I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot ...
I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot of baby reviews to come. I also post on Dooyoo under the name Whizz11
Member since:07.09.2007
Reviews:406
Members who trust:44
The Kite Runner
One of the best books I have read all year and a truly wonderful story. The Kite Runner is a 2003 book written by Khaled Hosseini and was his debut novel.
It tells the story of a young boy called Amir. He is growing up in 1970's Afghanistan and faces many trials and tribulations. At first he lives a fairly great looking life on the surface of it. His father is well off and they live in a big pink house away from all the run down houses in the village. He has a great friend, one he can really rely on and trust, Hassan. Hassan and his father are actually servants for Amir and his father and although they have a great bond, Amir often feels embarrassed by Hassan and that embarrassment leads to shame when he questions his actions.
Amir's father is very cold and shut off and he is always desperately trying to win approval from his father. Amir then resolves to win the local kite fighting tournament
and hopefully prove he can be a man to his father. Hassan helps him in his quest but events after the tournament change their lives forever.
When Russian forces invade Afghanistan Amir and his father flee to America and so the story continues with tales of their new lives there and Amir's eventual trip back to Afghanistan to face the demons of his past.
I know we hear about Afghanistan in the news all the time but I guess I never really realised what life there is like or was like before all the fighting. I think it was actually nice for once to hear something positive about it and to hear about something other than fighting or killing. It actually made me want to visit the country. The author of this book paints Afghanistan as a wonderful country and talks about it with a great love. Khaled Hosseini was actually born in Afghanistan and stayed there until he was about 11 I believe so he does really know what he is writing about and for me really brings it alive. He describes not only the beautiful landscapes but also the smells and the way life was in such a way that makes you think he really does miss it and cherish it. In the book there is such a sense of community which you don't often find nowadays, especially in the Western world. Amir's father knew everybody and was well respected and always could count on his friends. This stayed the same when they moved to San Francisco as a lot of the people from Afghanistan moved there as well and continued their community in another world/life.
This story for me is a great tale of relationships and a lesson, I feel, in how to treat people and how that resonates through the rest of your life. The way the pairing plays out between Amir and his father is truly heartbreaking at times but also heart-warming in the end. The friendship between Amir and Hassan is pure and real but also tested. I think it makes you look at your own friendships and be glad that they are there.
I think this book would appeal to anyone who wants to learn a little bit about life outside of the Western world and those who like a story with a happy ending?
The novel was the number three best seller for 2005 in the United States and the winner of the 2006 Penguin Orange readers group prize. It is sold for about £7.99 in shops and is published by Bloomsbury. It is not amazingly long, approximately 324 pages. The book has actually been made into a film of the same name. This was released in December, I have not seen it yet but am very interesting in doing so as I have heard they pretty much use all Afghani actors and it would be lovely to see how they put together certain scenes and if the images I conjured up in my head about the way the author portrayed Afghanistan is the same way in which they show them in a film.
Hosseini has now written a second novel called A Thousand Splendid Suns. I have not read this yet but my husband has and he loved it (and he doesn't read many books so that is something coming from him). By the way he has described it to me it sounds like it follows the same mould as the Kite Runner. It is the story of two native women of Afghanistan, Mariam and Laila whose lives become entwined. This was released in 2007 and I believe is going to be made into a film too.
All in all, the Kite Runner is one book that you really must read!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: An incredibly absorbing and moving story that left me thoroughly satisfied. Disadvantages: Don't read if you've got a busy week, you won't be able to put it down!
Aug 21st, 2008
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