The kite runner

When I bought the book I didn’t expect much from it and thought it might turn out to be a typical eastern plot consisting of violence, vicious murders, ruthless cold blooded killers, women being tortured and killed etc and to some extent I was right but I couldn’t have imagined that it would completely blow me away as well. What made it different from others was the fact that it reflected the weaker side of an eastern man, which has been an untold reality or somewhat a taboo in our society, like all the other men in the world even eastern men can have their moments of cowardice. An Afghani man is perceived as a strong, hot-blooded being who would kill or die in the name of honor, who would indulge in all sorts manly activities and would never find solace in books and writing but the book proved that he can. It also portrayed the extremely frictional relation between Pashtuns and Hazaras and the tale of destruction of a country and exploitation of a religion for personal agendas.

The illustration was so vivid so detailed and so engrossing. It’s extremely emotional, heart- touching, heart-breaking, horrifying and intoxicating. A tale of an unmatchable loyalty, generosity and most importantly it is painfully honest. In the beginning I was genuinely shocked when Amir (main character) would witness such a vice and couldn’t get the courage to help his friend, in fact I really wanted to talk sense into the guy and kept telling him in my mind that it is not too late turn back ….be a man… help your friend but as if that would change anything. Later in life he faces many tragic events but nothing helps in curbing the guilt or in controlling the damage that has been already done. Somewhere I wish that it would have been a little less tragic.

Overall it was completely marvelous, a timeless eastern tale and a true page turner for me.

My Rating 4/5

Basic Plot:

It’s based on the conditions of 1970’s Afghanistan and revolves around the strange friendship of Amir and Hassan they both have been brought up together somewhat as brothers. When Amir was 12 years old there was a local kite-fighting tournament, which he was desperate to win as to him that was the only hope to win his father’s love and like always Hassan promised to help. But neither one of them could have known what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives as they know it. After Russians invade Afghanistan the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to find the thing that his new world cannot grant him: REDEMPTION.