The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

 

The Kite Runner

By Khaled Hosseini

When he was young, Amir spent all of his time playing with his family's servant boy Hassan. Amir likes to think of himself as smarter than Hassan, though Hassan shows himself to be much wiser than Amir in most ways. Hassan also sticks up for Amir, drawing the ire of another group of boys.

During a kite festival Hassan runs down the prized kite for Amir, but runs into these boys who hurt him in a traumatic way, which Amir witnesses and does nothing about, pretending he didn't see it. This incident causes a schism in their relationship, leading Amir (in his guilt) to frame Hassan for a theft in order to have him removed from the household. Hassan and his father leave.

Amir has a lot of jealousy for Hassan because of the favoritism Amir's father Baba shows Hassan.

When the Taliban start to assert control over Afghanistan and Amir and Baba have to leave the country, they make their way eventually to the US where Amir grows up and marries. Then, word comes after Baba dies that Hassan has been killed, leaving behind a son who is in an orphanage. Amir is called to go back and help the boy find safety. When he goes, Amir has to face the bullies of his past who hurt Hassan, face his own guilt, and try to right the wrongs he committed.

This was a 5-star read from the beginning. The scene setting and emotion is high and strong in this book. I felt so overwhelmed while reading it. The prose was so beautiful and the tragedy of the book just killed me. The devotion of Hassan and the trauma Hassan's son endures is so heartrending. I'm looking forward to reading more from Hosseini.