The Kite Runner

libro stupendo. mi ha fatto piangere, sorridere, mettere il broncio. bellissimo.

Amazing book. And really gripping. There were parts where I was literally sitting on the edge of a chair! And in the same time it's a very existential book about life, people and what defines us as people. How some decisions (or a lack of them) can impact our whole life. A clear 5/5!

This book left me with as lot of strong emotions. On the top is awe at how good the story is, how well written and how beautifully it all comes together.

There is sadness for all the children who have been—and still are—being robbed of their childhood, their families and their homes. Khaled Hosseini gives us a peak into the world that is so atrocious feels like it should exist lightyears away in the past. But in reality it existed in out lifetime and it exists still. The story references the history of Afghanistan, but doesn't dig deep. I found myself needing to consult other sources to understand the setting better.

There is wonder at the beautiful picture of Afghanistan of the boys childhood. The way it is painted makes me want to go there and see it for myself—it if still existed.

There is incomprehension of how human history births such abominations over and over and how we manage to survive as a species despite it.

And there is the warm feeling of adoration for all the sweet and innocent parts of this book, the ones filled with manifestation of love and kindness. Khaled Hosseini knew how to write this sad and terrible story in such a way that still leaves you believing in goodness of people and in love.

First time I read it I liked it. Interesting read and liked that the main character was learning to heal from the past.
This second time I read it, I still liked it but a little less. What stuck out the most I felt like the “big bad guy” in the second half of the novel foreshadowed. Though I had forgotten most of the plot from when I first read it I was really hoping the bad guy was someone else.

What a truly sad and heartbreaking book. I was hoping for more historical insight but that did not take away from the underlying story. The pain and anguish of Hassan was devastating but somehow he still managed to find peace with himself and live happy. The same cannot be said for Amir. His life was tainted through and into his adulthood. At the end he managed to find peace and forgiveness for himself, although it was a hard road to get there.

“The Kite Runner” is a heartbreaking and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of family, friendship, betrayal, and redemption in the context of the political and cultural turmoil of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the early 2000s. The story is told from the perspective of Amir, a young Afghan boy who grows up in Kabul during the peaceful and prosperous pre-war era, and later emigrates to the United States after the Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban.

What makes this novel so powerful is the way it explores the human consequences of war and conflict, and the toll it takes on ordinary people's lives. Through Amir's journey of self-discovery and reconciliation with his past, the novel raises important questions about the nature of guilt, forgiveness, and atonement, and challenges readers to confront the complex moral and ethical dilemmas of our time.

Hosseini's writing is both lyrical and vivid, with a deep understanding of the cultural and historical context of Afghanistan, as well as the universal human experiences of love, loss, and longing. He creates a rich and nuanced cast of characters, from the charismatic and troubled Hassan to the complicated and flawed Baba, who embody the contradictions and complexities of Afghan society and culture.

it's a tragic tale from start to finish. the story's beautifully written but incredibly heavy - probably not the kind of book you reread. the highs and lows of the book make it a very frustrating read.

Intense!

I enjoyed this one a lot. I know very little about the region aside from what you can find in the news, and it was nice getting another, more personal, view. A lot happens to the main character, and I found myself love/hating each new chapter because I wanted/didn't want to know what happens. Extremely engaging to read.

5 stars, that's pretty simple. The book's historical context is riveting. The characters and relationship are extremely vivid. The story is beautiful and with many many changes of scenarios. Really impressive. The notoriety of this book is well deserved.

3.5/5 stars

Tengo un conflicto con este libro. Por un lado muy bien:
- Emotivo
- Aunque a otra gente no le gusta, a mi me ha gustado que haya palabras en Farsi
- Consigue transmitir lo que quiere

Por otro muy mal:
- Hay alguien malo, tan malo que es ridiculo
- Partes que sobran? La vida normal de una pareja casada, etc.
- Los cambios en la trama y las multiples multiples coincidencias se ven venir desde tantas paginas antes de llegar alli que casi dan ganas de dejar el libro
- La trama is bleh

En total le doy 3 por quedarme a medio camino.

Antara suka/gk suka sama buku ini.
Cerita hidup Hassan, sangat menyedihkan, bahkan hingga akhir hidupnya...
Amir, yg menimpakan semua kesedihan itu dlm hidup Hassan malah melenggang ke negeri bebas, mendapatkan segala kebaikan.
Ada bbrp momen yg mengharukan memang, ini cerita dimana generasi anak2 Afghan mendengar segala hal yg normal, bukan bom, ranjau & segal suara peperangan. Itu sdh lama berlalu hingga hidup “normal” untuk anak2 Afghan bagai mimpi. Namun buku ini mengingatkan kita bahwa kehidupan seperti itu pernah ada...

The Kite Runner is simply the most American foreign novel I've ever read. For those who aren't clear on this, that's not a good thing. We'll come back to this...

As a story, The Kite Runner starts a bit slow. I wasn't engaged as a reader until eighty to a hundred pages in. There was just considerable information to process and not much emotional weight to the story. The narrative jumped around quite a bit and it was difficult to follow. Then the tension began to rise. Amir, Hassan, and Baba became real. I was pulled into the narrative and I began to see how this story might actually warrant all the praise it has received. The characters were interesting and the plot was riveting.

For a chunk of this book somewhere in the middle, the story is quite good. There's the divisive heartrending story of the past that haunts our protagonist. His journey into adulthood, marriage, and immigration is insightful and honest. When the time comes for Amir to go back to Afghanistan, I expected the book to reach a satisfying conclusion, quietly observing Amir's past from his new position and providing Amir an opportunity to redeem himself for his past mistakes.

Then Khaled Hosseini did two things to crap all over any hopes I had for this book.

First, he found the cutest little ribbon he could, wrapped it around his story and tied it up so prettily. No, it doesn't end there. He found another cute ribbon. And he wrapped it around the story and the first bow. Then he found another. And another. There are no bloody kite strings in this novel. Those are the most ornate, gaudy ribbons the author could find because he wants you to see all of them. See this pretty ribbon here? Here's how I tie it all together. See this plot line here? Here's how I conveniently finish it off? Didn't see it? Well, let me explain it to you. There's redemption and there's soap opera drama needlessly orchestrated from page one. The Kite Runner is very much the second.

Second, and this is what really offends me, the intention of The Kite Runner is clear: to be a foreign novel that makes Americans happy that they're Americans. It justifies the superiority complex while convincing the reader that they're culturally aware. The western belief that Muslim nations are evil and that they need our salvation is abundant in the later half of this book. The Taliban is painted as a childish, hypocritical caricature with no need for sympathy. The only redeemable Muslim characters are those who reject any expression of faith and embrace western ideas and imagery. But it's all written by an Afghan, so it must be the way things are, right? Yes, The Kite Runner is a book that lets you feel cultured and entirely justified in bombing those bastards overseas.

I know many people love this book. I know that I've probably just stepped on many of their toes. They may think I'm calling them out as an “ignorant westerner.” I'm not. This book perpetuates these ideas, but falling for a good story while missing the underlying colonial notions can happen to the best of us, especially when the author is “one of them.” I do wish I'd read a book from Afghanistan that better represented the nation and its people. Hopefully, someday I'll get back around to it.

This is definitely, without a doubt, the best book we've ever had to read for school.

I'd already had high hopes for it when I started it because my mom had loved it and had been dying for me to read it. And I must say, it far exceeded my hopes for it.

The writing itself is so vivid, and Hosseini paints an excellent picture in the novel. The writing style makes it feel like Hosseini himself is the narrator, not Amir. In fact, when we had to take a quiz on the first few chapters of the book, there were a fair amount of people who hadn't realized it was a novel. Instead, they'd thought it was a memoir of sorts.

The characters feel real and Hosseini conveys the pain of the story thoroughly so that the reader himself feels it. You feel for all the characters (well maybe not Assef), not because they're perfect, but because they are all so flawed. Amir, in particular, is one of the most flawed characters of the novel, and because of it, he feels so human. If I had any complaints character-wise, it would probably be that at times Hassan did not have the same sort of realness that the other characters did. He was a little too perfect at times, and I had difficulties discerning any flaws in his character.

The plot is gripping and moves along at a fantastic pace. The events that occur in the novel are necessary, and it did not feel as if there were many unnecessary details. Unfortunately, I can't say anything else because of spoilers, but I can say that everything that happens in the book is somehow tied to a particular event towards the beginning of the novel.

Overall, it was phenomenal. I definitely recommend it to many people, as long as they're ready for it maturity-wise.

Brilliant and heart warming story.

I don't know why I put off reading this book for so long but once I picked it up it was very hard to put down A wonderful book

One of the best books I've read in recent times. Devastatingly beautiful and heartbreaking.

I cried.

I didn't know much about this book before I read it. I had heard of it (since I don't, in fact, live under a rock) but didn't know really what it was about at all. I picked it up at my favorite local-ish used bookstore for 25 cents. I literally bought this book for a quarter just because I could. I am SO glad I did. The official synopsis really says it all (at least keeping it spoiler-free) but I loved this book so much that I had to write a review. If nothing else, just to rant about how much I loved it.

The Kite Runner is set for the most part in Kabul, Afghanistan. I have to say that I knew very, very little about Afghanistan and Afghan culture going into this book. I was a little hesitant to read it because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to relate or understand what was going on. I experienced the complete opposite. The story was very easily accessible and I was totally immersed from the first chapter; I felt like I was in Afghanistan with Amir and Hassan. This novel was very emotional for me; it left me sobbing in my room, in my car, on my sofa, everywhere I read it. I felt what Amir felt. Hosseini's writing style was deeply engaging.

I won't spoil it by going into any detail but as much as I loved it, The Kite Runner was also incredibly difficult to read in parts. It was true to life in Afghanistan. I would put so many trigger warnings on this book. (For specific tw(s), please ask. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.) Some events were disturbing and the story was just so heart-wrenching.

The Kite Runner is a haunting novel, one that will stick with me for a long time. When I think about it, I think about love, forgiveness, guilt, and redemption. So much love. An overwhelming theme of love.

Would I recommend this book?

Because of some heartbreaking and possibly triggering events described within, I would not recommend this for everyone. But I would recommend it, if you can mentally handle reading about these events. Please check it out before you read it. The Kite Runner is incredibly moving and informative concerning Afghanistan, it's culture, and the terrible things happening in that country. I definitely recommend it.

This is one of those books that I generally steer away from. Books I label ‘socially conscious' books. I don't even think that's a real term, but it's always what I think of when books like this. To me it means that this book is about something we should know about. Like reading about current events. Or, books Oprah raves about. If Oprah is raving about a book I know I probably don't want to read that book. Oprah and I do not have the same taste in books.

But at a book club meeting with women I love and respect they all unanimously voiced their love of The Kite Runner and one mentioned it was a great audiobook listen because then you weren't stumbling on the unfamiliar words and names. I like to listen to books when read by the authors also, and this one was. I was also made more curious after I discovered that Khaled Hosseini grew up in my hometown after moving to the States and even graduated from the other high school in our district. So I set aside my prejudices about socially conscious books and checked out the audiobook from the library to listen to while I crocheted.

I did not love it.

I don't even understand why people like this book. The main character, Amir is one of the most irredeemable, disgusting protagonists I've ever had the displeasure of reading about. I was literally disgusted with him. It made my stomach roll and at times I would exclaim in frustration because I just wanted him to shut up. Are we supposed to learn to like him? Have sympathy for him? What is the point of creating a character so far removed from human decency? I kept waiting for the moment when he would step up and atone for his past behaviors, but that didn't happen! AND EVERYONE KEPT FORGIVING HIM! He was treated as ‘poor Amir' as if these things had happened TO him, when in fact he was the catalyst for ruining the lives of so many people who loved him. And even in what should have been his great moment of redemption he once again proves to be a coward and useless. When he should be a protector, he instead terrifies and then kneels idly while screaming instead of attempting to get help. Waste.

The book dragged on for me with repetitive moments like when Assef is telling Sohrab to put down the slingshot. It went like this:

“Put it down.” “No.” “Put it down.” “No.” “Put it down!” “No.” “Put it down!” “No!” “Put it down!” “No!” “Put it down!” “No!”

I almost went crazy in that moment.

Then there were the times when he would say something like:

“I have something important to tell you. It will change your life. It may be too late.” “What is it?!” “Well, it may be too late.” “What do you mean?” “I will tell you, but it may be too late. Would you like a cigarette?” “No, thank you.” “Let me ask you first, why do you want to know?” “It's personal.” “But why do you want to know?” “I have my reasons.” “But why?” “It's personal.”

Wasn't it painful reading that right now? That's how I felt. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not.

But all was not terrible. I loved reading about the Kabul in the 70's. I loved getting that glimpse of Afghan culture and traditions. I enjoyed when Amir and Baba moved to the States and settled in the Bay Area reading about places I had been, like Lake Elizabeth and the Berryessa Flea Market, staples of my childhood. I could clearly picture the stalls at the flea market and imagined Amir and his father maybe passing by my childhood home on their way back to Fremont. I did love some of the characters, Hassan and Ali, of course, Baba, Soraya and her mother....but in the end it wasn't enough.

Very moving. A solid read from start to finish and worthy of all the positive press, by and large. The author's love for his lost Afghanistan is palpable, which always gets to me (like Eva Ibbotsons paeans to pre-war Vienna). I could foretell the remainder of the plot halfway through the book, though, which always renders things less enjoyable.

Superb, and sad in a lot of ways. Highly recommend.

“I always thought clichés got a bum rap. Because, often, they're dead-on. But the aptness of the clichéd saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliché.”

Boring. Flat language and characters. Repetitious. Contrived. Generic.

I couldn't put it down. This book opens our eyes wide and shows us how others live and over come trials.