"It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir."
- Excerpt from The Kite Runner
Book: The Kite Runner
Themes: Sin and redemption
About the Author: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965 during the last decade of the monarchy. In 1976, after the communist revolution and the invasion of Russian Soviet armies, he fled with his family to Paris, France, where his father was given a diplomatic position at the Afghan embassy. In 1980, his family relocated to San Jose, Calif. after receiving political asylum.
Film and Theater: A blockbuster movie version is currently in pre-production and should be released in 2007. A stage version of the novel was performed at San Jose State University.
Fun Facts: Hosseini graduated from the UC San Diego School of Medicine in 1996 as a doctor of internal medicine. This is his first fiction novel, and the first novel ever to be published in English by an Afghan.
Summary:
A fictional story about a spoiled Pashtun boy named Amir who grows up in a home of privilege in Kabul, Afghanistan, the first-person narrative is juxtaposed by the last peaceful days of the monarchy, the communist rebellion and the eventual take-over by the Taliban. At the forefront, however, is the story of Amir and his best friend Hassan, the son of his father's servant. After an annual winter kite-flying tournament, Amir commits a series of transgressions against the people who love him most, which ultimately directs the course of the entire novel.
The remainder follows Amir and his father's life after they move to Fremont, Calif., among a community of fellow Afghans who are the fallen elite of Afghanistan now living in poverty, and Amir's dangerous return later on to Afghanistan in the attempt to account for his sins and find redemption.
Our Take:
"The simple and eloquent wording sucked me in, despite the sometimes touchy subject matter. I found the ethnic rivalry between the dominant Pashtun tribe and the Hazaras one of the most informative aspects, especially the ethnic cleansing of the Hazaras by the Taliban in the 1990s, which is often overlooked. Amir is one of those characters you're not sure if you entirely like, let alone admire, but you can't help but cheer for him.
Don't wait for the movie version. Read it for entertainment. Read it to expand your cultural awareness. Read it as proof that evil comes in all forms - sometimes even within ourselves."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
