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Summary: Great book, happy, sad, historical, I loved it....
Review: Wow, there is a scary world out there....This was very good.
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Summary: You Should Certainly Pick Up a Copy!
Review: The Kite Runner is a fictional book that weaves much fact into it. We're introduced to Amir, a Pashtun Afghani, and his life before the fall of the Monarchy in the mid-70's. Amir lives a comfortable life in an Afghanistan far removed from today's Afghanistan. He lives with his father, Baba, knowing his mother had died during childbirth with him. They have a servant, Ali and his servant's son, Hassan, who also lost his mother though not to death but to running away, out of shame for her physically husband and her hareliped baby boy. Ali and Hassan are Hazara, which I get the impression is a minority in Afghanistan and not a favorable group, societally speaking. We follow the boys through their childhood. Ever mindful of their societal status yet feeling a kinship that Amir almost toys with. He taunts Hassan's loyalty asking him if he'd eat dirt for him, or do anything for him... Hassan's loyalty and love runs deep. Where Amir's first word was "Baba", Hassan's first word was "Amir". Hassan would do anything for Amir, saying "for you a thousand times over". In their childhood kites were a huge activity and kite competitions were notably popular events where kites were 'battled' in a competition that left only one kite in the sky. Special "glass" string was employed to cut the lines of kites and kite runners would go scrambling to bring back a trophy of a cut kite. The last kite to be caught was especially honorable and it was one such kite that tested Hassan's loyalty to Amir and Amir's willingness to stand up for someone he cared about, regardless of class. A horrific scene takes place where Amir is unable to help Hassan, this inability will haunt him for years, as will the horrific act that he witnesses and hopes no one knows he saw. He tries to write it off, using class even for Hassan was "only a Hazara" yet the guilt haunts him. Secrets fester, especially those that we could have done something about. Amir, ever mindful that his father's love is a gift he treasures yet rarely receives, is also one that Hassan gets as well. This bothers him always as much as the secret that dwells within him and he devises a horrific plan to push Hassan and Ali out of his life, in hopes that the secret will also leave him, as well as the guilt and remorse. Time marches on and in the novel so does events within Afghanistan. Hosseini weaves together what happens to Afghanistan as the Monarchy falls and later as the Russians move in and take over and how this affects Amir and his father. They end up fleeing an increasingly ravaged Afghanistan for better hopes in America. And there the book stays for years, as Amir finishes schooling, goes on to college and while he doesn't pick a major his father would, finds success with it nevertheless. He also finds a wife and we're taken through the cultural customs of an Afghani courtship and eventually a wedding. Years pass and Amir becomes a successful author, his wife though they try hard, remains unable to conceive a child, Baba contracts and ends up losing the battle with illness. Changes happen as they always do in one's life. Until a fateful day when Amir gets a message from his Baba's old friend back in the Middle East. Amir's called away from America to see this man who is dying and has a mission for Amir. By now the Taliban are ruling Afghanistan, he finds out the deplorable fate of his childhood friend, Hassan and is given a mission that will not only absolve his guilt and make right with Hassan the disloyalty he committed, but also change his life forever. He gets to see first hand how his homeland has changed, how attitudes have changed and he finds himself longing for the days of childhood when Afghanistan was safer and more free and he and Hassan were like brothers, yet not quite. I don't want to tell too much and ruin this book for anyone. It's such a moving book, emotional and reads so biographical as you feel this MUST have happened to SOMEONE and it has, many times over. Amir must deal with the changing face of Afghanistan as he works on this mission, he must face the Taliban and make right what he as a child did wrong. The ending is NOT predictable and it's not happily ever after. It's a bittersweet, realistic ending that leaves one wanting to know more. I know I did. I realized too, in shame, how little I really knew about Afghanistan. How little they taught us in school and I understand so much more now, yet I know not enough. There's a huge cultural divide out there and this book, while fiction, helps bridge that gap for a few hundred pages. This is a first novel for Khaled Hosseini but it certainly does NOT read like one. It's moving and graphic and disturbing in all the right parts, oddly enough. It made me think and sob with what humans are capable of doing for one another and to one another on many fronts, both personal and societal. Hosseini himself was born in Afghanistan, his family moving to America in the 80's as some families did. Yet others stayed back and this novel touches on the lives of both. There wasn't one slow part in this book. I devoured each page often staying up well past my "bedtime" to do so, having to know what would happen next. I really have no complaints about the book. It's insightful and moving and should be read by all. Don't Miss it! Another wonderful, much different, oddity I recommend is THE LOSERS' CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez -- a great Amazon quick-pick.
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Summary: A beautiful tale of wars...both real and imagined
Review: Although the setting of this novel is war-torn Afghanistan, the real wars enacted here are the internal and interpersonal struggles of the richly-drawn characters. A tapestry is woven, as the author weaves a tale of extremes;love-hate, loyalty-betrayal,honesty-deceit. The tapestry is made even more poignant because the threads of conflict are woven amongst fathers,sons, brothers and lovers.
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Summary: Running for your life
Review: I thought THE KITE RUNNER was an excellent read. I finished the book in 1.5 days. The only other book I've done that to was THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (finally, in paperback, thank goodness). I recently was in Afghanistan through work for 6 months, and I loved how Khaled used real locations and described the people of Afghanistan. I found myself being able to relate to parts of the book, and this brought about a feeling of reassurance. I lived in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, and thinking back on my time there I found myself daydreaming of how it must have been 25+ years ago. I saw Afghanistan post-Taliban in 2004, but this book really helped me understand the history of Afghanistan and what it must have been like many days in history. This is the book I was looking for before my travel to Kabul. I found the book a little late, but better late than never. Khaled's writing style is very real, striking and filled with emotion, which is just what I needed to be reading.
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Summary: AN AMAZING STORY
Review: I have been reading novels for decades, but in all those years of reading, this is possibly the best story I have read that has a non-western setting. An Afghan friend recommended this book to me, and of course I was skeptical at first. I never expected it to be such a powerful, deep moving, well-written and touching story that happened to be set in Afghanistan.
Set in Afghanistan, in Kabul in the 1970's, the Kite Runner moves to the U.S.A and back. It includes fascinating characters like Amir who lived a privileged life as the son of an affluent man, and Hassan the son of a poor servant who perks for Amir's privileged life. The two become good friends, a friendship which is tested when Hassan is raped, a scene witnessed by Amir who made no effort to come to his friend's rescue. Yet Amir is haunted by that moment of cowardice even as he leaves for the USA.
Even though it is a fiction, this haunting story with spectacular, yet uncomfortable scenes creates in the reader a sense of reality that is difficult not to believe. I easily felt like I was reading the real life story of a young boy, who grows up still haunted by his past cowardice. The characters are real and alive, the setting in Afghanistan and America is superb, the plot is outstanding and the pace of the novel is fast and captivating.. All in all, this emotionally gripping story provides an insight and understanding of the human tragedy in Afghanistan. The author successfully touched on human emotions, stirring guilt, sadness, anger, and happiness throughout the book.
Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY, THE USURPER AND OTHERS, THE UNION MOUJIK
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Summary: One Week Book
Review: I judge books based on how long they take me to read. A book that I love, I can't put down so I will finish in one to three days (for instance: "My Fractured Life" and "Atonement"). A typical good book that keeps me interested but not up all night I will finish in under two weeks ("Secret Life of Bees" and "The Da Vinci Code"). Anything that takes over two weeks usually also takes over a month because it just isn't drawing my attention. I tend to say that the author is over writing. "Kite Runner" I consider to be very good - between an "I love it" book and a good book. I read it in about a week. It has a nice pace and an enjoyable story.
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Summary: Masterful Writing, Juvenile Plot
Review: A wonderfully written book that is both sensual and moving, The Kite Runner sinks like a lead anchor due to the absolutely abysmal plotting. The "big surprise" which appears midpoint in the novel can be anticipated well in advance, and the "coincidental" appearance of a character later on tests the reader's limits of credulity, not to mention the sickeningly sweet, trite ending. I am amazed that a writer of such incredible talent has no clue as to how to avoid junior high school level plots. I can only hope that Mr. Hosseini can improve his weak spots and bring them up to the high level of his masterful prose.
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Summary: IT KNOCKED ME OUT
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THE KITE RUNNER was not my "typical" type of read (often going for the light hearted sappy fiction to escape reality), but this book came highly recommended. It was one of those books that you could not put down and when you were done you wanted more! It is fiction based on fact and it was such a believable story that it felt more like fact than fiction. I learned so much about a culture that I knew nothing about (and had made assumptions regarding) and was fascinated from the moment I started reading. Not only do you feel like you are learning about a different culture, way of life, etc. you get involved with all the characters and I actually could feel what they were feeling as it was described. This was by far, the best book I have read so far apart from THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez, another Amazon pick. If I were stranded on a dessert island and could only take two books with me, THE KITE RUNNER and THE LOSERS' CLUB would be it.
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Summary: Worth the journey
Review: Set against the dynamic political world of Afghanistan, Kite Runner directs out attention to a very human story with a universal theme.
As a young child, Amir plays with Hassan, a servant who's almost exactly his own age. Although they spend many happy hours together, they never forget their differences. Hassan makes Amir's breakfast each day. Hassan can't read and Amir reads to him, sometimes making up stories while pretending to read. Hassan is one of those people who seem always happy, despite misfortunes of his class and his physical deformity.
One day the boys' relationship is transformed forever by an experience outside their control. Amir's shame and guilt overpowers him and ultimately leads to even more pain. Amir and his father eventually settle in America, where is proud father now works in a gas station. As an adult, Amir returns to Afghanistan and gains the opportunity to repay Hassan for his long-ago actions.
As other reviewers noted, some parts of the plot involve coincidences that may bother some readers. Amir's wife, Soraya, seems almost too wise and loving. But the story is gripping -- not the page-turning of a good mystery novel, but the drama of the characters and immediacy of the settings, whether banal American or exotic Middle Eastern.
Parts of the novel are extremely painful to read, as the first-person narrator describes his actions with unsparing honestly. And the last chapter offers a model of lyrical writing.
My book club chose this book. Otherwise I might not have picked it up. I'm glad I did.
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