Book Review- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Our lives have become so routine and monotonous that at times it feels like we have become robotic, going on with our daily work without stopping for a moment to think and contemplate. At times like these, it feels refreshing to come across a book like The Kite Runner, which churns your insides with emotion, and you feel as if you are glad to be human again!!

This is Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, and is a true masterpiece. Its a wonderful and riveting story from start to finish, and it is one of those few novels, which end as well as they started. There is not a single line, a single phrase that you think can be done without. The book proceeds fluidly and beautifully like a river, never rushing into things, yet never staying at a place for long. The story revolves about Amir, the protagonist, his father whom he calls Baba, his servant Ali, and his servant’s son Hassan, who is of Amir’s age. The story is seen through Amir’s eyes, the conflicts that rage in his life, and his relationship with his father and Hassan. Human relationships and emotions are the cornerstone on which the story has been built. The story is simple and one can easily identify with all the characters, because most of us might have faced similar situations in life. All the characters are hauntingly real, and the author creates such a beautiful bond between the reader and the book, that one actually starts thinking what he or she would have done in such a situation. The author handles certain situations in a very subtle manner, without which the book wouldn’t have been half as good. The story has so many undercurrents flowing, that one will definitely be surprised at the intensity of it all, and the reader will love it. Through the means of this novel, we also get to know about life in Afghanistan pre-Taliban and post-Taliban, and the differences and discrimination that exist between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

There was a certain situation in the book which made me cry, yet I did not feel sad or gloomy after that. I felt overjoyed thinking that an author could actually generate so much emotion and intensity by his writing, and I felt at one with the book and the characters. I will not disclose any part of the plot here, since that would be a killjoy, but all I will say is that the book does have a number of hairpin bends and turns, which will genuinely surprise the reader.

I am not sure whether women will appreciate the book as much as men, since the book has a very strong masculine character, and men will definitely relate to it better, but there’s no reason why women should not like it.

Books like The Kite Runner leave a beautiful after-taste, and that is what makes them special. The bond that the author creates with the reader does not vanish after the last line has been read, it grows stronger. There are certain lines in the book which are bound to remain etched in the minds of the reader, long after they have read the book. One line that has become my favorite is

“For you, a thousand times over.”

 

Final Say: A book like this doesn’t come along often. Read it and savour it. And if ever you want to get in touch with your human side and you want to reclaim your life, this is the book to read.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Book Review, Khaled Hosseini, Modern Fiction, The Kite Runner

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