Kite Runner was written by Khaled Hosseini, and was published in 2003. The book received the Boeke prize and was voted the Reading Group Book of the Year. The subsequent movie was nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA, and a Critics Choice Award.
The book essentially resolves around the life of a well-off boy named Amir. Amir has a close relationship with one of his slaves, a boy named Hassan. However, the two separate when Hassan gets abused while helping Amir. Amir feels incredibly guilty in the presence of Hassan and eventually Hassan leaves.
Soon after, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, and Amir and his father, Baba, escape to California. They live there for several years, and Amir marries a woman named Soraya. Baba dies soon after of cancer.
Amir is still haunted by Hassan, and when he gets a chance to "redeem" himself to Hassan, he steps up and takes it. Even though Hassan is dead, Amir redeems himself by helping Hassan's son, Sohrab.
I really enjoyed this book because Hassan's undying loyalty really touched me. Even though Amir abused him and never stood up for him, he was still willing to help Amir, and even died for him. Even though I disliked Amir at first, because he seemed wimpy and often cocky, his willingness to redeem himself to Hassan touched me as well. At the end, if Hassan had seen what Amir had done for him, I would have forgiven Amir if I was Hassan. Anyway, I felt that this was an extremely enriching read, and I would recommend everyone to read it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi Kenneth,
I have read this book as well and I find it a really good read. Your book review was quite good but you may want to emphasis more on Hassan and Amir's relationship before the betrayal of Hassan. You might also want to describe how Khaled Hosseini brought out one's sympathy towards Hassan.
You should also talk about why this book is called Kite Runner. I will give a brief introduction of the title first. In Afghanistan, there were many kite flying competition where the last kite standing is the winner. However, the most sought after reward is the kite that lost the "battle" to the winner. Hassan was an exceptionally good Kite Runner and caught the Kite. But, he was intercepted by the town bully. The town bully sexually abused Hassan as Hassan did not wanted to give him the kite. Amir saw this scence but did not help. Also, at the end, Amir was seen running after the kite tht Sohrab flew.
Hassan also sacrificed his life as well as his wife's life when the Soviet Union attacked to protect Amir's House.
Cheers,
Leonard
Hi Kenneth!
After reading your post, I want to know more about this book! I was wondering if Amir and Hassan had a close relationship, why did Amir abuse Hassan? (That was my interpretation of your second paragraph) Also, I think loyalty is very important, and it is intertwined with the value of trust. I have seen many books about friendship or love, and it is not often when I find a book with the theme of loyalty!
Also, I did not see the relation between the title of the book and the plot until I read Leonard's comment. What do you think is the significance of the title?
I will definitely read the book when I get a chance!
Jiefeng
Hi Jiefeng,
Sorry but I've confused you :P Hassan was sexually abused by bullies while running a kite for Amir. Amir witnessed the scene but did not dare to help. Hope this clears it up :)
Kenneth
Post a Comment