Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
# of Pages: 401
Published:
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5/5
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption. And it is also about the power of fathers over sons -- their love, their sacrifices, their lies...
After having this novel for approximately a year and letting it gather dust on my bookself, I finally decided to read it. I really should have read it sooner because this book is phenomenal.
This emotional story is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Amir, as he recounts his childhood and the horrible event that scarred him and his life afterward. Set in Kabul, beginning prior to the Russian invasion and the Taliban regime, Afghanistan's violent history acts as a backdrop to this powerful story.
The Kite Runner surprised me several times, and had me completely immersed within the first couple pages. This novel is not for the faint-hearted; some of the events are chilling. It's shocking to realize that many of the events in this novel really did happen or do happen. This book really touched me, and I'll admit I did cry quite a few times. I don't want to give much away because this novel really did surprise me, and it would have much less impact if the storyline was completely revealed. I'm very happy to have an Afghan novelist writing in English to give a native perspective on a country that's so present in political life.
This novel is well-written and the style was easy to read and follow. Hosseini added a lot of Farsi words (with English translation) that really connected the story with it's strong culture. I greatly enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it to anyone. I award Khaled Hosseini's spectacular debut novel, The Kite Runner, a 5/5 for a compelling and touching story.
