The Kite Runner || A Book Review

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime.” 

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir’s choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

---

I had ridiculously high expectations for The Kite Runner because the librarian and my English teachers said that it is life-changing. My life has not been changed. Nevertheless, it’s a lovely book.

I don’t love the writing style, but it’s okay. There are a lot of words in Farsi that are defined the first time they are used. This is fine for the ones that are used a lot, but for the less common words, I often forgot the definition and it led to confusion later.

My favorite parts of the book are the characters and the plot. The main character has a lovely arc and I like seeing him grow up. The plot is beautiful and I like the parallelism. However, I wasn’t really absorbed into the story. I read the book like you’d read one in an English class. I was noting literary devices and appreciating foreshadowing and I wasn’t in the story.

I also loved how the book included Afghan culture. There seem to be many similarities between Afghan and Bangladeshi culture and I got super excited whenever I read something familiar, especially with the food.

Overall, I would recommend The Kite Runner, but it’s not a must-read.

5/5