The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner (*****)

This book is a story of two friends growing up in Afghanistan--Amir and Hassan. Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman whose generosity is so great (we later learn his kindness may stem from guilt), that he treats Hassan, the son of his servant as if he was his own son. The two boys grow up in the turmoil of Afghanistan's early '70s, and the book captures many details about the war and the inhumane living conditions (Scenes such as the one where the soldier demands the wife in the back of the truck as payment are chilling).

However, the book is much more than a "war story," and Hosseini portrays the everlasting themes of love, betrayal, acceptance, and community vibrantly.

As I read this book, I asked myself hundreds of times how any one author could describe in such perfect detail a single incident and somehow make it applicable to all readers...to engage the reader in such a way that the reader feels as if they are reading about a close friend, or even, themselves. The suffering of Hassan, Amir's rejection of him, Amir's constant search for attention and approval or his father, and Amir's relationship with his "pseudo" father, are the true drivers of this novel.

Some reviewers have critiqued Hosseini's prose as being choppy and apparent that English is not his first language. I disagree--the prose used actually helps set the reader in the mind and tale of the insecure storyteller who looks back on his childhood as if opening a diary and stumbling upon entries he'd rather not recall.

I highly recommend this book.