Kite Runner by Khaled Hossenini is one of those books that may stick in your mind for years. It is written with themes of riveting honor and cruelty. After leaving his best friend to be raped in an alley so he is able to win his dad’s affections the book takes a dive into disaster. This book is not for the weak-minded, it is filled with excruciatingly raw scenes of heart wrenching malice. Yet there are areas of immense love hidden in the twists and turns are the plot which alter Hossenini’s narrator Amir’s life significantly. As he says, “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime...” This is a book that can dramatically change your perspective and outlook of your life. The presence of the Taliban in this book engages our thoughts to the brutal struggles Afghans face and opens our eyes to harsh reality.
The relationship between the narrator and his hazara remind us of the brutality and loyalty we sometimes come to face. Khaled fills his novel with phenomenal shows of emotion and perspective. He leads his characters through a zig-zag of life in Afghanistan at the time and we learn of cowardice, courage and redemption. After Amir betrays Hassan the story is changed forever. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” This is one of the biggest moments of betrayal but without it Kite Runner wouldn’t be the book it is.
After the shocking reveal that Hassan’s son was now orphaned, Amirs finds himself in the heart wrenching journey to save the boy. Where he then finds the Kabul where he grew up in shambles and all he finds left is a pomegranate tree carved with him and Hassan’s initials that hasn’t borne fruit in years just like the boys’ old plentiful childhood friendship. So if one day you just happen to be at the library looking for a heart pounding book pick yourself up a copy of Khaled Hossenini’s Kite Runner.