Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This masterpiece couldn't come at a better time. I am awestruck by the sadness, humanity, and depth Hosseini put into this book, the bulk of which was written before Sept. 11. This novel made me feel like a better person. That's what all great stories do, and they are rare. I strongly recommend this novel, along with "West of Kabul, East of New York: And Afghan American story." If you are about to read this novel for the first time, I envy you.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful and sad
Review: I lived with my family in Kabul from 1956-60 and in India from 1962-65 when I visited Kabul twice. In the 60s Afghanistan seemed to be moving forward to a hopeful future.
The descriptions of Kabul when Amir was a boy were so nostalgic and the descripions when he returned vey painful. I could not put he book down, a gripping story told with love.
Rating:
Summary: What a Great Book!
Review: Sensitively written, honest, poetic. It is hard to believe that Kite Runner is Hosseini's first book. He manages to weave together tales from the past and present and, as most other reviewers have noticed, he speaks about eternal themes - guilt, loss, betrayal, loyalty, the relationship between fathers and sons. But there is much more in Kite Runner. Hosseini manages to put a face on Afghanistan that is both tragic and, at times, painfully beautiful. For someone who knew very little about Afghanistan before reading this book, it made me think of it as a real place, with real people. Hosseini writes about the magic of childhood alongside the injustice and cruelty the Afghanis have lived with - much of it self inflicted - over the past three decades. He describes ethnic rivalries, prejudice and sexism while, at the same time, he succeeds in painting a portrait of the Afghan people as resilient and with a fondness for the good things in life - music, food, family, friends, jokes. I came away from this book, enlightened, thinking of the people of Afghanistan as engaged in an historic struggle with their past, and present. Magnificent!
Rating:
Summary: Delights the mind as well as the heart !!
Review: This is one of these rare books that make you feel - sad, happy, nostalgic, curious to know more...The characters are very well developed, making you connect with the story from the page one. It doesn't matter where you're from, you'll recognize the feelings as your own. It takes courage and great skill to expose the corners of the heart, and it's clear that the author has both. The moral and philosophical lessons cleverly inserted int the story are worth rereading and remembering for life. Excellent and memorable read!!
Rating:
Summary: best book this past year
Review: Set in Afghanistan, many will come to this work to "learn" something of that sad country so long ignored and so often now in the news. Which is not so bad since at least they will be reading it. But this book is so much more than its setting, though its setting is integral. It is so much more than its politics, though its politics are essential. It is so much more than "Afghanistan", though without Afghanistan the work would not exist. It is foreign in language at times, in metaphor some of the time, and in detail of situation almost all the time. But at its core it is more deeply human than any book I've read this year. Loss, grief, betrayal, honor, guilt, self-contempt, love, redemption--these cross nationalities and ethnicities and if anyone doubted that I challenge them to hold those same doubts after reading this novel. Hosseini has fashioned his characters and situations into sharp drillpoints that bore inside the reader and leave him/her gasping in pain and pleasure. The work is eloquently heart-breaking, the language and situations poignant and poetic. Marred slightly by a few contrivances at the end, the novel more than overcomes those few flaws through the power of the language, the realism and fullness of the characters and their relationships and dialog, the aching pain of the plot situations. The best book I've read this year.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional read!!
Review: This unique book offers insights into a bygone time and place, yet the reader feels as if the story could be taking place today. This gives The Kite Runner universal appeal. It's not at all surprising that the novel has received great reviews.The characters are exceptionally well developed and make the reader feel very connected to the story. The author opens up corners of the heart which not many of us have the courage to look into. It's also amazing to find that a reader from the US or Europe could have such similar childhood memories as a boy from Afghanistan. What feelings of nostalgia suddenly grip the reader's heart!! The author shares many interesting observations about life and people, and the moral and spiritual lessons cleverly inserted into the story are worth rereading and remembering. Great find, worth sharing with all your friends!!
Rating: 
Summary: A friend in need¿a friend, indeed!
Review: Hassan is slavishly devoted to Amir. The class system is alive and well in Afghanistan and Hassan and his father are members of a detested caste called Hazara. Despite the fact that Hassan and his father are beloved by Amir's father and treated well, the distinction is pervasive. Amir's mother died giving birth to him and Hassan's mother abandoned him following his birth. The two youngsters are inseparable but there is a prevalent jealousy on the part of Amir because of his father's affection for the servant boy. There are long, luxurious times for games, books and flights of the imagination. Amir uses these opportunities to lord certain things over Hassan...his inability to read, for example. Hassan has no idea that Amir purposely digresses in certain tales he's reading to his best friend...makes up endings that nonetheless thrill Hassan. He's impressed by his friend and nothing is too great for his young master. His admiration is endless and the taunts and beratings are easily and frequently forgiven. Amir's father is a formidable man, powerful, fair, just and impressive. Because of his evenhandedness and generosity he reminds the reader of a benevolent "Godfather", with many in his debt. Compliments for his son are rare and Amir's belief is that Hassan is more favored by his father because of the child's athletic prowess. After all Amir's father, a bear of a man, was reputed to have successfully wrestled a bear and was also an impressive soccer player. Hassan's athletic ability manifests when he is a "kite runner". Kite flying contests are an annual event in Kabul. It calls for skill and strategy. The two boys make a winning team and Amir wipes out the opposition, ably assisted by his young servant who feeds just the correct amount of glass-coated string to Amir so that he can slice through the opposition. Next comes an equally impressive task; to successfully track down the kite of the finalist who is eventually defeated by the champion. Hassan has the reputation of having an innate talent for knowing just where the kite will land and he goes in hot pursuit of Amir's trophy that is yet elusive as it floats across the sky. It is here boyhood and joy come to a brutal climax. Hassan is tracked and viciously attacked by another class of boys who rape him in retaliation for his having defended Amir on a previous occasion. Amir hides and views the rape from a protected spot. From this point onward, Amir is all the more convinced of his ineptitude, cowardice and an acceptance of the fact that he cannot ever live up to the expectations of his father. It's no wonder he seems to favor Hassan! To add insult to injury, Amir begins to treat Hassan even more harshly, avoiding him, asking his father to replace the boy and his father. Obviously Amir's shame is multliplied whenever he sees his friend and staunch defender who yet must wait on him and prepare some of his meals. Frequently, Amir thinks of the blood that was on the ground following the rape. Kabul's history of wars takes precedence in the story from this point on and culminates with the present destructive reign of the corrupt Taliban. Amir and his father have fled to the United States, to California, and word of Hassan and his father reaches Amir many years later. Because of his strong bond with another of his father's friends, his only apparent adult supporter throughout his childhood, Amir returns to Kabul to see the friend who is in failing health. It is at this point that he learns the fate of Hassan, his wife, his father and Hassan's son. A number of improbabilities occur that make for exciting reading, nevertheless. More brutality occurs and the reader learns of the corruption and treachery of the Taliban. It seems inconceivable to a western reader that those espousing religious beliefs and absolute devotion to Allah are capable of such horrors! Enlightenment seems to bypass many religions! The ending isn't a happy one; it's just an ending with some promise and some hope. Because of the horrors Hassan's son experiences, how can a satisfactory ending even take place? This is a good effort for a first novel. It is an absorbing read, gripping at times but a plot that's hard to resolve. It is instructive and all the more appropriate at this time when the United States is a committed participant in the war against the Taliban in a country that's been devastated by so many forces.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!
Review: This is by far one of the best books I have read in a long time. I have given this book as a gift to a few of my friends. They loved it!! It makes a great gift.
Anyone who has not read this book is definitely missing out...
You learn so much about Afghanistan, its culture, the Taliban, the struggles of life in a new country, and most of all, you learn about humanity!!
This book is a must read!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy read
Review: It might seem a bit too much work to stay with a book whose protagonist is so weak, bullying and completely self-absorbed while at the same time thoroughly understandable. Yet, I could not stop; I could not turn it off. Set in the context of recent Afghan history, it describes the handicapped relationship of two children contorted by social limitations and a frustrated father-son relationship thwarted in part by the same factors. It is however, beyond all else, a tale of wounds and scars, both self-inflicted and not. Very disturbing and thought-provoking on many levels. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: Anyone who loves great literature should read this book. I read this book in two days (and two late nights) and cried at the end. Not only did the book contain exceptional characters that drew me in emotionally, but I was sad that I was finished with such a fantastic novel. I never wanted it to end! In my mind, one of the marks of a great novel is that, not only is it enjoyable to read, but it changes the way you look at the world. The Kite Runner certainly meets that criteria. Congratulations to the author for such a fantastic debut.
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