The Kite Runner – Don’t Miss This One
November 15th 2006 08:55
Image: khaledhossini.com
I was told at least 18 months ago to read this book, but my list of ‘books to read’ is so long I only just got to it. Don’t do this! Get a copy of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner now, you won’t be sorry. This is one of the most moving books I’ve read and I wouldn’t want anyone who loves good fiction to miss it.
Amir is growing up in Afghanistan. A privileged childhood in which he has most everything he wants or needs, except for the undivided time and complete approval of his father, Baba.
Filling this gap is his friend Hassan, the son of their Hazara servant, Ali. Both boys lost their mothers in their infancy and they grew up together climbing trees, playing cards and running kites in the streets of Kabul. But in 1970’s Afghanistan, this was never going to be an ordinary friendship. Hazaras were not considered friends, they were considered peasant employees and could never rise higher. Sound familiar?
Then in the winter of 1975, something happens that will tear the childhood innocence from both boys’ grasp, and leave you reeling in a chain of events as unstoppable as any Middle-eastern war.
Hosseini had me falling for his characters within the first few chapters and by the time I was half-way, I could not put the book down. We do not just get the children’s story, we learn about Afghans - their culture, their pride, history and something not often told - their sorrow for Afghanistan. The Russians and the Taliban are there, but so is the average Afghan, struggling to come to terms with what is happening to their country. I loved this book for its heart-breaking story of friendship, betrayal and redemption, but it gave me more than just a good tale. It taught me a little about a complex nation I have never understood, or thought to.
Khaled Hosseini’s life mirrored Amir to some degree. Growing up in Kabul, he moved with his family to France when he was eleven, eventually ending up in America. After his return to Afghanistan as an adult he writes, ‘Soon, the line between Amir’s memories and my own began to blur. Amir had lived out my memories on the pages of The Kite Runner, and now I found myself living out his.’ Clearly this is an author who relates with his characters and lovingly sees them through the whole book. What more could a reader ask.
To date, this is Hosseini’s first and only novel. Let’s hope he gives us more.
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