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afghanistan, book review, Kabul, khaled hosseini, Kite Runner, Qurban, religion, the kite runner
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…”
Set in Afghanistan during the 1970’s, ‘The Kite Runner’ is an insightful novel that spans three decades of the life and customs of a people and a country that have tragically become synonymous with terrorism. The story opens on an Afghanistan very few of us know or even care to remember; at a time when its streets and people were not ravaged by the mania of religious extremism and war; when it was (believe it or not) a country of prosperity and liberal thought.
Growing up in the midst of this is our narrator Amir with his odd family made up of his father Toghfan Aga, a bear-like man who is among the wealthiest and most respected public figure in Kabul. With them live their faithful servants, Ali and his young son Hassan, who have served the family for many generations as well as Toghfan Aga’s business partner and closest friend, Rahim Khan.
This is the tale of Amir and his friendship with Hassan, and how the tragic events of one fateful day drives these two motherless boys apart. Guilt-ridden Amir is destined from that day forth to carry the immense burden of his betrayal, all because he did not have the courage to stop the things he saw in happening in a dirty alleyway.
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek… Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
Amir’s lack of courage is something his father is aware of, to the point that Baba Toghfan sees him as an embarrassment to his bloodline and treats him as thus. This however doesn’t deter Amir from yearning for Baba Toghfan’s approval. As Amir covets his father’s love he becomes more and more jealous of Hassan, whose every gesture and deed wins the approval of Baba Toghfan. The seeds of jealousy coupled with that of Amir’s growing ‘meanness’ against his Hazara playmate come together in a terrible event that mirrors the break-up of Afghanistan itself.
Normally I would not have picked this as a read, but as it’s part of the A-level curriculum it was required reading. The novel deals with themes of sacrifice, loyalty, father-son relationships, betrayal and eventual redemption. All the characters have their own secret sins and regrets, and as the novel progresses time manages to unearth even the most deeply buried ones.
It’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.
Critically speaking the story is well-structured, but there is a certain divide in the narrative that seemed to also cut my interest level in half, which comes precisely when war erupts in Afghanistan and Amir has to leave for America. The excitement and tension that Hosseini had built up and managed to sustain suddenly lost its fizz.
It’s a cruel thing to say, but I suddenly stopped caring about the characters. I would have loved it if the narrative had gone for a complete change at that moment and swapped over to Hassan’s point of view. The moment would have been ripe for such a switch, and we would have also seen everything that goes on in Afghanistan after Amir and his father run away. It would have been interesting to have stayed in the line of fire and to have witnessed some of Hassan’s/ Rahim-Khan’s feelings as I still have a lot of unanswered questions about those characters.
However, it is a good text to study at A-level, as there are a lot of bridges between concepts, ideas, symbolism etc that makes it a fertile text to use in that respect. I was instantly struck by the references to trees and decided to do a little googling. To my surprise quite a few people also picked up on the messages Hosseini was giving through his strategic use of trees in the text. There was also the concept of sacrifice that married well with the custom of the ‘Qurban‘. Hosseini explored the theme carefully and I was very impressed with how he was trying to explain the subtle complexities of this Islamic tradition by making it a focal point.
Despite its’ failings as a story, I can’t wait to teach this text from a critical perspective. We all have our biased views on Afghanistan, so it’ll be wonderful to step outside ‘known’ authors and experience the literary re-birth of a country ravaged by war and censored by religion that can barely be called ‘Islam‘. ‘The Kite Runner’ is an important text on many levels and I believe Hosseini has better stories to tell in the time to come.
Related articles
- Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, aims to build bridges to Kabul with new book (guardian.co.uk)
- Day 15 – 30 Day Book Challenge- Foreign Culture (angiesgrapevine.wordpress.com)
- Khaled Hosseini Plans New Novel Next May (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
- New Khaled Hosseini Novel Coming in May (themillions.com)
Wordly Obsessions 
Yet another insightful, well-considered, probing review, Zee. You always review books on the multiple levels that are important to me. I understand what you mean about the divide in the narrative, although it didn’t diminish my interest as much. I found “The Kite Runner” vivid and emotionally compelling. It gave me a fascinating window into another world through the eyes of intimately drawn characters.
Yet another insightful, well-considered, probing review, Zee. You always consider a book on the multiple levels that are important to me. I understand what you mean about the divide in the narrative, although it didn’t diminish my interest so much. I found “The Kite Runner” very vivid and emotionally compelling. I found that it gave me a fascinating window into another world, through the eyes of intimately drawn characters.
*blushes* I have a confession to make. I rushed this one. I just do not seem to have the time to write my reviews the way I want these days. There is so much more to this novel, but cramming it all into a review didn’t feel right. I might go off and write a few articles that focus on different themes etc.
I’m glad it didn’t put you off as it did me. But it really felt like Hosseini had lost his thread mid-way through. But that’s all the more better. When the time comes to teach this novel I’ll probably concentrate on the first half, as that is where all the tight connections lie. After that everything goes loose and starts to unravel. It’ll save me a lot of reading time with the class!!
Thanks for dropping by Cara.
i sort of agree with you. Khaled hosseini’s style is flawless, but he fails to draw empathy from the reader. I felt the same way while reading A Thousand splendid Suns
Very nice review!
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Yes, I experienced the same thing with ‘A thousand Splendid Suns’. I didn’t feel much empathy for the characters there either. I just put it down to him not being as daring as he should. He needs a little of Toni Morrison’s ‘shock-factor’ maybe 🙂
Thanks for your comment.
I quite like the book but it’s not the tear jerker that other readers claim it to be. (I still don’t understand what is there to get emotional about?) but the friendship of the two boys are unique from what I have read before. I watched the film and I think the film is better.
No it’s not. I’ver heard some people say the film version isn’t all that good either. But I suppose I can see how some actually seeing some scenes visually would have a greater impact on the audience.
This is why I gave it 3/5 stars. This story in the hands of say, Arundhati Roy, would have soared to great heights. I still can’t forget the beauty of ‘God of Small Things’. I do wish she would write fiction again… *sigh*
Nice review Zee, it seems that I like it better than you. However, I do agree with what you have said, it is far more interesting if we can get more story out of Hassan, Ali and Rahim Khan…Amir is the lest interesting character of all.
I felt more excitement in reading when they are still in Afganistan, it got bored when the story revolved around Amir’s life in US. I am glad you can see that what Taliban said about religion is hardly Islam…they are so damn wrong, they are using Islam in a wrong way as a way to control their citizen *sigh*
It’s good we feel the same way about Hassan. I couldn’t help liking him yet feeling so frustrated at his innocence. Yes, unfortunately because of the Taliban Islam is now known not as a religion but an instrument of terrorism. I sometimes feel very angry and frustrated at people who view Muslims as backward thinking people who treat women as slaves or worse.
The Sharia is nothing to be with Islam, it has no place in the religion. The Taliban are using the negative image cultivated by the West. Islam is a religion that promotes peace between races and contrary to popular belief, revers women and their place in society. The Koran has a whole chapter dedicated to women, their rights (you’d be surprised at how close the laws are laid down to that of modern day Western law), the rights of their children, rights of orphans and what is acceptable in terms of marriage. There is no talk of multiple wives or of a husband taking control of his wife’s inheritance!!
If people actually took the time to READ the book, they would realise that what they think is Islam is actually not the case. Unfortunately ‘The Kite Runner’ shows how Islam has been corrupted. Crazy characters like Assef did and do exist, this is a dark side of the culture and it has eclipsed all the good it seems. Only the other day I was reading about the times of Omar Khayyam and his best friend the Vizier Malik-al Mulk (Vizier to Sultan Alparslan of the Seljuk Dynasty) and how the prototype of a University’ Institute of Higher Education first came about in Persia of all places.
When I take a look at Iran now and what it was then I feel very sad and embarrassed. Countries like Iran and Afghanistan that were once the epicentres of knowledge and wealth are now nothing but a snake’s nest for evil things to fester in.
I couldn’t have said better…I am so happy you can view Islam like that pass through all the bad image created by those countries.
The Taliban prohibited woman to study whereas the first word given by Allah to the prophet is READ. the two countries really twisted all the meaning in the Quran. If I see news of those countries, I feel grateful I was born in Indonesia where I can learn Islam better than in those countries.
🙂 Exactly. What’s there not to like about Islam when it’s first word is ‘Read’? Reading is my greatest passion!!! I have major respect to any religion that can promote that in it’s opening phrase.
I’ve begun to read the Koran bit by bit and am struck by how different it is to the Bible. I have a copy of the St. James one and some passages really offended me with what it says about women. You know what I’m like, I’m a sucker for banned or taboo books and the Koran is probably right up there on the list because of the bad image it has.
What I’ve read so far hasn’t shocked me or frightened me. I recommend that people read it just to get their facts straight.
I wish I can push a like button to your comment here 🙂
people think all those things about the islams because it is true! if you want to call it rumors or stories i got new, every rumor and story has truth in it!
Hi Jesse, I’m interested to know what the ‘new’ you have is. Or was that supposed to be ‘news’? And the ‘islams’ you talk about, which ones are those?
Every religion has their fanatics, their warmongerers, bigots and sadists. I bet I could flip through any religious book and find something that is controversial about its teachings. There is more than ample evidence of Christians throughout history that have pillaged, murdered and enslaved natives of other countries.
In other words Jesse, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones… stop being a fanatic. No one’s religion is better than the other. A glance back into history is enough to make any person’s face colour with shame. That is, if you have the eyes to see it of course.
That’s a shame when a huge narrative decision undercuts what a novel has going for it. I could be wrong, but it sounds like simply adding Hassan’s POV in sections (especially in that latter half) might have given the book a stronger emotional charge.
Well, I certainly feel it would of. Have you read it by any chance? I can’t help feeling how some novels could be improved by changing from one character’s perspective to another. Hosseini sticks to Amir all the way through, but that does limit things quite a bit.
And I didn’t like how things unravelled textually. Hosseini had this great parallel going between the story at large and the ancient Persian poem about the warrior Rostem and his animosoty towards his own son. It tied in really well with the father/son tension between Amir-Hassan-Toghfan Aga… He kind of let it all go to waste really. He could have kept that up at least, but I suppose that kind of thing can only be expected of a greater writer with a bigger vision. Someone like Salman Rushdie for instance.
OK. I’ll stop my rant now.
well i think after reading thousand splendid suns novel tha its a epic, and heartbreaking kind of a story and i’m wordless after reading this
Absolutely, it’s totally heartbreaking. The author has written about terrible things, and these things happen to children which is worse.
The writer put himself to write in such a way that sometime we feel angry with his action but next moment we are cheering for him. The whole story realizes you about the real meaning of humanity that we lost in course of time.
I agree Nikhil, I’m really glad the main character got a chance to put things right. We often don’t get that chance in real life. However I have yet to read a book that really looks at Afghanistan without flinching and without hiding behind characters.
I hope in time Hosseini does write about the terrors of the war. I have a feeling he is the best candidate for this.
Reblogged this on Independent Study: The Kite Runner and commented:
Another book review
nice review :).. the story actually would have gone a complete hit if he would have concentrated on hassan’s story..his character is the one I cant ever forget, all the more it would have given an insight on afghanistan of that time. Yet i feel the story is the one which can move the coldest hearts.. need t write a review on this book as a school project and your review was a great help to refer to.
thanks a lot