I always wondered why this was such a well read book, and also why it had taken me so long to read it. I have just 10 minutes ago finished reading this story and I can honestly say I am relieved to have finally added this to my read list, and give it a five star rating as well. I can see why it has been so popular and enjoyed by so many.
We follow Amir and his relationship with his father and childhood friend Hassan, among others, and the struggles of being a young boy growing up in a country bound for destruction. We follow Amir's struggles to prove himself as a son worthy of his fathers love, while also seeing a country change over decades through his eyes.
I purposely avoided researching this book as I wanted to know as little as possible about why it has received such glowing reviews and in doing so, while working my way through I assumed I knew what it was about after the first hurdle. I was wrong, this book provides so many devastating plot lines I was in constant turmoil. This makes it sound horrific and I do not mean it to. The writing is simply stunning. At no part did I struggle to take in the descriptions and I felt like I knew the characters personally. Everything was described so beautifully that even the harder plot lines still held beauty.
Hossein speaks of a world that unfortunately no longer exists, he really does show a side to Pakistan that people need to remember. The relationships, the thriving streets with their markets and children playing, the bountiful crops and trees, and of course the infamous kite tournaments. Hossein brings to life the world before the Taliban and the devastation caused at their hand. Not being one for non-fiction I found this book both entertaining and also educational. It was interesting to see the events happening from the other side rather than what we hear by the time it makes the world news. I sometimes forgot this was also based on a true to life timeline which makes it all the more meaningful. There was one chapter in particular that made me think of news articles and conversations with my family being so shocked at the desperation of the people there. It truly must have been terrible for people to put themselves through this danger, through this hardship just to try to leave their home country.
Side note I also loved the various phrases and words in Farsi (Dari) which were almost always explained in English. I do not remember them all and probably did not pronounce them properly in my head but I loved reading this language and getting more of a feel for the characters using them. It felt like it brought more emphasis to the words being used.
The story itself of the kite runner and the relationships of the people we follow was also beautiful but at times very dark. Through decisions made by Amir I found I did not like him at all. I felt for the people around him and disagreed with many of his actions and decisions. Of course this is a major plot to the story and was very much needed, but it made it difficult to pick up the book and follow a character when actually I wanted to follow someone else. If you haven't read this yet, or are reading it now and feel the same please keep reading! It is integral to the story to have this and will all make sense!
This review feels tougher to write than others as I do not want to give anything away for anyone who has not read it therefore I will leave it there! This book was an easy 5 stars due to the complexity of the relationships, the culture, the history and of course the beautiful writing. Suppose I best read A Thousand Splendid Suns soon then!
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Pages - 371
Goodreads rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
