The Kite Runner (Riverhead Essential Editions) | Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner (Riverhead Essential Editions) | Khaled Hosseini | All that an exceptional book should be.

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The Kite Runner (R...

	The Kite Runner (Riverhead Essential Editions) Khaled Hosseini Riverhead Trade, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 2514 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

?I sat on a bench near a willow tree and watched a pair of kites soaring in the sky. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought, ?There is a way to be good again.??

Now in paperback, one of the year?s international literary sensations -- a shattering story of betrayal and redemption set in war-torn Afghanistan.

Amir and Hassan are childhood friends in the alleys and orchards of Kabul in the sunny days before the invasion of the Soviet army and Afghanistan?s decent into fanaticism. Both motherless, they grow up as close as brothers, but their fates, they know, are to be different. Amir?s father is a wealthy merchant; Hassan?s father is his manservant. Amir belongs to the ruling caste of Pashtuns, Hassan to the despised Hazaras.

This fragile idyll is broken by the mounting ethnic, religious, and political tensions that begin to tear Afghanistan apart. An unspeakable assault on Hassan by a gang of local boys tears the friends apart; Amir has witnessed his friend?s torment, but is too afraid to intercede. Plunged into self-loathing, Amir conspires to have Hassan and his father turned out of the household.

When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his father flee to San Francisco, leaving Hassan and his father to a pitiless fate. Only years later will Amir have an opportunity to redeem himself by returning to Afghanistan to begin to repay the debt long owed to the man who should have been his brother.

Compelling, heartrending, and etched with details of a history never before told in fiction, The Kite Runner is a story of the ways in which we?re damned by our moral failures, and of the extravagant cost of redemption.

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Heartbreaking, yet very touching story

From the very first paragraph of this book, one can tell it will be impossible to put down. "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975....Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years." These few sentances automatically catch the readers attention. The friendship that exist between Amir and Hassan, can be felt by readers throughout the beginning of the book. The words used by the author creates such vivid detail that you instantly feel as though you are part of the action. This book is a roller coaster of emotions that hits very high points along with extremely low points. This novel is definitely worth reading!

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All that an exceptional book should be.

This novel offers so much to the reader. To say it is entertaining would be to trivialize the work. The Afghan culture is one that sees little attention in American literary markets (hopefully this changes) and is often misrepresented. Hosseini enlightens readers to the culture, while also providing a story that explores universal topics that transcend cultural boundaries including love, loss, friendship, regret, grief, joy, shame, and memories that haunt and comfort. For reasons I cannot recall, I picked up this novel many times and declined to read it in favor of some other selection. I am sorry I waited so long to read it as it is wonderful and now ranks in my ten best books list. Additionally, it moved me to count my blessings, including living in a country that believes in human rights and where I live safe and free. Readers of Hosseini's novel will feel an emotional attachment to the characters, which are some of the most realistic beings in literature. It is a well written, suspenseful, intelligent, and cathartic read.

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A Masterpiece

Found this title secondhand by accident, and I feel almost guilty I never heard of it. Though missing action, spontaneity and unpredictability, the descriptions and character development had me turning pages all damn night. Finished in one day. This and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" are must reads. Timeless, yet topical. Both taking place in Afghanistan, covering the political and catastrophic events taking place. I won't spoil the story or details, but it really draws you in with the bizarre, gritty conflicts of simple daily life struggles.

heartbreaking tale of loyalty

This universally-themed novel is set against war-torn Afghanistan. I admit that I didn't know much about the setting when I first started reading the book, yet the author totally drew me in and I felt like I was there with the characters. The story is heartwrenching and timeless. I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down.

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the destruction of Afghanistan as reflected in a family melodrama

'The Kite Runner' is certainly an interesting read. It is written as if were a memoir by a man recounting his boyhood in Kabul in the 1970s and how his past catches up with him twenty years later while living in California. So convincing is this memoir format that I had to keep reminding myself 'The Kite Runner' is indeed fiction. Although the story itself is immensely readable and oftentimes heartwarming, tragic or downright horrific, ultimately the author overcooks it a bit; the story grows to become somewhat unrealistic. On the other hand the author does a masterful job in describing life in Kabul during very turbulent years and he educates the reader on various Afghan customs and prejudices.

Bottom line: entertaining and educational. Strongly recommended.

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