The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini

“I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched. Paralysed” Five stars for a stunning book where remorse, guilt, injustice, prejudice, and forgiveness play a significant part in the heart-breaking stories of Amir, son of Baba, and Hassan, son of Rahim Aga, a loyal friend and servant to the Amir’s father, set against the backdrop of some of Afghanistan’s most turbulent years. 'The Kite Runner' is an unforgettable story about two young boys whose lives are shaped by the regrettable decisions taken, inaction and cowardice that strains their relationship and ultimately tears them apart. It is also a story that signifies the power of voice and the devastating consequences of not using it when the time and cause requires it. Yet is also a tender story that demonstrates forgiveness, the power of love, and the importance of confronting the lies and injustices around us. A truly sensational story that is told with sentiment, honesty and with a powerful message. The Plot Amir and Hassan are friends, Amir “..was a Pashtun and Hassan was a Hazara, Amir was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that” However, the two boys shared a love of kite flying and won competitions and Hassan the title of best ‘Kite Runner’. Yet the two boys could not deny their racial differences as Hassan was forced to sit on the side lines while Amir played with other Sunni friends. Behind closed doors and away from probing eyes they were devoted friends until an evil act of depravity charts the boys on different courses. As Amir struggles to forgive himself for inaction and cowardice, he recalls “.. I had one last chance to make a decision. One. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward” The story continues along two different paths until Amir, despite his successes in America, is forced to confront the ugly past with a twist that he could predict as the secrets hidden from him are revealed. Review and Comments A heart felt and touching story that shines a light on the injustices, suffering, and racial disparities felt across the world, without being judgemental. A story that needed to be told and a book that should be read. However, it was the forgiveness in the book that pulled on my heart strings just as much. I love books that deliver strong messages but don’t lecture or patronise or seek to influence the reader politically or socially. It is up to the reader to take from these stories what they will and shape their own opinions. Yet they do help us understand different perspectives, the hardship of people displaced and suffering that comes with unrest and for that reason I adored ‘The Kite Runner’. The writing style is superb, and I particularly loved the words and teachings of the wise men, and there is no shortage of them in this narrative. One of my standout quotes from this beautiful book is “…there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?” …. “When you kill a man, you steal a life,” Baba said. “You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?” Sad, powerful, and poignant, yet beautiful and tender in parts as the power of voice reminds us of when we should use it. I would give this book 6 stars if I could. Sensational.

When I put The Kite Runner down (I'd finished reading or I'd still be clutching it), the overwhelming thought was simply wow. I fell in love with this book. I learned, I wept, I was utterly captivated. This is not the type of book I'm normally drawn to. I put off reading it because it seemed like it might be hard work. I wish I'd read it sooner. Khaled Hosseini writes so beautifully about such harrowing realities that you don't realise just what you're learning through his fiction until you pause to reflect for a moment. Fiction based in realities is often bleak and dreary. Not this. The warmth and colour seep from the pages and you take to heart the plight of a nation that has suffered so much in modern times. Afghanistan became a villain in the western world's pantomime with 9-11. But who has stopped to think about its people? The real people; not the extremist minority. They aren't perfect and Hosseini shows us a warts and all life through the eyes of Amir from childhood into his middle years. He also shows us that Afghanistan is full of humans; people who love, who strive and who suffer making them no different to any other country on earth. Through the memories and introspection of one man, we learn so much about the living, breathing culture and the struggles that so many have endured for so long. This is a story of growth, of love, of loss and endurance and the courage to do what is right against even one's own better judgement. What do kites have to do with it? Well, quite a lot in terms of significance and I'll say no more about it because you have to read this book. You'll even learn some linguistic lessons and I cannot fault Hosseini's method of delivery for this. A word in italics is quickly translated, denoted only by commas within the same flowing sentence. A lovely light touch that makes it a joy to take in. You will spot numerous words that are already part of English language and culture in some form. An effortless learning experience that leaves you in no need of a reminder when words recur. I can't do the story justice without pulling it apart to retell it in summary and really the best way to find out what The Kite Runner is all about is to read it. What a read it is too. I know I'll revisit this one more than once in years to come.

I recently read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and I must say, it was a truly captivating and emotional read. The story follows the life of Amir, a young boy from Afghanistan who goes through a series of hardships that ultimately shape him into the person he becomes. What struck me the most about this book was the vivid imagery and descriptive writing that painted a clear picture of the culture and traditions of Afghanistan. The characters were well-developed and their relationships and interactions felt genuine and raw. Despite the heavy themes of betrayal, redemption, and sacrifice, there were also moments of warmth and love that brought a smile to my face. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that there were certain sections that dragged on a bit too long, but overall I would highly recommend The Kite Runner to anyone looking for a moving and thought-provoking read.

Two young boys grow up side by side in Kabul in the 1970s. Though in some ways they are best friends, they are not equal. The narrator, Amir, is the son of a rich man, whom he calls Baba, and Hassan is the son of Baba's servant, Ali. Both boys are motherless: Amir's mother died in childbirth, while Hassan's mother ran away not long after he was born, leaving her husband to bring Hassan up alone. Amir is being educated, Hassan is illiterate and likely to remain that way. Hassan acts as Amir's servant as well as his friend. But, more importantly in an Afghanistan divided along lines of class and religion, Amir is a Pashtun Sunni, part of the ruling class, while Hassan is a Hazara Shi'a – a group reviled and mocked. One day, during a kite-fighting competition, something will happen that will drive these friends apart, in a foreshadowing of the wars that will soon break the country apart. Many years later, as Amir returns to Kabul from his new home in America, his mission to put right some of the things left unresolved from his childhood mirrors the question of whether this broken country can ever find resolutions to its bitter divisions. The first half of the book, which tells of the boys' childhood and the event that changed their lives, is beautifully written, full of emotional truth. It is written in the first person from Amir's point of view and he is a harsh judge of his younger self. He shows himself as weak and cowardly, traitorous even, while Hassan is all that is good and loyal and brave. Amir feels his father blames him for his mother's death, and is jealous that Baba often seems to show as much fondness for Hassan as for himself. While Hassan is a little too good to be true, it feels as if this is deliberate – that Amir's guilt over his own actions has led him into idealising his childhood friend. And the reverse of that is that Amir's depiction of himself also has to be seen as being affected by the same guilt, so that while sometimes it's hard to like him, it's still easy to empathise – to remember that he was a child and to look at how both boys had the prejudices of their society instilled into them from birth. We also see how Amir is affected by the struggle to gain his father's affection despite feeling that he could never be the kind of boy his father wants his son to be. For me, the second half of the book didn't completely match up to the excellent standards of the first. Amir and his father flee the wars and end up in America. There is a lengthy section about their experiences there, and perhaps I'm just a little tired of the “immigrant experience” storyline now; it seems to have been done too often over the last couple of decades, and I didn't feel this one added much to either that subject or this story. It feels like something of a hiatus, and a little contrived – a device almost, to allow Amir to return later to Kabul, looking at it through fresh, adult eyes. And when he does go back to Kabul, to show the horrors of life under the Taliban, it begins to verge on the polemical. This is a minor criticism though of what is, overall, a great book. I was thinking as I read the second half that it may well have affected me differently thirteen years ago when it was first published – I would have known far less about Afghanistan and almost nothing about the Taliban, and I suspect I would have found the book more shocking and gut-wrenching as a result. Now, if anything, the picture he paints seems a little muted – how easily we become conditioned to horror. Now the first half seems beautifully novelistic, but the second half feels almost journalistic, and the ending didn't convince me nearly as much as the story of Amir and Hassan as children. I'm glad to have read it, though, and highly recommend it. I suspect it's a book that will find its full impact again if and when we ever reach a point where this never-ending conflict is past and fading into history. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.

Great book, beautiful writing.

Daughter loved this

This is one of those books that hooks you right from the start. Written in the first person, the author makes no attempts to sway the reader into either liking, nor disliking the protagonist, but rather to make their own mind up about him. The characters traits are introduced gradually and the author hints at the relationship between the main character and his father but leaves you guessing for the most part. What I liked the most about the book is all the events, although shocking and heartbreaking, could be based on real events (and many even are.) It opened me up to a world I've never experienced before (War, Taliban, Refugees, Child abuse...) and you feel like you're right there, actually living it yourself. This story is an emotional rollercoaster and you can never predict what is going to happen next. I was shocked many times throughout the book at how the story played out in different chapters. Although the book is solely about tragic events, this doesn't make it too sad or difficult to read. I felt deep sympathy reading this but the author has a clever way of writing (sort of dryly or matter-of-factly) which keeps you gripped throughout. I'm currently on the last chapter and I've already ordered another book by Khaled Hosseini, he has become one of my favourite authors!

I generally try to avoid books which have too much hype, which is why it has taken me this long to get around to reading The Kite Runner. I have to say that I was a fool to myself, as the book deserved all the hype and more. This story of a boy's complex relationship with his father, set against the history of Afghanistan over the last forty years is absolutely wonderful. The story is well plotted and full of twists and turns. There is plenty of suspense and lots of aspects of the book which were surprising and which held my interest. The characters are well drawn and emotionally sympathetic, as well as remaining complex and believable, rather than being portrayed as one dimensional vehicles in a bigger, moral story, which is how I imagined it would be when I first heard about the book. The book is beautifully written and utterly compelling to read. Having read A Thousand Splendid Suns previously and loved it, I am now waiting to see what Hosseini will treat us to next.

It’s a very good novel. It was an amazing book to read. Now I wish I could read it for the first time again. It had so many interesting scenes and many heart breaking moments. Perfect.

Nice easy read

It’s a nice book, and the quality is decent. I was a bit worried after reading reviews about missing pages, but mine arrived in perfect condition. Just keep in mind that it’s a pocket-sized book, so the font is expectedly small.

One of the best books I've ever read. It was a delightful experience. Although it is a book of fiction, it seems autobiographical, contemplating all the sensibility of whose know how to deal with some of the most sensitive human issues. It contains a so wide repertoire of terms and expressions that delight the reader. It catches the reader's attention from beginning to end. 'Wonderful' is a good word to describe him.

I finished reading “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini a book chosen by our Book Club in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Concurrently I have just read two novels by Zia Ahmad , “Finding Danyal - A love Story” and “The One Hundred.” I recommend these wonderful story experiences equally as good as "The Kite Runner" A most gratifying reading marathon of these three novels likened to my typical Netflix series binging where I resist ear marking the last page from being so engrossed in finding out what next. Especially during the fast pace of the disturbing scenes of conflict, torture and meanness inflicted on the principal characters contained in all three novels. I grew up with the influx of Pakistani refugees arriving in Toronto Canada in the early 60s, but I did not know anything of why or the scope of their plight or struggles. Zia Ahmad’s writing has inspired me to know more of political devastating disparities of the Anglo Afghanistan wars and Russian penetration. I must say reading these three books one after the other has heaped my head blending, overlapping each story’s’ similar conflicts, betrayals, and flirting friendships to the point of having difficulty keeping them distinct each to its own. Nevertheless, here at my desk writing, recalling, fiddling with the scenes they individually start to filter through. “Finding Danyal”, it was clear from first reading Zia Ahmad’s second published novel that yes, it is a love story. I cried at the end. An indication I felt the emotions the storyteller crafted. Characters evolve from plot twists and disturbing betrayals showing us a controversial unescapable gay love story. All at odds within religious and oppressive constraints of the Arab world in Lahore Pakistan. I relate to Zia’s writing. My own experience discovering love took place in Canada, a different supposedly more tolerant world. But I too struggled with self-identity and societal acceptance confronting the turbulences of coming of age as a gay man. The ending “Finding Danyal” was read causing a feel-good sensation still with me. “The One Hundred”, Zia Ahmad’s first published novel is a different story exposing a historical tragedy in such a way achieving Zia Ahmad’s objective of memorializing the one hundred victims showing a world tolerance and acceptance are human qualities we should honor. But the frantic pace of the scenes with violence, bullying, beating the characters to a pulp was frightening, very real, virtually wanting to cover my eyes. A challenge to read calmly. High drama ending in a tale to be told one “hundred times”. I can see where Zia Ahmad utilized this background to write his second novel “Finding Danyal” with a theme of love. “The Kite Runner”, chosen by our Book club which I read after those of Zia Ahmad. Another reading challenge to cope with the violence, the class conflicts, a brutal rape of a boy, the “running away” of Amir the protagonist, the contrast of righteous Hasan and Amir’s cowardice, test of loyalty and trust, the Taliban cruel enforcement, intense control throughout the story resulting in the blood bath of the Hazaras, - but redemption is achieved when Amir becomes in the end the kite runner. Many plot twists and surprises lead to an unexpected ending far from the outset of the principal characters. I can see why Zia Ahmad studied this book in preparation for his own writing. If you have enjoyed reading “The Kite Runner, I recommend you read Zia Ahmad’s two novels, “Finding Danyal- A love Story” and “The One Hundred”. Both authors equally provide an emotionally haunting, thought-provoking thrilling story experience producing as forceful a message of what it means to be human. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Zia Ahmad’s two novels He is an impressive competent talented writer with engaging story telling style and showing descriptive flow. I truly believe “Finding Danyal” is worthy of a Netflix movie. It is comparable if not better than some I have watched. Well done, Zia Ahmad!