Book Review: The Kite Runner
Book ten in 52 books in 52 weeks.
I read two books this week. I couldn’t help it. I started one, then started the second when I accidentally left the other out in my car late one night and didn’t want to get dressed again to go out and get it. So my laziness helped me stock up a review for next week so I can read a long-ish book (either Into the Wild or one of Roger Ebert’s books on movies he loves).
The Kite Runner is pretty amazing. I’m not sure why it took me so long to find it. I kept seeing it pop up on people’s favorite books lists and it was all over Amazon for a while. For some reason I just missed it. So I’ve caught up with all of you that have already experienced this amazing book.
Khaled Hosseini in a few chapters late in the book shows you through words exactly how the Taliban took a country and utterly obliterated it, destroying anything beautiful left after the Russian invasion and killing anyone that disagreed with them. And that’s not even the main point of the story.
It’s really an amazing story, one of the best I’ve read in years.
Amir, a young boy living in Kabul feels guilty about one horrific incident that happened to his best friend. Years later he returns to Afghanistan to try to figure out the pieces of his life that he left behind. It follows his early life in Kabul, his family’s escape to America, and the return.
The descriptions of life in Kabul are fascinating. Especially when the author starts describing the differences between his youth in the area, and how it had changed under the rule of the Taliban. The culture, meals and customs are all given attention, and none of it gets in the way of a storyline that moves very quickly. There’s even a twist worthy of a M. Night movie toward the end.
The book is very emotional, more than once the room I was reading in became very dusty and I’d have to retreat to the bathroom to blow my nose. A few times it felt a little forced, but the majority of the book is so well-written that these areas are quickly forgotten. I was enjoying it so much by the third chapter that I quickly made sure my name was on the reserve list for his latest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Somebody asked that I give a quick rating to my reviews in this 52 books in 52 weeks project. It’s not like they’re that long, so I find it a little strange that people can’t tell whether I like it or not by these few paragraphs, but I’ll do it. I’ve also gone back to the first nine reviews and given them a rating.
Rating A-
Other reviews in the 52 books in 52 weeks here
- How’s this for crazy, Natasha (who’s also participating in 52 books in 52 weeks) read The Kite Runner too, finishing her review a few minutes before mine. Plus she read Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, The Absolutely True DIary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, and Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Jamie reviews Duma Key by Stephen King
- Heliologue reviews The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot by Bart D. Ehrman
Ha, ha, that’s really funny! It’s like we had our own little twosome book club but didn’t know it!
Great review! Are you planning on seeing the movie? I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns even more than this one. But I’ve heard that is usually the case with woman (because it’s a book about woman), but men like The Kite Runner better. I’m looking forward to your ATSS review. I know you’ll like it.
I loved this book too. It made me excited to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, which was good, but not as good as The Kite Runner. Glad you finally discovered it.
[...] this book because there is going to be some long nights! Another quick review search turned up Johnsenclan “The culture, meals and customs are all given attention, and none of it gets in the way of a [...]