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by: Khaled Hosseini Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780747566533 ISBN: 0747566534 Label: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: June 07, 2004 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Sales Rank: 594636 Studio: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the approval of his father and resolves to win the local kite-fighting tournament, to prove that he has the makings of a man. His loyal friend Hassan promises to help him - for he always helps Amir - but this is 1970s Afghanistan and Hassan is merely a low-caste servant who is jeered at in the street, although Amir still feels jealous of his natural courage and the place he holds in his father's heart. But neither of the boys could foresee what would happen to Hassan on the afternoon of the tournament, which was to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return, to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption. Amazon.com Review: In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try. The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ('...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.') Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ('people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz'), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg Average Rating:
 Rating:  - WONDERFUL!!!This book is an easy read thanks to the gifted talents of writer Khaled Hosseini. It is a moving and gripping story that is hard to put down, and one I would highly recommend! Rating: - Amazing!This book was so well written. Shocking, surprising, emotional to say the least, risk taking, adventure, strong, strong emotions. I read this not knowing anything about the book and could nott put this book down. Get it! Read it! You will not be dissapointed in the least. Then read his other book, A thousand splendid suns! We want More Khaled! Rating:  - So this is it?I looked forward to reading this novel with all the glowing reviews but in retrospect I wish I had paid more attention to the 1 star reviews. They were 100% right. There is not a single aspect of this novel I can recommend. The writing is ordinary, nothing exceptional at all. The storytelling? It's like reading the newspaper, flat and uninteresting. The story itself? Ok, there are a few interesting scenes, some shocking ones, too, but most of the book goes nowhere, even when it is covering ... Read More Rating: - A Beautiful StoryTo start out, this is my second time reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time, and enjoyed it just as much on the reread, finishing it easily in a couple of days. For those of you who have not read the book and/or seen the movie, The Kite Runner is about Amir, a young boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir lives a privileged life, as his father is a well-connected businessman. However, Amir's mother died during his birth, and his father is somewhat distant ... Read More Rating: - An excellent STORYIt's an excellent STORY that merges fact and fiction expertly while invoking deep human feeling. I initially heard about this book via a BBC broadcast and bought it off Amazon. It was a great buy - the story itself reminded me of reading John Steinbeck's "The Pearl" when I was a teenager. I later bought the movie as well but was utterly disappointed. Key areas of the book are left out including the bathroom scene (readers will know to what I am referring). Recommendation: Buy the book - forget ... Read More |
