Book Review:The Kite Runner

Briana Grether 4^o

10/25/10

Book Review: The Kite Runner

By Khaled Hosseini

As children, Amir and Hassan were best friends. As infants they breast-fed from the same woman, and they lived in the same house. The only difference between them was that Amir was the son of a wealthy general, while Hassan was a loyal servant boy, son of a crippled Hazara. Hassan and Ali (his father) lived there solely to serve Amir and his father (who he calls Baba). But in reality, Hassan gave him more than his life, or his loyalty. He gave him his love and all his trust. Amir and Hassan were inseparable, until Amir makes a mistake that he regrets for the rest of his life. He betrays the boy who would do anything for him “a thousand times over” and everything changes.

Chaos rules modern Afganistan when the Taliban take over, and Amir and his Baba flee to America, hoping to leave their troubles behind. But eventually Amir’s act of disloyalty from his childhood comes back to haunt him and forces him to journey to uncover terrible secrets of his past and go to all hell to try to redeem himself.

This beautifully written portrait of modern Afganistan is the kind of material only an ignorant man would not read. It is full of morals and tragically describes how one small decision can change your life forever. “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life would have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched, paralyzed,” (73). The setting of this book is perfect; full of the strife and war of real Afgan life. “’Don’t shoot me!’ Karim cried. But before any of us could say or do a thing, Kamal’s father shoved the barrel into his own mouth. I’ll never forget the echo of the blast. Or the flash of light and spray of red,” (124). Although this book was very good, some parts were hard to digest, meaning the violence and emotions of the characters may be overwhelming to some people. I do not suggest this book to anyone with a weak stomach.