain parts. I got tears in my eyes for other parts. Even times that made me chuckle. The story spans over a period of 30 years or so...taking the main character Amir from a young boy to adulthood. Some of the themes throughout the book include: Wealthy vs Poor, Weak vs. Strong, Lies vs Truth, Violence vs Peace, Loyal vs Disloyal. Toward the end of the book, the story line does become a bit predictable (which does not occur through the first 3/4 of the book). So that was a tad disappointing...but in no way negatively impacts my opinion of the book. At some point in the near future, I would like to read Hosseini's second book 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. Also, during my online research, I found out that there was a movie made for The Kite Runner - so I will have to check that out as well. Have any of you seen it or read this book? I'd love to hear your comments!
Date Finished: April 22, 2008
Currently reading: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (still) and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
2 comments:
Thanks for writing about this book. It's sort of been on my radar, but I just didn't know much about it until now.
Aw thats awesome getting a comment from you!! :) I say, read it. I learned a lot. I was so ignorant to that country and lifestyle. It opened my eyes and my heart. It was nice and honestly, it's not normally my genre... let me know if you decide to try it out!
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