The Kite Runner

Narrated by Amir, a 40-year-old novelist living in California, The Kite Runner tells the gripping story of a boyhood friendship destroyed by jealousy, fear, and the kind of ruthless evil that transcends mere politics. Running parallel to this personal narrative of loss and redemption is the story of modern Afghanistan and of Amir's equally guilt-ridden relationship with the war-torn city of his birth. The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner begins in the final days of King Zahir Shah's 40-year reign and traces the country's fall from a secluded oasis to a tank-strewn battlefield controlled by the Russians and then the trigger-happy Taliban. When Amir returns to Kabul to rescue Hassan's orphaned child, the personal and the political get tangled together in a plot that is as suspenseful as it is taut with feeling.

The son of an Afghan diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980, Hosseini combines the unflinching realism of a war correspondent with the satisfying emotional pull of master storytellers such as Rohinton Mistry. Like the kite that is its central image, the story line of this mesmerizing first novel occasionally dips and seems almost to dive to the ground. But Hosseini ultimately keeps everything airborne until his heartrending conclusion in an American picnic park. --Lisa Alward, Amazon.ca

Amazon.com
In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg

The first half is a presentation of all the characters - who become very "touchant" as soon as one starts reading, as well as realistic in its descriptions of the way of life in Afghanistan.

Set initially in the early 70's in Afghanistan, before the Russian invasion, the book describes an interesting country (knowing literally nothing about Afghanistan personally) with it's way of life, customs and it's "castes". Radical changes take place once the Russians come in and the characters we've grown attached to must come to terms with certain events and their consequences - which prove to be complicated.

The graphic descriptions of the Taliban regime and the total destruction of a country physically, morally and humanely are difficult at times, "insoutenable" at others. Nevertheless, the novel doesn't come off as pathetic nor as begging for your sympathy - it's just the truth: dosed with both the good and the bad.

At times one thinks one knows what will happen but, events seem to take a different turn.

The use of Afghan terms to describe the real emotion of family, of closeness, to bring forth an image of Afghanistan is used quite well without overtaking the book and keeps one in the proper state of mind.

Frankly, this is one of the finest novels (a first novel for the author) I've read, if not THE finest in a very long time.
Highly recommended reading for a novel that has grown through word of mouth - and very rightly so. Looking forward to the next work by this same author.

I was lucky enough to hear the author discuss the book on tv in the US. Most of what happens in the most is VERY close to being autobiographical and the author is as articulate in speaking as he is through the written word.

Truly an eye-opening experience and a must-read novel!!

If I could, I'd give it a higher rating than 5!


Une leçon d'humanité !   Août 31, 2005
3 sur 3 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile

Ce livre a fait l'objet d'une lecture collective au sein d'un groupe dont je fais partie. A l'unanimité, tous ont profondément aimé "The Kite Runner" pour son ouverture sur un monde finalement assez peu connu en Occident, un monde de tous les excès, de toutes les beautés, un monde où le cerf-volant, encore aujourd'hui, sert de fil conducteur. Par ailleurs "The Kite Runner" est aussi l'histoire du remords, de la faiblesse humaine, du repenti, de la soumission - bref, tous les ingrédients d'une oeuvre en tous points magistrale. Une lecture à ne manquer sous aucun prétexte.


Captivating   Mars 11, 2005
Sancho Mahle (Charlotte, USA)
7 sur 9 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile

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


An Amazing read   Mars 11, 2005
Edward Tem (Manchester, UK)
2 sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile

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