Introduction:
This book is called The Kite Runner and it was written by Khaled Hosseini. This New York Times Bestseller has a publication date of June 2003, and it was published by The Berkley Publishing Group. This contemporary fiction piece comes in at 371 pages.

The story reveals the tortured history of one very privileged Afghani family, and the pain that family secrets can cause.

Body and Analysis:
This book looks beyond the turmoil that Afghanistan has endured, and, instead focuses on how individual families have been affected. Mr. Hosseini looks at family secrets within one very privileged family, and the devastation that lies can cause, as well as, how important redemption is. By choosing to focus on a very flawed POV character we get the chance to see how no one action makes a man, but that one poor decision can define how he sees himself.

The Kite Runner has a very flawed protagonist, Amir. We journey with him from his adolescent years and a devastating turning point in his life - to his last chance at redemption, during his adult years. Although, we are witness to some of this protagonists' fundamental flaws, he presents one of the most dynamic viewpoints of this whole heartbreaking story.

Amir and his family spend part of the book being catered to by Ali and his son, Hassan. This relationship alternates between friendship and jealousy. Within the secrets of Ali's and Hassan's fathers' past lays the seeds of anger that serve to torture Amir's psyche throughout his life. It is in a moment of jealousy and cowardice that Amir walks away from Hassan, leaving him to suffer a serious abuse at the hands of some neighborhood bullies.

This moment of cowardice severs their friendship. The war in Afghanistan moves forward and soon Amir and his father escape to the United States. Years later, Amir hears from a lawyer who had once counseled his now deceased father. The lawyer contacts Amir because Hassan is dead and his son, Sohrab, has been sent to an orphanage. The lawyer, Rahim Khan, asks Amir to return to Afghanistan one last time.

Amir's subsequent return to Afghanistan provides him his last opportunity to lay down the ghosts of the past and seek redemption for his family's mistakes. That chance lies in the rescue of Sohrab. There are many obstacles, the greatest of which reunites Amir with a bully of the past, but it is in rescuing Sohrab that Amir is finally able to make peace with the past and honor Hassan.

Conclusion:
I was beyond words after reading this book. Mr. Hosseini crafted one of the saddest, but moving, portrayals of a family that I have ever read. This piece addresses the dynamics that are created in a stratified society, where certain people are considered below other people. It also shines a mirror on how our choices to slink away from the right thing will stay with us long beyond the results of those situations. The characters are honest and endearing, and they paint a portrayal of a devastating national history.

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Created Dec 12, 2010 at 10:01pm • Submit your own review...