Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: I picked up this book after reading a stellar review and then hearing a friend rave about it. After devouring it in short order, I'm pleased to report that it absolutely lives up to its press. Elegantly written and utterly compelling, it's especially interesting for the insights it offers into the culture and history of Afghanistan. I couldn't put it down and plan to read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Afghanistan: What It Used to Be
Review: The Kite Runner is an amazing book. Yes, the characters are captivating and the storyline will haunt you long after you close the book. But, these are not the reasons why I have bought copies of this book for all my friends. This book is powerful because Hosseini makes us feel what it was like to live in Afghanisitan in the last 1960s. He beautifully recreates a world that is 180 degrees from the world we see on the television -- Afghanistan before the Soviets invaded, before the Taliban took over. When two main characters immigrate to America,readers relate to their feelings of loss and alienation because we have come to understand the greatness of the land they left behind. In addition, the author brings clarity to the political and class divisions that continue to haunt that nation. This book indirectly sheds new light on the recent events on 9/11 and Afghanistan because Hosseini clearly demonstrates what this nation used to be and what it has become. You will never watch news of that region in quite the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Afghanistan is the setting. The story is fine classic drama
Review: Like the main character in the book, Amir, the author was brought up in Afghanistan in the peaceful 1970s. Later, as war tore apart his beloved country, he immigrated to the United States with his family. This novel is set during these tumultuous times and gave me a full appreciation of the one particular Afghani family's experience. But this novel is much more than that. The political setting is just the background. The real story is a classic drama of sin and redemption, relationships between fathers and sons, and the impact of one very personal act of cowardice. Amir grows up in a privileged household, yearning for acceptance from his rather distant father. Hassan is about his age, but Hassan is a servant in his house, of the Hazara ethnic group, and Asian in appearance. This means that Amir, a Pashtan, can never really be his friend, even though they have common childhood experiences. A major local sport is kite flying and each year there is a huge kite competition is attended by the entire community. Kite strings are covered with glue and glass and the idea is to cut the strings of competing kites. Some young boys are kite runners, which mean they chase the fallen kites. The most coveted kite of all is the last kite that is cut by the winner. Competition is fierce and the kite flyer's hands are always cut and bloody from the sharpened kite strings. But victory is something of a rite of passage and Amir is determined to win. His young servant and childhood companion, Hassan, in an act of love and loyalty, runs after the last fallen kite and becomes the victim of a cruel act of violence. Its aftermath changes their relationship forever. Later, we share Amir's journey to America and the fear and terror of traveling in a oil truck to escape the Russian army. We see him grow up and watch his father struggle to adapt and learn how to make a living in the flea markets of California. The years pass and Amir falls in love and marries and we see how strong his identity is to the Afghan culture is in his new American homeland. And then, suddenly, in the summer of 2001, when he is in his late thirties, he is called back to Afghanistan and begins a dangerous adventure, which requires not only great physical courage. It is also a voyage of self discovery.. This book is a page turner and I couldn't put it down. I learned about Afghanistan, its people, and its rich traditions. But most of all I learned about one particular young man and how an act in the past can affect the present and how it is possible to right old wrongs. I loved this book and give it one of my highest recommendations. Read it if you can.
Rating: 
Summary: A book of and for the heart
Review: The Kite Runner is the bittersweet story of two boys growing up together in the last days of the Afghani monarchy. But the boys come from different backgrounds--or do they? The Kite Runner is as much a story about loyalty, friendship, and love as it is the story of failure, guilt, and the sin of betrayal. It's the story of fathers and sons, a story of family. In this book, all things come to closure. The past meets the future in a most satisfying way. What I loved: I could almost smell the lamb kabobs, and I could imagine two boys flying kites on a cold winter morning. What could be improved next time: The book is almost too perfect, too well planned. Everything is tidily resolved. That pushed against the edges of credibility--but not by much. In the end, the Kite Runner is a most satisfying story of one man's long and lonely path to redemption. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This novel is gripping, fascinating, moving, and tragic. Quite simply, I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: Compelling. Gripping. Riveting. All those cliche adjectives that get plastered on book jackets actually apply to this absolutely terrific book. It is the saga that follows Amir, an Afghani, starting in his teens years in Afghanistan, through his years in the US after fleeing from the Russian occupation and then his return when the Taliban are in power. That is merely the setting, however, that gives the book a unique flavor. This is not just an Afghani historical novel. It is a compelling story of Amir's relationships with his best friend/servant, his father and those around them. The first person narrative delves deeply into those relationships and his own inner feelings, fears and insecurities. Eventually he overcomes a crisis of guilt, but not without much internal and external struggle. It is difficult to describe this book without making it sound like a psycho-drama. I do not want to give the plot lines away. It is far from that. There are some brutal scenes and brutally honest scenes. The author gives the reader the essence of Afghanistan in the seventies before decades of war, the flavor of the Afghani refugee community in the US and lastly, Afghanistan under the Taliban. But the heart of the book is the narrator's personal struggles. I believe The Kite Runner will last as a classic for years and years. The writing is terrific, the story gripping, compelling, riveting (and all those other jacket cover adjectives). I can not recommend this book highly enough.
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Summary: Impatiently waiting for Dr. Hosseini's next...
Review: I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction, not a memoir. This is by far the best book I have read in 12 years since Buck's _The Good Earth_. Bravo!!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, marvellous book
Review: A wonderful read by a man that knows his culture. So beautifully written. I am looking forward to Dr, Hosseini's next novel.
Rating:
Summary: I now look at news of Afghanistan with much more compassion
Review: Although some parts were predictable (and if you're an avid reader, it's rare you find a book that isn't), this book brought much needed human insight to the whole Afghanistan saga. I look forward to Mr. Hosseini's future books. Overall, this was sad, wonderful, uplifting, hopeful...you get the idea.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: I just finished Kite Runner and can honestly say it ranks among the finest books I have ever had the pleasure to read. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on this book. It is truly a masterpiece!
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