The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Kabul, Afghanistan

This book has been on my To Read list for a long time, so I was excited when I finally had the opportunity to read it. I was hoping this (recent) historical fiction could provide more context about the War in Afghanistan (both US involvement and the Afghanistan Civil War), as I did not know much about it. Although I didn't outright dislike the book as I was reading it, I couldn't have been more disappointed by it.

The story follows Amir, a privileged Afghani, from a child into adulthood. His childhood best friend's name is Hassan, and he is Hazara (an Afghani minority that is highly persecuted) that serves, along with his father, as a servant for Amir and Amir's father. Amir seems to care deeply about his friend, but he is jealous because his father shows Hassan affection occasionally and Amir very rarely. Hassan also believes he is entitled to more respect and affection because of his status as a Pashtun, the Afghani majority.

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Amir and Hassan's relationship is severed when Hassan is brutally attacked and raped by one of their classmates, Assef. Amir stood and watched, paralyzed by fear. The guilt overwhelms him, and Amir doesn't want to see Hassan and be reminded of the event and his inaction. He frames Hassan for stealing, and Hassan and his father are sent away.

A few years later, Amir and his father flee Afghanistan as conflicts intensify. The two are able to move to California, where Amir's father works at a gas station and sells cheap goods at a flea market. Amir's life in America is less glamorous than how it was growing up in Afghanistan, and he is constantly haunted by the actions (and inactions) he took in regards to Hassan.

In the third act of the book, Amir is called to Pakistan by an old family friend. The family friend is dying and tells Amir he would like to say goodbye. The old friend, as it turns out, actually wanted Amir to go back to Afghanistan to find Sohrab, Hassan's orphaned son, after Hassan and his wife were murdered by the Taliban. Amir goes to Kabul, where he finds Sohrab being held captive by a pedophiliac Taliban member. And this person turns out to be none other than Assef. Amir gets the ever living shit kicked out of him while trying to rescue Sohrab; then Sohrab ends up saving his life. They escape and head back to America, but not before Sohrab ends up trying to kill himself.

There are several things I disliked about this book.

1. The whole story is written in past tense. I find it harder to connect with the people and the story because of this stylistic choice.

2. There are very few historic or cultural references in this book, despite it being marketed as historical fiction.

3. I did not like Amir. He didn't redeem himself in my opinion, even after he went through some struggles in America nor when he "saved" Sohrab.

4. My biggest annoyance with this book: Assef. Having Sohrab be help captive and raped multiple times by the same man that raped his father was such an unnecessary "plot twist" that was probably written to be just that - a twist. I'm sure that there are lots of people in the Taliban that joined simply because they're evil, like the fictional Assef. (His family was living very comfortably in Australia, and Assef had an open invitation to join them there. Instead, he wanted to be part of the Taliban so that he could brutalize people). However, I'm sure there are many more people that are part of the Taliban because of desperation, coercion, or many other circumstances. Instead of exploring some of these reasons, Hosseini decided to focus on a singular villain for an unnecessary call back. This actually reminded me of the "twist" in Big Little Lies, who did a similar bringing-back-the-one-villain nonsense.

The ending wasn't terrible. I'm glad that it didn't finish as a simple happily ever after. Sohrab did not die by suicide, but he doesn't speak for the remainder of the novel (which ends about a year after Amir's return to California). His character has a realistic and appropriate reaction to the trauma of watching his parents being murdered and being held captive and repeatedly beaten and raped. Amir doesn't immediately get the hero's reward of unconditional love, which would have infuriated me if it happened. All in all, it's not a book that I would recommend, but it's not the worst book I've ever read.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 2/5

Writing: 3/5

Plot: 2/5

Character Development: 2/5

Message: 3/5

Challenges Satisfied:

Afghanistan (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

Book about Asian or Middle Eastern Experiences (Diversity Challenge)

Book Published in 2000s (Decades Challenge)