The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
This semester, I had to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini for English C1.1.2. At first I didn’t like the idea. I’d seen the book in bestseller lists, as well as others by the same author. And to be honest, I’m usually a bit cynical in what concerns bestseller lists. So I ended up never reading anything by him.
But now I had to. There’d be tasks and tests on the book, and not reading it would be academic suicide, for that subject at least.
So I got myself a .pdf version of the book and started reading it. I do that a lot, first read a few chapters of a book online, and then if I like it – and only if I like it – buy the book in paper form. Most books are easy to find, sometimes even through Amazon with their “Search Inside” feature. I mean, my money and time are limited, I can’t just go around wasting money on things I won’t enjoy or even get to read. So, I think I read about two chapters of The Kite Runner that way. And that was it, I decided to buy the thing from Amazon.
Really big surprise there, I didn’t expect the book to be what it was at all. When you first start reading it, you think it’s about this cute friendship between two boys who live in a not so stable environment in Afghanistan. And then everything changes and it ends up being about guilt and, ultimately, redemption. A roller coaster between heartbreaking and heartwarming, considering all the twists the story has. It’s not exactly a light read. It is in the sense that the writing is very nice, fluid, with nice use of symbolism. Accessible to non-English native speakers too, I thought. But the story is incredibly sad, even if it ends in a sort of redemption, more or less.
It was very insightful too. The book itself mentions and explains several cultural aspects of Afghanistan and Islam, its official religion. Things I was completely ignorant to. Also, my work group and myself had to give an oral presentation on Islam and other religions in Afghanistan. It didn’t go very well for me, I think I had too much caffeine that morning and ended up shaking and stuttering like crazy through the whole thing. But it was definitely very enlightening.
I definitely recommend this book, and actually feel a bit silly for not having read it sooner.
Also, there’s a movie adaptation. I usually enjoy reading books and then watching them made into film. I love comparing what my imagination did as I read the book with what other people’s imagination did as they read and adapted the book. This movie in particular, however, makes me sad. There was just so much potential in there. Important facts were simply omitted, the emotion on certain parts plain disappears… In my opinion, it’s worth the watch if you’ve read the book, but otherwise, it’s not really that great.
The same principle I have for books goes for movies as well, I can’t afford to go around buying things I might not enjoy. Yay for YouTube! 
Such an enticing review!
I’ve just added “The Kite Runner” to my list of books to read.
Thank you.
And yeah, good call. Let me know if you’d like to borrow mine before buying.
[...] to be honest, but the movie showed up on all lists and on all emails I got from Amazon. Since I’ve been proven wrong on my cynicism towards bestseller lists on Amazon before, I decided this would be a good time to get into something from there, specially something [...]
Hey, I read that as my course novel in grade 11. It was a great book.
I did not like Amir though, he was such a coward for not having stood up for his friend, Hassan. There was a conversation in the novel where Amir promised that he would defend Hassan but he didn’t as it was evident in that accident between them both.
I don’t feel that Amir could make it up to Hassan in the end either. It wasn’t enough for Amir to just watch over Sohrab because Hassan was the best kind of person there was in his world; he still loved him to the very end.
I should watch the movie soon when I have free time.
It made me feel really depressed after reading it and I really loved the line of where Hassan said, “For you, a thousand times over.”
In grade 11? I *really* wish I had read it sooner.
I agree Amir’s actions were very cowardly, but I couldn’t really help but to empathize with him, because of how honest he is about everything. He admits his own cowardice regarding what he had done (or not done, like you said), and that feeling of guilt and shame are so present throughout the whole story… There were specific times when I didn’t like him either, but most of the time I felt sorry for him. He was only a child too.
Yeah, it’s one of those stories that stay with you for a while. Hassan was quite special, and I loved that line too, and how he’s described while saying it, “smiling his Hassan smile”. Definitely a story that stays with you for a while.
[...] feel skeptical about, and with his novels based on a culture that’s so distant from my own. But I had to read The Kite Runner for English C1.1.2 last semester, and ended up really enjoying it. A Thousand Splendid Suns is Khaled Hosseini second and latest [...]