The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Publisher: Bloomsbury PLC

Date: June 2004

I have been out of sorts for quite sometime with regards to my book reading. For months I have tried to read a book from cover to cover only to fail around chapter 2 and become distracted on other things. As a lover of reading it has been a frustrating ado!

However, patience has it’s own reward and I eventually discovered a book that captured my attention, kept it and proved to be a surprisingly good read. I say discovered, it was actually the current choice of book for the Reading Group I facilitate at work. I had struggled through the last 3 choices and am rather embarrassed to say I did not finish them, so I am pleased to announce that The Kite Runner held my interest right to the end! Hurray!

The book had been much hyped and, more recently, made into a film. I came to the book having very little knowledge of the story and no expectations. There are many, many reviews of the book, which is to be expected, and what I say will probably add very little to what has gone before! However, a reading group meeting and discussion beckons and, having enjoyed the book, I shall attempt to put forward my two penneth!

The Kite Runner is told through the eyes of Amir, who narrates his story from growing up in 1970’s Afghanistan up to his present day living in America. I like Hosseini’s writing style. It is simplistic and flows quite beautifully. He is able to bring the character Amir to life in such a way it reads like his biography. It does have a semi-autobiographical feel to it and, at times, I wondered if Hosseini had experienced some of the things Amir had.

Ultimately, Amir’s tale is one of betrayal, regret and atonement. Amir regrets what he did, or more accurately, did not do, when he was a young boy living in Afghanistan. In the first part of the book Amir recounts growing up in a rich household and talks about his relationship with their servants’ son, Hassan. As a child, Amir seemed ashamed of their ’friendship’ especially when he considers Hassan of ’low caste’ and a victim of much taunting and bullying from others. Amir’s shame is only magnified as he sees how much Hassan idolises him, values their friendship and realises that he would do anything for him. Indeed, it is Hassan’s unconditional love for Amir which forms the crux of the story that brings about the major event altering both of the boy's lives forever.

Later, Amir comes to discover how such events can come back to haunt one as he begins to look at ways in which to atone. The characterisation of Amir is wonderfully human. He has faults, he has made mistakes as a child and continues to regret these mistakes. He runs and hides from these mistakes yet is also incredibly self aware. As we read his story from child to man, we see how he often gives himself a hard time for things that happened when he was a child. We witness how this has shaped the kind of person he is now.

In his writing, Hosseini not only presents us with believable, fallible, human characters but also provides wonderfully descriptive accounts of the environment in which Amir was growing up. There are stark contrasts between the colourful childhood excitement and exuberance during the kite-fighting tournaments and the terror and trauma of growing up in Afghanistan as war looms.

I found myself reading the book for hours on end. Something I have, of late, been unable to do. I was drawn into Amirs' world and found it sad, compelling and all too human.

A wonderful debut novel from Khaled Hosseini.