I loved this book. Its amazingly eye opening. The guilt Amir feels that affects every last thing in his life serves as a brutal reminder of how unr... (show more)
The Kite Runner
Over two years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.
Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father'... (show more)
Over two years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.
Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.
The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption. (show less)
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Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner
The #1 national bestseller is an unforgettable story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul.
See more on Khaled Hosseini at Simon & Schuster
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Reviews (See all 29,463) Write a reviewfor this
It's a hit!
No, it's a flop!
Book began to please me almost exactly halfway. I was almost going to stop reading because I found the protagonist when he was a boy extremely unli... (show more)
Book began to please me almost exactly halfway. I was almost going to stop reading because I found the protagonist when he was a boy extremely unlikable. But after a while I hoped he would change and of course he did. I knew nothing about this book except that it centered around a friendship between two boys in Afghanistan. I read A Thousand Splendid Suns previously and was very enthralled and moved by it.
This book however I thought was melodramatic, too many twists and turns to be labeled a novel, more like a mass market paperback "airport novel." Wise in the sense that you want to more about the country the book takes place in but not wise because the main character is weak, self loathing and conflicted practically all the time. Of course he has his metamorphosis, I'm happy for him and for myself, I didn't waste my time reading this for nothing. When I care more about the supporting characters I don't consider that a good sign. Kind of like the "Sookie Stackhouse dilemma."
Wouldn't recommend, but I would Hosseini's other work, A Thousand Splendid Suns. (show less)
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Khaled Hosseini spoke right through Amir when he said that he liked to use cliché's in his writing. The second half of the book had some predictable plot designs that you'd expect from out of a hollywood movie. Regardless, it was a good read that had some interesting insight on the culture/history of Afghanistan.
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It's difficult to believe that The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's debut novel. This is is one of the most powerful and memorable books I've ever read. Honest, brutal, graphic and raw, yet emotionally wrenching - a terrific and provocative read.
The Kite Runner tears at your heart but at the same time it creates a very rich and vivid experience of Afghan culture and history.
I listened to the audio version, read by the author. He has a bit of an accent as well as a very flat reading vo... (show more)
It's difficult to believe that The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's debut novel. This is is one of the most powerful and memorable books I've ever read. Honest, brutal, graphic and raw, yet emotionally wrenching - a terrific and provocative read.
The Kite Runner tears at your heart but at the same time it creates a very rich and vivid experience of Afghan culture and history.
I listened to the audio version, read by the author. He has a bit of an accent as well as a very flat reading voice, which takes a while to get used to. I did not read the written version so I can't comment on how reading it would be, but listening to it was quite an experience, especially hearing the properly pronounced Farsi words in-between the English text. This is one of the best books I have ever listened to and while the subject matter could be uncomfortable at times, I found the writing style and the story mesmerising.
This novel is also a powerful statement about the healing power of friendships and family. This one will continue to haunt me for some time. (show less)
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An amazing read, this book really gives us an insight on what is happening to the people of Afgahnistan
Akansha Agarwal 6 days ago -
An incredibly good book
Morten Filemon Olsen 7 days ago
that made me feel incredibly sad
and made my world look really bad -
As Americans, we know so little about Afghanistan, save for what is on the news, which we all know, is biased. Read this book!
Jen Morgan Tietz Polk 11 days ago -
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I really enjoyed this book.. he had a way of making me feel like I was right there with him... very moving.
Facebook User 15 days ago -
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Who thought the book was terrible?
Who thought that it was in fact ghastly written, full of its unrealistic twists and turns and dull and talantless descriptions (I ended up skimming through the latter after the first half - he didn't say anything new really), peppered up with cliches and farsi words (beats me what the reason for these was), and based on annoying repetitions of the same events for over 350 pages? In my opinion it's tremendously overrated and it's indeed a waste of time. Why so many people praise is just baffling...
Before you tear me to pieces about how cruel the world is and how much Afghan people have suffered, I'm not saying that such things did not happen, alas, they did, human cruelty knows no bounds, my point is only that the book is crap. Housseini is not a good writer and The Kite Runner proves it.
Tsetsi Malinova 10 months ago -
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Facebook User 3 months ago
Vanessa -
Spoiler: Was the end of The Kite Runner unrealistic?
Was I the only one who thought Sohrab's suicide attempt was unrealistic? I had a hard time believing that an abused, submissive child would think to kill himself after he was already used to betrayal and poor treatment, especially over such a (relatively) small thing. Even the manner in which he tried to kill himself seemed too... adult. Everything else rang true to me, except maybe for Amir's hesitance to adopt his nephew. But really it was the attempted suicide by a young boy that I found hard to believe. Thoughts?
Katherine Adkins about 1 year ago
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