The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | Laden With Symbolism

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The Kite Runner

	The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini Riverhead Trade, 2004 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 2510 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The timely and critically acclaimed debut novel that's becoming a word-of-mouth phenomenon...

Tear Jerker!

I can't count the amount of times I was holding the tears back to keep from balling. Such a powerful story about sin, guilt, betrayel, and forgiveness. It's unbeleivable how the emotions toil page after page from anger to hatred to sadness and even love. This is brutal, there is no doubt, but it is a must read for anyone who appreciates humanity and the power of love.

Laden With Symbolism

I only now read "The Kite Runner" - after having known about it for several years. Somehow there were always other books that called out to be read first.

The problem is that building up one's expectation to something for several years is bound to end in disappointment. Expectations know no limit; real stories do.

So yes, in a way I was disappointed with the book. I thought that I'd delve deep into a wonderfully detailed yet gripping story that takes place in Afghanistan. I didn't realize that a good chunk of the novel actually takes place in America and that it doesn't convey nearly as much about Afghanistan as I had thought.

But my expectations left aside, it was still a book that merits five stars - even if the author had never completed the story and had published only the first few chapters. For those, I thought, were the best.

They reminded me of the great classics in literature in which people, places, objects, and events are laden with symbolic significance without ever telling the reader in cold prose what those things "mean." One feels the significance on a level that a non-fiction book or a mere summary of the story could never reach.

Unfortunately, the author does not maintain this level of literary excellence throughout the book. As soon as the story moves away from Afghanistan to America, away from the protagonist's childhood, much of the symbolism of the story is being left behind, and what remains is the author simply "telling" lots of things, and at times the telling turns outright dull.

But the story recovers and ends on the same significant note with which it began.

For those of you who don't know the story yet, let me not spoil it here by giving you a summary. Suffice it to say that if you like serious literature in the vein of Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse or even Dickens (to throw in a non-German), then you will be served extremely well with this book. If you are primarily looking for an exciting read or information on Afghanistan, then "The Kite Runner" is probably not best suited for the purpose.

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At What Price Comes Frienship ?

My brother gave this book to me and urged me to read it. Although, not one of my usual choices, I got through it on the second attempt, and was glad that I did. What a beautiful place Afghanistan was before the wars and the Taliban ravaged the land and stole its identity. A beautiful story of family loyalties, friendships and youthful bliss gets blown apart as war raged and a horrific event drives a wedge right through everything that the subject 'Amir' held dear. Emigrating and starting anew in America with new hopes and dreams gets interrupted by a phone call and a return to the place he once called home to dire consequences. I was throughly engrossed in this book until the writer's return to his homeland where I found the events that unfolded to be quite cinematic. This left me somewhat disappointed as it moved towards a 'made-for-TV' movie where the plot became predictable. A fascinating and well-written story nonetheless, that I am glad to have been bullied into reading.

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The Kite Runner

When I decided to read The Kite Runner, I was slightly hesitant. A lot of times when things are more popular, they have trouble living up to their expectations. This wasn't the case with The Kite Runner though. This book was fast paced and hard to put down, which nearly equals a great book. The story shows the main character, Amir, grow up and develop. It's over the course of a good portion of his life, which means a lot happens in the book.
The only part I didn't like was something that happened near the end with Sohrab. If you've read the book, you probably know what I'm talking about. I felt like it was unrealistic and not needed for the plot to work out how it did. Besides that, I liked the rest of the book. I would recommend this book to mostly anyone, because it has a lot of general themes in it and most people will be able to find some way to relate to it.

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Eh.

I started reading this book with high expectations. Which is too bad, because the story's good, but the writing isn't. In the end, I was disappointed.

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