The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0385660073 Global Overview for this book
Registered by geishabird of Toronto, Ontario Canada on 2/11/2005
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Friday, February 11, 2005
Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir's choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, and apparently dissolved when Amir and his father flee to California to escape the Soviet invasion, leaving Hassan and his own gentle father to a terrible fate.

But years later, an old family friend calls Amir from Pakistan and reminds him: "There is a way to be good again." And Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

Journal Entry 2 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Sunday, February 13, 2005
For the first 150 pages or so of this book I was right behind it, and really enjoying it. Then...I started to notice some telltale signs of First-Time Novelist Syndrome. Namely: unnecessary attention to detail and description which distracted from the narrative (why spend a paragraph describing a character who's gone a page later?); revisiting key scenes in the novel numerous times (we were there the first time -- we remember what happened); and my personal pet peeve: the tendency of the protagonist to go on and on and ON about his/her angst, troubled past, guilt, fears for the future and/or quest for redemption and acceptance. I know that Big Moral Issues are favourite subjects of first novels, and I've become expert at spotting when they begin to bog down a narrative.

That being said, The Kite Runner is not too bad for a first novel. It's certainly better than some I've read. As I said above, I really did enjoy the first part of the book, describing Amir and Hassan's childhood in Kabul. Some very nice writing. Things began to slide once the action shifted to the U.S., however. The last part of the book, describing the now Taliban-infested Afghanistan, is a bit predictable and at times overtly maudlin and sentimental but still makes for interesting enough reading from a historical perspective. Some good vignettes and descriptions dealing with life under the Taliban, although a bit too wordy in places. Wordiness is this book's greatest fault, perhaps, but it's an okay read in the long run. It reads very quickly, also.


Journal Entry 3 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Mailed earlier this month to chomper...enjoy!

Journal Entry 4 by FrontStreet from Mexico, Maine USA on Thursday, June 16, 2005
Thank you for sending this. I found your review interesting. Will journal my thoughts after I read it too.
Came with a nice postcatd too! I always liked Toronto.

Journal Entry 5 by FrontStreet from Mexico, Maine USA on Sunday, July 10, 2005
It is hard for many books to live up to their hype and I am afraid this is one of them. Might have been better to discover it for myself- not everyone's fvorite book group book this summer. I had heard so much about it as a "must read" that I think I expected something more.
That being said it is a very good first novel. The continual foreshadowing was a bit much especially as it was a fairly predictable plot. I liked the glimpses of life thru the years in Afganistan.
Ok- I do not want to ruin this for the next reader so will not write too much. I do highly recommend the book. It is a much easier, quick read than I expected.

Journal Entry 6 by FrontStreet from Mexico, Maine USA on Thursday, August 4, 2005
Going to some-time next

Journal Entry 7 by some-time from Williamsville, New York USA on Thursday, August 4, 2005
I am looking forward to reading this one

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