... I can’t really pinpoint what motivated me to pick up a copy of “The Kite Runner”, it may have been the stunning sepia photograph on the front cover, or then again, it might just have been fate.
The author Khaled Hosseini uses the beauty and simplicity of language to deliver a powerful, ... Read review
W Borders Original Voices Award 2003 Winter, 1975: Afghanistan — a country hidden in the ... more
corner of Asia, ruled over by a fading monarchy on the verge of an internal coup. But in Kabul, twelve-year-old Amir has his own concerns. He is desperate to win t...
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TheKite Runnerof Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan boy ... more
with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's clo...
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The Kite Runner of Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan ... more
boy with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's c...
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The Kite Runner of Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan ... more
boy with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's c...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Check Site.
W Borders Original Voices Award 2003 Winter, 1975: Afghanistan — a country hidden in the ... more
corner of Asia, ruled over by a fading monarchy on the verge of an internal coup. But in Kabul, twelve-year-old Amir has his own concerns. He is desperate to win the annual kite-fighting tournament to prove to his father that he has the makings of a man. Amir’s friend Hassan is a low-caste Muslim and the son of a crippled servant but nevertheless the two boys play together and defend each other against the neighbourhood’s bullies. However, during the tournament, Amir takes advantage of Hassan’s guileless devotion and commits a terrible act of betrayal which is to shatter their lives and define their future.
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Having recently read the breathtaking “Brick Lane” by Monica Ali, I thought it would probably be quite some time before I read anything quite so evocative or inspirational. I can’t really pinpoint what motivated me to pick up a copy of “The Kite Runner”, it may have been the stunning sepia photograph on the front cover, or then again, it might just have been fate.
The author Khaled Hosseini uses the beauty and simplicity of language ... ...live, eat and think about The Kite Runner for the time that it takes you to read the book. It’s a short, engaging and totally addictive read at 306 pages, so it probably won’t take that long!
The general theme of the book is one of childhood, of redemption and retribution. Amir is a young 12 year old boy being brought up by his father. His mother died giving birth to him. He comes from a rich family in Afghanistan where he and his ... more
Having recently read the breathtaking “Brick Lane” by Monica Ali, I thought it would probably be quite some time before I read anything quite so evocative or inspirational. I can’t really pinpoint what motivated me to pick up a copy of “The Kite Runner”, it may have been the stunning sepia photograph on the front cover, or then again, it might just have been fate.
The author Khaled Hosseini uses the beauty and simplicity of language to deliver a powerful, emotive story, thereby creating a priceless, artistic masterpiece. In my opinion this novel should be defined as a literary classic. Khaled Hosseini’s talent as a storyteller is evident from page one as he delivers a colourful, stunning narrative that is as beautiful as it is stunning. It is written with such skill, it is hard to believe that this is his first published work. He breathes such vivid life into his characters that you will live, eat and think about The Kite Runner for the time that it takes you to read the book. It’s a short, engaging and totally addictive read at 306 pages, so it probably won’t take that long!
The general theme of the book is one of childhood, of redemption and retribution. Amir is a young 12 year old boy being brought up by his father. His mother died giving birth to him. He comes from a rich family in Afghanistan where he and his father live with the benefit of Hazara (Hazara is a low kaste Afghani) servants. However, Amir’s father “Baba” is infamous for being an honourable man and treats his servants well, as if they are a part of the family. Despite the cultural pressure to conform Amir’s father was not a practising muslim. He believed there is only one sin and that sin is theft. This principle becomes quite meaningful in the latter stages of the story.
Set in Afghanistan in the early 60’s and 70’s, the story is delivered through turbulent times, the fall of the Afghan monarchy, the invasion of the Russians and then the rise of the Taliban, seeing Amir and his father flee to the USA in 1981.
I don’t want to give a lot of the plot away, because this really is a must read. But what this story is above is responsibility, forgiveness and retribution. Amir is desperate to win his father’s love. His father is not a man pre-disposed to openly demonstrating his feelings. “Baba” had a reputation for being an honourable man, a strong, sporting man, in our culture I suppose a bit of a “macho” man. Amir spent most of his time lost in his books and making up stories. The boy craved approval and affection from his father, but most of the time it isn’t forthcoming.
However, one day Amir realises how he can realise his dearest wish, through winning the local kite running tournament, a massive annual event. In partnership with Hassan (the son of his father’s Hazara servant), the boys are skilled at the kite running sport and have been runners up on previous occasions. In 1975, Amir sets out to win with a new determination, and one that he would not realise until later, comes with a heavy price attached.
Suffice to say the tournament is won and Amir has what he’s finally craved for many years – his father’s approval. But parallel events of that day relating to the kite running tournament itself ensure that the price he has to pay for winning “Baba’s” approval is one that follows him all of his life. It’s about disloyalty, dishonour and fear. It’s about the fact that in Afghanistan during these turbulent times, whether rich or poor, that childhood is taken out of children’s lives. That children hold a grave and solemn approach to right and wrong, to honour and certain behaviours.
Following Baba and Amir’s migration to the USA, Amir’s guilt for his actions in the summer of 1975 travel with him. However, life goes on, Amir becomes degree educated and eventually marries an Afghan girl in the USA. They are childless and Amir and Soraya each believe that they are being punished for past behaviours and actions.
After his father dies, Amir receives a call from an old family friend and business associate of his father, asking him to visit him in Pakistan and tells him “there is a way to be good again”. This call results in Amir embarking on a dark and desperately dangerous journey; to face his past; to finally take responsibility for his actions as a 12 year old for which he has never found forgiveness.
This part of the story is set in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is horrific and violent. It’s shattering, devastating and painful. Hosseini takes a “no holds barred” approach to descriptions of the Taliban regime and scenes of gratuitous violence are painted in graphic detail. Amir himself is beaten within inches of death whilst trying to redeem himself and attempting to “be good again”.
This story is stimulating, grips the reader’s interest from page one and is a novel that is unusual in that it deals with such shattering and tragic subject matter with generosity, romance, honesty and compassion. This is the kind of story that can only be borne by personal experience.
The plot is strong and holds together well. It is sympathy rather than empathy that you feel for this central character because how can we possibly understand what it was like to be a young Afghan growing up in a war zone? We are almost given the impression that young boys should demonstrate adult behaviours and accept grave responsibilities from a very young age … and we wonder what happened to their childhood, their fun, and their right to learn and grow.
Many of the sub plots are desperately shocking. There are numerous surprises, twists and turns, but everything is held together well with the central theme of the story. There’s not a lot of humour in this book, but there’s emotion by the bucket load. Whilst reading this in public, I fought back tears on many occasions. I also cringed in horror at some of the more gratuitous descriptions of violence within the overall context of the book.
This book is full of love, rich in emotion and Hosseini tugs at every conceivable heart string you have to make his story come alive in all its glory. It made my heart sing and made other books I’ve read recently (with the exception of Brick Lane), seem totally dull!
Advantages: Well written, well created fictional world Disadvantages: Horrific subject matter, not a pleasant read
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I have not heard a bad word about this book and so when my husband bought it for me for Christmas, two Christmases ago, I was jolly pleased. Not only was it a book I was looking forward to reading, but it is a beautifully made book. The copy I have is a hardback with no dust jacket, just a dark red binding with a sepia toned photograph of a boy on the front with the title in gold above it. It turns out I have the ... ...I knew very little about the story, save that it was about Afghanistan. And I knew less than little about Afghanistan. I knew that it was a country that had been at war for some time, and that it was currently occupied by international troops. Mostly what I had heard came from watching The Beast of War (an unbelievably confusing 1988 film), which had in total taught me that the Russians did BAD THINGS, Stephen Baldwin screams like a girl and tank ...
Pittypomm 07.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
I bought the book because four people recommended it highly in a matter of days, they didn't give me any details, only told me that I had to read it, period. The name of the author, Khaled Hosseini, meant nothing to me, not surprisingly, as The Kite Runner is the debut novel of an Afghan whose family received political asylum in the USA in 1980.
The first chapter begins with the sentence, "I became what I am today at the age of twelve . . ." creating ... ...negative must have happened to the first-person narrator. We also learn that he is in San Francisco now and that a phone call from Pakistan sets his memory in motion, names are mentioned: Hassan, Ali, Baba and Kabul. My curiosity is aroused, I want to know.
The story is set in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir, the narrator, and Hassan, who's one year younger, are best friends and 'milk brothers', they had the same nurse, both lost their mothers as new-born ...
MALU 08.03.2007 (10.03.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Advantages: Beautifully written, emotive Disadvantages: Drags towards the end
...are best friends; Amir is the first word that the slightly older Hassan spoke and the two grew up in each other's pockets. Yet Amir is the son of a wealthy man and a Pashtun, whereas Hassan is the son of his servant and a Hazara. As they grow up, the differences in their background threaten to separate them, especially when Amir's father seems to favour Hassan over Amir. However, they hold on to their friendship, Hassan always ready to support Amir ... ...his friend. As a result, the friendship is doomed. Many years later, after Amir and his father have settled in the US, Amir finds out something that shakes the very foundations of his beliefs and he is forced to return to Kabul, where he hopes he will be able to atone for his sins. Will he find Hassan again? Is redemption possible after all these years? As so often happens with best-selling books, I put off reading this one, which was published back ...
sunmeilan 05.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Advantages: Excellent story, page turner Disadvantages: You won't be able to put it down
...actually received my copy of the book for Christmas and it's been sitting on my pile of books, waiting to be read, while I finished my current book (Tsitsi Dangaremba's 'The Book of Not' - which, incidentally, is also very good). The cover is unlike the photo on ciao and is actually a sepia photograph of a small boy looking around a doorframe. To me, this subtle choice of image is far more suitable to the plot of the book than the starker kites-against-the-sky ... ...Reading Experience'''
I started the book rather nonchalantly pretty much as soon as I'd finished my previous book. I expected just to read a short snippet of it, but soon found this was one of those books that was going to prove impossible to put down. Hosseini's writing style is entrancing and the imagery of a child's imagining of Afghanistan was wonderfully portrayed.
The narrative in 'The Kite Runner' continually refers to later events in the ...
tac20 21.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Advantages: Absorbing tale, characters unfold during the novel, Disadvantages: Harrowing at times
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an absorbing tale of life in Afghanistan. It tells the tale of Amir a young boy from a fairly wealthy family in Afghanistan. This is Afghanistan in the 1970’s before the Taliban and before the Soviet invasion. Amir lives in a nice house with his father (his mother died shortly after childbirth) and in the grounds of the house lives his fathers servant Ali with his son Hassan. Hassan is the kite-runner of the ... ...Ali and Hassan come from the lower caste Hazaras and Amir although happy to play with the illiterate Hassan when he needs a friend at other times ignores him or makes fun of his inability to read or write. Throughout the story Hassan always remains the loyal friend and it is this loyalty that the story is about.
Amir wants to win the respect and love of his father but feels that his father is disappointed in him because Amir is not good at sports ...
AJ26 26.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
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Advantages: Strong characters and an education into the plight of women in Afghanistan Disadvantages: None
Having read the KiteRunner, I was eager to read the next work by KhaledHosseini. Whilst I still debate with myself whether it is as good as KiteRunner, if you evaluate the book in its own right without comparing it to the author's first book, then it is truly a masterpiece.
KhaledHosseini moves away from the KiteRunner story in this book to focus on the plight of women in Afghanistan. This book will shock you in every sense of the word when it comes to the ordeal that women have been subjected to in Afghanistan. Whilst I don't think that the story is as compelling as in the KiteRunner, it still depicts some interesting and diverse characters that all have a significant role to play. Moreover what this book does that the former didn't, is really take you through the political changes that took place in Afghanistan over decades ...
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a fantastic book. It is written by KhaledHosseini who also wrote, the well known book and film, KiteRunner. A thousand Splendid Suns is about womens struggle in a male dominated world. The story is set in a very similar context to Kiterunner but is about how two young girls lives become intertwined. The story is so intense and totally heart wrenching that you will not be able to put in down. It could be said however that it is more of a girls book than for male readers. Personally I think it is on a paar with the Kiterunner if not a better read. I would definitely recommend buying this book as not only is it a great yarn and very hard to put down, but it also provides context about the conflict in Iran and Afghanistan. It is an inspiring book and lives up to Khaled's last book, The KiteRunner. ...
Advantages: great read, throughly engaging Disadvantages: very sad
Having heard an awful lot about KhaledHosseini's first book The KiteRunner, I put ' A thousand splendid suns' on my christmas list, knowing that I could fairly easily borrow a copy of The KiteRunner. Although I'm ashamed to say that I still havent read the first book.
This book however is a first for me in the sense of Middle Eastern story telling. I tend to stick to perhaps tales with more of a happy theme, a sucker for a bit of romance I suppose.
I am therefore not comparing this book to the authors first, but in it's own merrits.
The book is set in Afghanistan where you are first introduced to Mariam, who spends the first 15 years of her life living with her troubled mother. Mariam is a 'harami' born out of wedlock, her father a wealthy business man with 3 wives.
Mariam is visited once a week by her father, visits ...
This is a story of fathers and sons, friendship and betrayal, and the casualties of fate. In the 1970s, Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
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