The Kite Runner Review

The Kite Runner

By Khalid Hossieni

Khaled Hosseini (born March 4, 1965) is a novelist and physician who was born in Afghanistan. Since he was 15, he has lived in the United States, where he is a citizen. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide. His second, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was released on May 22, 2007. In 2008, the book was the bestselling novel in the UK (as of April 11, 2008), with more than 700,000 copies sold. Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

His personal experiences with Afghanistan's Hazara people led to the writing of his first novel, The Kite Runner. One Hazara man, named Hossein Khan, worked for the Hosseinis when they were living in Iran. When Khaled Hosseini was in third grade, he taught Khan to read and write. Although his relationship with Hossein Khan was brief and rather formal, Hosseini's fond memories of this relationship served as an inspiration for the relationship between Hassan and Amir in The Kite Runner.

Summary

The story is about Amir, a rich Pashtun boy and Hassan, a hazara and his servant's son, who are best friends. Baba, Amir's wealthy dad, is hostile towards Amir for his cowardice and praises Hassan. The only father figure Amir has is Rahim Khan, Baba's friend whom he bonds with. Amir gets mocked my Assef, a bully, for his friendship with Hassan, as he's a hazara, that is an inferior race. When Assef tries to attack Amir, Hassan saves him by threatening to hit Assef's left eye with a slingshot. Assef retracts but threatens to fight back. Hassan being the best kite runner, goes to get Amir the last cut kite in a tournament when Amir wins it, saying"for you, a thousand times over".he takes too much time to come back, compelling Amir to look for him, which leads him to find Assef attacking Hassan for the kite, which Hassan refuses to give for Amir, resulting in getting sexually abused by Assef. Amir hiding behind, quietly witnesses it all, being to coward to act. He never discloses it to Baba fearing loss of his affection after winning the tournament. to make up for the guilt he plants watch and money under Hassan's blanket, due to which Baba accuses Hassan for stealing it and Hassan agrees. Although Baba forgives him, Hassan and ali leave. Amir tries to get over his guilt. Meanwhile, Afghanistan gets invaded by soviet Russia, making Baba and Amir move to Pakistan and later to Fremont, U.S.A. Stripped off their riches, they live in impoverished conditions with Baba working at a gas station. Amir takes up a course to develop creative writing. They also send old stuff at a flea market to make extra money. Amir meets Soraya Taheri here, who is a fellow refugee and daughter of general Taheri, former military man. The general dislikes Amir's passion for writing. Baba gets diagnosed with cancer, but grants Amir the last wish by getting him married to Soraya with the general's approval. Amir and Soraya lead happy life, but with the sorrow of being child-less. Years later, Amir a successful novelist, gets a call from Rahim Khan, living his last days. He calls Amir and says" There is a way to be good again".Amir goes to Pakistan to meet him where Rahim Khan tells him about ali and Hassan, ali being killed at a land mine and Hassan getting married to Farzana and having a son named Sohrab.with requests from Rahim Khan, Hassan had went back to Amir's house as a care taker while they took a refuge in the states. But the Taliban tells them to vacate the place and on refusal, execute Hassan with Farzana .Sohrab is sent to an orphanage by the talibs. Rahim Khan tells Amir to get Sohrab in Pakistan and leave him with Thomas and betty Caldwell, who own an orphanage. But Amir gets furious since Rahim Khan also tells him that Hassan was not ali's but Baba's son and thereby Amir's half-brother. Finally after calming down he agrees to get Sohrab back, and travels with a taxi driver named Farid, who earlier being hostile, later helps him in his quest. On going back to Afghanistan Amir comes to know that Sohrab is not in an orphanage anymore but it bought by the Taliban, which buys girl children often.the director of the orphanage tells him to go to a soccer match and locate a man with black sunglasses. Farid somehow manages to arrange Amir's meeting with him. The man comes out to be Assef, and refuses to let go of Sohrab unless Amir lets him beat him black and blue. Assef is about ot kill Amir when he is rescued by Sohrab,who hits Assef's left eye with a slingshot, as promised by Hassan in the past. While getting treatment, Amir tells Farid to locate Thomas and Betty Caldwell but it comes out that they do not exist. Rahim Khan passes away and Amir decides to take Sohrab along. But the US authorities won't let him