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The Kite Runner |
Average User Rating: 90% (409 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | Blew me away
Hekcel II - 1 November 2007 So many have taken on this novel that it's a bit scary to think of what to say here. This is a large book--large on ideas, that is. It is the story of friendship and betrayel, and moves across the decades with a feeling unlike just about any other book. Also, some scenes are extremely graphic and as some have said, the rape scene is nothing to sneeze at. About the only thing more horrific is the scene from "Bark of the Dogwood" where something even worse happens. "Kite" will always be a book I'll keep on my shelf. I don't know if I'll read it twice, though.... Read Full Review » |
| 1 / 5 | A shamelessly exploitative cash-in
Mr. Timothy A. Hannigan "dogboytim" (Cornwall, UK) - 27 February 2008 I admit to an absurd and infantile stubbornness when it comes to certain phenomenally successful "quality" novels. I'll petulantly mumble, "It's probably rubbish," and put off reading it for months, years even. Of course, the book is a success for very good reason, and when at last I come to read it, I am mightily impressed. I behaved in this way towards Yan Martel's Life of Pi, towards Zadie Smith's White Teeth, and to Salman Rushdie's entire oeuvre. So when finally I bought Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, I expected a rare treat, not least as someone intrigued and fascinated by Afghanistan, as much as a literary concept as a real country. And what spectacular disappointment I met... My first surprised disappointment was as I discovered that this was not "literary fiction" but a low-brow "tear-jerker". All else aside, the quality of the writing is simply not very good. At best ordinary, at worst amateurish and clunky, Hosseini's worst literary crime is his almost-continuous recourse to dreadful cliché. In terms of plot and structure the endless cheap "tugs at the heartstrings" become wearying; the string of convenient coincidences are drawn straight from the textbook of the worst airport thriller-writers. And Hosseini commits another dreadful crime: he makes the central character - yes! A writer! This common conceit is tiresome for the average reader, suggesting pomposity and, crucially, that the writer has very little to say. But my principle complaint with this book is about something else, something much worse. Of the very many books about Afghanistan that I have read, almost constant is an intense sense of place, sense of landscape, and a powerful feeling that the writer, no matter what negative things they have to say about the country, has ultimately been beguiled and heartbroken by it. For an excellent example of this read Jason Elliot's An Unexpected Light, or "get two for the price of one" by reading Robert Byron's travel classic The Road to Oxiana with the impassioned lament that is Bruce Chatwin's foreword to the modern edition. But this was all missing in The Kite Runner. The jagged hills of the Hindukush were flimsy cardboard outlines; the poplar trees were drawn in with child's crayons, and the alleyways of Kabul resembled an orientalist film set. And the wider portrait of the country seemed to be constructed only of the tiredest of clichés. So we have childhood 1970s Kabul full of cheerful folk and girls cavorting in mascara and short skirts, replaced a grim place populated only by pantomime villains. It felt like an Afghanistan constructed entirely from CNN and Fox News reports... It was only after I had read the book that I learnt the truth: Khaled Hosseini was born into glorious privilege in Kabul in 1965, left the country at the age of five, returning briefly a couple of years later before departing for good. At the time he wrote the Kite Runner he had never been back. So it seems that the book WAS constructed entirely from CNN and Fox News reports. And he grabbed at every negative image that flickered from the tube. So there is an oppressed scholar begging on the street, a woman executed in a football stadium, there is oppression of the Hazaras, opium, male rape, a caricature of the Taliban that is beyond silly, and all set against those cardboard hills. This would all be well and good from someone who knew Afghanistan, but from someone who had essentially never been there it is simply not acceptable. Were I an Afghan - a real Afghan, from Afghanistan - or one of the many foreigners who know the country and have been heartbroken by it, I would be outraged and offended by this book. The Kite Runner is not literature; it is a cheap pot-boiler. But worse than that, it is exploitative and morally dubious (see the recent sorry saga of the two boys who starred in the film of the book and who had to flee the country if you think I'm overdoing it by talking of moral dubiousness). This book is not about Afghanistan: it is about a mediocre American writer shamelessly cashing in on his ethnic background "post 9/11". As such we ought to find it repellent. ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | At Times Heart-Warming, At Times Heart-Wrenching, But Always Riveting!,
bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - 5 June 2008 When it was suggested that I read The Kite Runner, I put off doing so for a long time because I am primarily a "thriller/suspense/mystery" type-of-guy. That was a mistake that I'm glad I eventually corrected. The Kite Runner is an astonishing, powerful book that had me riveted from the first to the last page. It is a story of fierce cruelty and yet redeeming love, as well as of an intimate account of family and friendship. Both transform the life of Amir, the main character, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the Afghani monarchy; just before Afghanistan's revolution and its invasion by Russian troops. Hosseini is a masterful writer whose prose and narrative style ooze emotion. If you have any hesitancy about reading this book, as I did, put your doubts aside and rush out to get yourself a copy of The Kite Runner. You'll be very glad you did. It is not only a book that will keep you from doing anything else but turning the pages, it is a book that will stay in your head and heart for years to come. It is that good! ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | A haunting tale of betrayal and redemption
Kona (Derbyshire) - 23 April 2005 The narrator, Amir, recalls his childhood in Afghanistan, where he lived in luxury with his father, a respected and powerful businessman. Their loyal servant Ali, and his son, Hassan, lived in a mud hut behind the big house. Despite their ethnic and economic differences, Amir and Hassan grew up as close companions and life was good. Kite fighting was the favorite hobby for boys then; Hassan, who chased after and caught the fallen kites, was a "kite runner." Winning a big tournament at the age of twelve was the happiest day of Amir's life, but a moment of cowardice changed everything - his relationship with kind Hassan was destroyed and Amir's life was consumed with shame and sorrow. Amir emigrated to America when he was eighteen. Years later, he returned to his country and experienced the brutality and horror of Afghan life under Taliban rule. He also found salvation and peace. I listened to the audio cassette version, read by the author. He has a very flat reading voice which was hard to get used to, but I did, and the story was so touching and believable that I was sure it must be autobiographical. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace, giving the reader ample time to become familiar with the Afghan names, places, and customs, and to really care about Amir and Hassan. I enjoyed "The Kite Runner," was sometimes moved to tears, and learned a lot about the traditions of Afghanistan. |
| 1 / 5 | I couldn't wait to finish it...
EmmaH (Dorset, United Kingdom) - 20 August 2006 This was recommended by my book club, and so I felt obliged to read it through, otherwise, I would not have got past the first few chapters. I found Hosseini's writing style amateurish and ridden with cliched phrases like 'time had streaked grey through her coal-black hair'. Just terrible. The characters were weakly drawn and the dialogue so utterly unconvincing that it made me wince, the very worst parts between Amir and his wife. The novel seemed to be one long 'and then this happened.... and then I did this... and then we went' ad nauseam. I am simply amazed that writing this bad can win so much approval... but then a lot of people like "The Da Vinci Code", I suppose. ... Read Full Review » |
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publication Date
17 December 2007
Format
Paperback (352 pages)
ISBN
9780747594888
Price Range
£4.49 - £4.49
List Price
£7.99
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