the kite runner book report

“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini Book Report

Introduction.

Betrayal is a universal human experience that we don’t typically think about, but that permeates the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Although we are all likely to experience betrayal at some point in our lives, Hosseini also provides us with a means of defeating it through loyalty and love. This is what quality literature is supposed to do as it explores universal truths of the human experience by focusing on a particular character or set of characters that are placed in a setting conducive to relating the author’s ideas. In other words, by telling the story of a particular character, the author is able to pull out elements of the story that are experienced by many people around the world. In helping his character find peace and direction, the author allows the reader to make their own personal identification with the character so, as the main character finally reaches the happy conclusion, the reader may be able to also find pathways to the kind of peace and direction they have been seeking. In realizing some of the mistakes and foolish thinking found in the character, the reader is able to identify some of these same traits in themselves and thus be more able to make positive changes. Whether the author does this intentionally or not, this tends to be the case if the human condition of the character is fully explored as it is in Housseini’s book. In many ways, the culture and heritage of the author are also reflected as the important issues to the culture become the important issues to the author because they have an effect on how the author, and the other people who share his world, experience life.

When this literature makes it into the hands of people who do not share this same culture, either because the passage of time has served to shift people’s perspectives or the crossing of borders has introduced new thoughts, the reader is able to gain a closer understanding of how others might see the world differently. As a result of this seemingly contradictory combination of foreign importance and shared experience, a new understanding seems to blossom in which the terrifying aspects of the foreign melt away into the common experience of being simply human. Just like the reader, the character and others of his or her culture are seen to be attempting to discover clear definition in a world that is constantly changing and in which there are no clear lines. This is the impression received when one reads a book such as this one. A summary of the story and a quick investigation of the history of the region reveal that betrayal played a significant role in the national and personal lives of Afghanistan. At the same time, a more in-depth look at the betrayal found within the story demonstrates how love and loyalty can defeat the pain betrayal leaves behind. The experience of the story on the typical English-speaking reader, as they are first introduced to a mostly foreign culture in the pages of the book, also serves to demonstrate the way in which love and persistence can bridge the gap of many misunderstandings. The Kite Runner explores the culture and history of Afghanistan through the eyes of its central character, showing how the pain of betrayal has long arms but the love of loyalty can save.

The story begins when the narrator, Amir, is supposedly 38 years old and the tale he tells is essentially a flashback over the events of his life that have brought him to this point. Amir reveals the affluent lifestyle he lived as a child in a sprawling mansion with just his father who was served by a Hazara servant named Ali. Amir’s mother had died giving birth to him and he always felt his father held that somewhat against him although it was never explicitly stated. The infant nursed on the breast of a servant woman who was also hired a year later to nurse Ali’s son Hassan and the two boys, who had fed from the same breast, grew up together on Baba’s property. Although life was sweet, it had its darker elements, such as the near-slave status of the Hazara people, including Hassan, and the cruelty that lurked in the hearts of schoolmates of Amir’s such as Assef. It is Assef who brings about the life-changing event just as Amir is about to win his father’s approval for winning the kite fight. Hassan, as the kite runner, goes to collect the winning kite but is detained by Assef and his friends. Amir finds his friend cornered in an alley just before Assef decides to rape him. Although Hassan had once stood up for Amir in this type of situation, Amir hides behind the wall and then pretends he was unaware of what happened. Because of his guilt and shame, Amir contrives to get rid of Hassan by framing him for robbery. Although this doesn’t cause Baba to send Hassan away, Ali takes Hassan away anyway and Amir is left alone with his guilt.

After setting up these important foundational elements of his life, Amir relates how his life was turned upside down again when the Russians invade Afghanistan. Baba and Amir manage to escape the country by traveling to Pakistan and then on to America. They settle in a run-down apartment in California and take up a subsistence style lifestyle. Amir attends junior college while Baba works at a convenience store. They haunt garage sales on Saturdays and attempt to sell trash things on Sundays at a swap meet. This is where Amir meets Soraya, the daughter of another prominent Afghan citizen made poor by the war. As Amir begins his writing career, his father is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. His last significant act before he dies is he asks Soraya’s father for her hand in marriage to Amir. The newlyweds care for the ailing father until he dies and then they spend many happy years together as Amir’s career grows and Soraya works as a schoolteacher. Their one regret is that they are unable to have children. This idyllic existence is brought to a close when Amir receives a phone call from his father’s old friend Rahim Khan. Amir must travel back to Pakistan to learn what the dying Rahim wishes to tell him.

When he arrives, Amir learns that Ali had been killed long ago by a land mine and Hassan had married a woman and moved back to the servant’s hut he lived in as a boy. The couple had a stillborn daughter followed by a healthy son, but Hassan and his wife were killed when they refused to give up Amir’s house to the Taliban. The son, Sohrab, was taken to an orphanage. Rahim charges Amir with the task of recovering Hassan’s son. In the process, Rahim reveals that Hassan was Amir’s half-brother and hints that he knows what happened when the boys were 12. Amir enters Taliban-controlled territory and undergoes a number of trials including being beaten nearly to death to recover the unhappy Sohrab who has been sold into child prostitution to Assef. Eventually Amir succeeds in adopting Sohrab and bringing him back to California. Although Sohrab hasn’t talked for a year, since his last suicide attempt, Amir has finally managed to make a connection with him through the simple process of flying a kite together and is rewarded with a lopsided smile that reminds Amir of Hassan.

History Reveals Core of Betrayal

For a reader unfamiliar with Afghan history, the timeline of what is happening in the greater political realm is difficult to follow as it takes place largely in the background of the main character’s awareness. However, it exists as a macrocosm of the sense of betrayal and need for recovery discovered in the personal story of the two boys. In other words, when the betrayal found in the life of this single family is expanded to incorporate the entire country, the issues found within Afghani history are suggested to be the result. When men betray each other, entire nations are torn apart. This connection would be obvious if the story were to take place in Victorian England, for instance, a period that most readers recognize as being a time of tremendous change and transition into the machine-age. Understanding how these concepts play into the action of a story such as Charles Dickens’ novel Dombey and Son is thus no special trick. However, when these kinds of historical influences are largely unfamiliar to the reader, it is easy to lose track of the fact that Amir’s story occurs in the very recent past instead of centuries ago and that it also reflects the socio-political environment from which it came.

Discovering the history of Afghanistan in the past half century in a concise presentation of facts, though, emphasizes the degree of confusion that impacted the country during Amir’s childhood and the degree to which betrayal played a central role in tearing the country apart. According to the BBC News, “Afghanistan’s descent into conflict and instability in recent times began with the overthrow of the king in 1973” (Afghanistan, 2000). This occurred when Mohammad Daoud deposed his cousin, Zahir Shah, and declared himself president of Afghanistan in 1973. This is mentioned specifically in the novel as being a moment of irrevocable change much like that experienced on the personal level when Amir betrays Hassan by not defending him in the alley at age 12. During his presidency, Daoud was busy putting down the Islamists, but he truly began losing his power when he attempted to reduce the Soviet influence in his country. There is another parallel here as Hosseini presents various failed attempts by Amir to remove Hassan from his life. Things were already tense between the various political factions when the Parchamite leader Mir Akbar Khaiber was murdered on April 17, 1978. It was this murder that sparked the fires that had been threatening. “Whoever killed him, Khaiber’s martyrdom touched off an unprecedented popular upheaval. More than fifteen thousand angry, slogan-shouting mourners turned out for his funeral procession two days later, an extraordinarily large crowd by Afghan standards” (Cordovez & Harrison 24). Hassan’s eventual departure was quiet, but not any less upsetting and is also marked by a form of martyrdom. Daoud’s reaction only served to enflame the situation and the communist party managed to take control in what is called the April Revolution. Infighting in the party led to instability at the top, though, and the Soviet Army took control in 1979. “The Soviet occupation, which lasted until the final withdrawal of the Red Army in 1989, was a disaster for Afghanistan. About a million Afghans lost their lives as the Red Army tried to impose control for its puppet Afghan government. Millions more fled abroad as refugees” (Afghanistan, 2000). It was as part of this great flight that Amir and his father leave Afghanistan.

Betrayal of the Father

The crime of betrayal, as well as the degree to which it infects the culture and the personal lives of the characters is made clear as Baba tries to instruct his son on the single most important rule to remember when dealing with people or considering religious position. Baba tells Amir, “There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft … When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness” (Hosseini, 2009). With this statement, Baba reveals to some degree the depth of guilt he must have felt as a result of his own betrayal of his lifelong friend, Ali. Within the story, the character Ali has been raised side by side with Baba even though he was Hazara in much the same way that Amir and Hassan are raised together. Although Baba is given modern living quarters and a decent education, Ali has suffered from the effects of oppression and a lack of education, yet he serves Baba like a brother. In spite of their close relationship, though, Baba obviously had no problem stealing Ali’s wife’s affections soon after his own wife died in childbirth as Hassan was born approximately one year after Amir. Although it was well within his power to do so, Baba perpetuates the values of his society by never teaching Ali how to read and never providing him with a more comfortable home than the small shack he shares with Hassan on Baba’s property. There is no evidence that he made any attempt to take Ali and Hassan with them to America or otherwise ever made any effort to make their lives better once they left the house. While they were raised like brothers, Baba ensures that there remains a clear distinction made between himself and the Hazara that is passed down to the next generation.

Baba may not have always been true in his adult relationships with others, but that does not mean he was not understood and loved in spite of his faults. His relationship with Rahim Khan reveals this aspect of the older man’s character as it is often Rahim Khan that smoothes understanding between Amir and his father. As Rahim Khan is dying and sending Amir on his way to rescue Hassan’s son, he gives Amir some insight into his father’s character when he tells him, “I think that everything he did, feeding the poor, giving money to friends in need, it was all a way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good” (Hosseini, 2003). Baba stands in high esteem among his contemporaries in Afghanistan, enough that he is able to retain some of his honor upon transferring himself and Amir to America. It is largely based on Baba’s reputation that Amir is able to win the general’s approval in seeking his wife’s hand in marriage.

Perhaps the most betrayed character in the story is Hassan, who is not only betrayed by Amir, but has first suffered an equally great betrayal by the one man most obligated to protect him. While Hassan’s behavior may seem unrealistic in the western world, the extreme racism and persecution carried throughout the book reveals that only at Baba’s house is Hassan able to experience anything like what we would consider a ‘normal’ childhood. Amir himself points out how his first word was Baba to reflect his adoration of his father, but Hassan’s first word was Amir. While this would seem to indicate that Hassan was the recipient of his father’s protection and love, Baba was careful to keep his true identity hidden from everyone, especially the two boys. This robbed them both of a brother and Hassan of the proper rights and benefits of being his father’s son. However, the guilt of this knowledge drives a wedge between Baba and Amir that Amir is never quite able to understand until Hassan’s lineage is finally made clear.

Betrayal of the Son

Amir as a boy is not seen to work through his internal battles too much as his major conflict through most of his young life is his presumption that his father is disappointed in him – as discussed, the result of Baba’s guilt in having to raise his boys so differently. Despite having a strong desire to discover a connection between himself and his father, there are several ways in which Amir betrays his father. This begins with Amir’s birth in which Baba’s prized Afghan princess is killed in the birthing process, but continues with Amir’s failure to live up to his father’s expectations for a boy. Amir has little interest in the sports his father loves and demonstrates very little in the way of Baba’s ‘machismo’ persona.

Although Baba dreams of his son becoming a powerful man someday, perhaps in business or as a doctor in America, Amir remains true to his desire to become a writer. It is a dream he develops as a child in Afghanistan that he refuses to relinquish just because it is an uncertain career or a risky pursuit. This is not to say that he has a weak or noncompetitive character, however. He proves this as he seemingly seamlessly adjusts to the deprivations of America as compared to his former lifestyle and devotes all his time and effort to helping his father eke out an existence with no complaint yet remains firmly devoted to his goal of becoming a writer.

Betrayal Between Brothers

Hassan is always humble, always loyal and always grateful for what he has, for example. “Young Hassan, I agree, is an idealized figure, but that seems understandable given that the narrator is Amir. Amir’s guilt, and his discovery of a deeper connection to the boy than he had imagined, seems to call for that approach to the character. It is ironic, too, given that Hassan looked up to Amir in a way that went beyond the master/servant relationship” (Champ, 2008).

Childhood rape

“There is nothing that haunts Amir more than the betrayal of Hassan after the kite running competition, as can be seen in Amir’s valiant defense of Hassan’s son in his journey to Kabul” (Wood, 2009).

Framing for robbery

“Amir, instead of facing the cowardice of his decision, simply treats Hassan as the Hazara Afghan history says he is instead of reminding himself of how many times Hassan has defended him” (Wood, 2009).

Amir’s growing ability to hold firm to his convictions is seen as a result of the lingering guilt he still feels regarding his old friend, Hassan. In the last segment of the book, when he is asked to place himself in great danger to rescue Hassan’s son, Amir does not fail to do what’s right, which is now fully in character as a result of his earlier development. “Astoundingly, we read that Amir is also able to transcend his father’s sins that created dysfunctional childhood familial relationships. Amir’s marriage to a beautiful Afghan mirrors that of his father’s marriage, but in that sense only. His refusal to appease his wife’s father, the former Afghan general, by perpetuating an ethnic superiority complex, illustrates a sincere commitment to repent past transgressions” (Wood, 2009).

A surface reading of this book may make many people determine that it has little or no direct application to a modern American life. After all, there is little likelihood that our country will soon undergo the tremendous shifts in power base that was seen in Afghanistan during the time period of this book. However, the underlying themes of development, betrayal and survival are applicable to anyone anywhere. The Kite Runner is a book that offers its readers a great deal of insight into elements of life that we may otherwise be unaware of. This is true in the degree to which the author is able to introduce us into the culture and history of his birth country. Rather than battling with our natural suspicion and avoidance of the subject, Hosseini eases us into the subject by involving us in the intimate lives of two young boys born on opposite sides of a racial divide – something most Americans are still sorely conscious of having occurred in our own south not so long ago. More than just introducing us to his people and the issues they’ve faced as a nation, Hosseini makes this personal to us and begins to introduce us to ourselves in the process. His lengthy digressions into his own impressions serve to show us how it’s done and remind us that it’s something that should be done once in a while as a means of staying true to one’s heart. While his character had a constant guilty reminder to keep him aware of his actions and their consequences, most of us don’t need to think about it so consistently and often let it slip. When we suddenly find ourselves drifting far from our intended course or lost in unfamiliar waters, we have a difficult time adjusting because we are not grounded within ourselves. Ultimately, the book teaches us how to know ourselves through learning about others.

Works Cited

“Afghanistan’s Turbulent History.” BBC News. (2000). Web.

Champ, Bob. “Review: The Kite Runner.” Derkeiler. (2008). Web.

Cordovez, Diego & Selig S. Harrison. Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003.

Wood, Michael A. “The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini’s Tale of Betrayal, Trial and Redemption.” Associated Content. (2009). Web.

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'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini - Book Review

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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is one of the best books I have read in years. This is a page turner with complex characters and situations that will make you think hard about friendship, good and evil, betrayal, and redemption. It is intense and contains some graphic scenes; however, it is not gratuitous. A great book by many measures.

Reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

On one level, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of two boys in Afghanistan and Afghan immigrants in America. It is a story set in a culture that has become of increasing interest to Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks. It also explores the history of the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. On this level, it provides a good way for people to learn more about Afghan history and culture in the context of the story.

Looking at The Kite Runner as a story about culture, however, misses what the book is really about. This is a novel about humanity. This is a story about friendship, loyalty, cruelty, longing for acceptance, redemption, and survival. The core story could be set in any culture because it deals with issues that are universal.

The Kite Runner looks at how the main character, Amir, deals with a secret in his past and how that secret shaped who he became. It tells of Amir's childhood friendship with Hassan, his relationship with his father and growing up in a privileged place in society. I was drawn in by Amir's voice. I sympathized with him, cheered for him and felt angry with him at different points. Similarly, I became attached to Hassan and his father. The characters became real to me, and it was difficult for me to put the book down and leave their world.

I highly recommend this book, especially for book clubs. For those of you who are not in a reading group, read it and then loan it to a friend. You are going to want to talk about it when you finish.

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• The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

• Literature Notes
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• About The Kite Runner
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• Cite this Literature Note

The Kite Runner is the story of Amir, a Sunni Muslim, who struggles to find his place in the world because of the aftereffects and fallout from a series of traumatic childhood events. An adult Amir opens the novel in the present-day United States with a vague reference to one of these events, and then the novel flashes back to Amir's childhood in Afghanistan. In addition to typical childhood experiences, Amir struggles with forging a closer relationship with his father, Baba; with determining the exact nature of his relationship with Hassan, his Shi'a Muslim servant; and eventually with finding a way to atone for pre-adolescent decisions that have lasting repercussions. Along the way, readers are able to experience growing up in Afghanistan in a single-parent home, a situation that bears remarkable similarities to many contemporary households.

One of the biggest struggles for Amir is learning to navigate the complex socioeconomic culture he faces, growing up in Afghanistan as a member of the privileged class yet not feeling like a privileged member of his own family. Hassan and his father, Ali, are servants, yet at times, Amir's relationship with them is more like that of family members. And Amir's father, Baba, who does not consistently adhere to the tenets of his culture, confuses rather than clarifies things for young Amir. Many of the ruling-class elite in Afghanistan view the world as black and white, yet Amir identifies many shades of gray.

In addition to the issues affecting his personal life, Amir must also contend with the instability of the Afghan political system in the 1970s. During a crucial episode, which takes place during an important kite flying tournament, Amir decides not to act — he decides not to confront bullies and aggressors when he has the chance — and this conscious choice of inaction sets off a chain reaction that leads to guilt, lies, and betrayals. Eventually, because of the changing political climate, Amir and his father are forced to flee Afghanistan. Amir views coming to America as an opportunity to leave his past behind.

Although Amir and Baba toil to create a new life for themselves in the United States, the past is unable to stay buried. When it rears its ugly head, Amir is forced to return to his homeland to face the demons and decisions of his youth, with only a slim hope to make amends.

Ultimately, The Kite Runner is a novel about relationships — specifically the relationships between Amir and Hassan, Baba, Rahim Khan, Soraya, and Sohrab — and how the complex relationships in our lives overlap and connect to make us the people we are.

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The Kite Runner

91 pages • 3 hours read

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Summary and Study Guide

Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner , was published in 2003, two years after the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the US invasion of Afghanistan. Hosseini, the son of a diplomat for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and relocated to France as a child. When Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil by the Soviet occupation at the height of the Cold War, Hosseini’s family was granted asylum in the United States and settled in San Jose, California. Decades later, upon reading that the Taliban had outlawed kite fighting in Afghanistan, Hosseini penned a short story he later expanded into the novel The Kite Runner . This study guide is based on the 2020 Kindle edition of the book.

In The Kite Runner , Hosseini uses his intimate knowledge of the culture, its customs, and its people to break down stereotypical depictions of Afghanistan in Western media. Framed as a story of fathers and sons, the novel explores the region’s turbulent history of ground wars following the fall of the monarchy through to the Taliban control, illustrating and defining the lives of Afghani people interrupted by war.

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Plot Summary

The narrative follows two friends, Amir—who narrates in the first person—and Hassan . Although they do not know it when the narrative begins, Amir and Hassan are half-brothers by the same father, Baba , who lied to hide a secret affair he had with his servant’s wife. Hassan is an ethnic Hazara and a Shi’a Muslim, while Amir, the protagonist , is Pashtun. Although they exist in separate strata of society, the two are inseparable. When Amir runs afoul of Assef , a blond, blue-eyed Pashtun, Hassan appears from behind Amir with his slingshot and threatens to take Assef’s left eye if he does not leave them alone. This encounter begins a cycle of violence that cascades through the novel, spanning out into their adult lives.

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In the wintertime in Kabul, neighborhood children compete in a kite fighting tournament wherein kite fighters position their glass string to cut rival kites out of the sky. Kite runners chase the last kite of a tournament, a coveted trophy. When Amir wins the kite fighting tournament in the winter of 1975, Amir and Hassan are briefly separated in the frenzy of celebration. Amir finds Hassan cornered in a blind alley by Assef, having run the last kite. Assef pins and rapes Hassan, but Amir never intervenes and never tells anyone, consumed by his want of the kite—in his eyes , a token through which he can gain Baba’s affection.

Unable to cope with his secret guilt, Amir distances himself from Hassan. However, Hassan and his father, Ali , are a constant presence as they tend the grounds of Baba’s home. As Amir’s guilt intensifies, he frames Hassan for theft—a sin Baba has told him is the worst of all sins. When Baba confronts Ali and Hassan about the stolen contraband, Amir is shocked to hear Hassan confess to the theft. Hassan’s false confession is his final act of loyalty to Amir. Despite Baba’s immediate forgiveness, Ali says that living in Baba’s home has become impossible. Although Baba begs them to stay, Baba and Amir never see Ali or Hassan alive again. 

Amir and Baba flee Afghanistan following a destructive Russian invasion in the 1980s, relocating in California. In 2001, Amir learns from Baba’s friend and business partner that Hassan returned to Baba’s house in the late 1980s but was executed by the Taliban, orphaning his young son, Sohrab . When Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan was his half-brother, Amir decides he has no other recourse but to journey back to Kabul to retrieve his nephew. 

Amir returns to Kabul and finds that the Afghanistan of his childhood has been battered into a dangerous war zone patrolled by vicious Taliban extremists. He learns Sohrab has been sold into sexual slavery, purchased by a brutal Taliban official who regularly preys on children at a dilapidated warehouse converted into an orphanage. Amir’s guide arranges a meeting with the Taliban official, bringing Amir face to face with an old nemesis, Assef, who believes he has been chosen by God to ethnically purify Afghanistan. Amir offers to pay for Sohrab, but Assef means to make good on his threat to meet Amir in combat, stating that he can leave with Sohrab only after they fight to the death. In the struggle, Amir is gravely wounded, but Sohrab saves him with a slingshot that he fires into Assef’s left eye. 

After Amir recovers in a hospital, he promises Sohrab he will not allow him to go back to an orphanage. However, the legal path to bringing Sohrab to the United States is murky. After a meeting with an immigration lawyer, Amir decides his best chance at leaving Afghanistan with Sohrab is to place him in an orphanage and file a petition. Sohrab is frantic at the news. Soon, however, Amir learns that he can petition Sohrab’s visa after the boy arrives in America. Overjoyed, Amir rushes to tell Sohrab the good news but finds Sohrab has cut his wrists.

In the hospital, Sohrab recovers, but he is stricken with the various traumas of his life and will no longer speak. In America, Amir and his wife, Soraya, adopt Sohrab, but Sohrab is despondent. Amir brings Sohrab on a family outing to join fellow Afghans for a communal cookout to play Afghan music and fly kites following the events of September 11, 2001. A small tournament of kite fighters has formed, and Amir buys a kite for Sohrab. Sohrab is cautious at first but obviously intrigued. When they cut a kite down together, Amir asks Sohrab if he would like him to run it for him, prompting Sohrab to fleetingly smile—a sign of hope in a novel about childhoods disrupted by violence and trauma.

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Book Review

Book Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Author:  Khaled Hosseini

Publisher: Riverhead Books

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Drama

First Publication: 2003

Language:  English

Major Characters: Amir, Hassan, Assef, Bába, Sohrab, Soraya, Rahim Khan

Setting Place: Kabul (Afghanistan), Fremont, California (United States), Peshawar (Pakistan)

Theme: Memory and Past, Politics and Society, Betrayal, Redemption, Violence

Narrator: First person limited, from Amir’s point of view

Book Summary: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini starts off really great, it does not deteriorate into crap but I want to stress that it starts off really great.

I have never been to Afghanistan before (I imagine very few of us have) but this book paints such a vivid mental image of life in Kabul during the early 70s (before the Soviet deployment of their Army there) that I feel as if I have some kind of first-hand experience. I am not saying it is an accurate picture of the real Kabul at the time, just that the image and the imaginary atmosphere seems very real. Wild horses couldn’t drag me there now, but I imagine back then it was a nice place and time to grow up in (depending on your station in life there I guess).

“For you, a thousand times over”

Amir is the son of a wealthy, influential Afghan father, and he grows up alongside the son of their servant with whom he becomes best friends. The servants who serve their employers for many years tend to live in or near their employer’s home and tend to have kids of their own who grow up along with the boss’s children. The servants’ children often becoming their playmates if not exactly friends; a close friendship would require a more equal status in life. Amir lives in a mansion while Hassan and his crippled father live in a mud hut on the grounds. Hassan is Amir’s servant—has the fire going, has his breakfast ready before school with his school clothes laid out and his shoes polished. Amir is a bookish boy while Hassan is an unschooled Hazara.

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…”

The Hazara are the underclass, and their status is akin to many other societies where wealthy families and servants or slaves share household activities. We follow Amir, Hassan and their families from their traditional childhood in Kabul in the 1970s through to the “liberation” of Afghanistan by the Taliban and then the barbaric behaviour of the Taliban as they take over and set about ethnic cleansing—wiping out the Hazara (leaving them for the dogs to eat!) and terrifying and killing for the fun of it.

As times change in Kabul, the boys change, life changes, and we are taken to the Afghan community in San Francisco, where they keep their customs and traditions in spite of American ignorance about where they’ve come from.

“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”

Khaled Hosseini writes from a heart that remembers its homeland, and remembers it well. While most of us think of Afghanistan as war-torn and weary, obsessive and restrictive, frightening even; Hosseini remembers what it was before all of that came to be. He gives the Afghani people a face, which can be a very powerful thing indeed.

He does not give us a narrator who is likeable, admirable, or sometimes even excusable, but he does give us a narrator who is human, vulnerable, and who suffers for his shortcomings. For some trespasses there is no atonement, only forgiveness.

“it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.”

No need for me to recount anything more about this book. Everyone has read it before me and the reviews are myriad. What I will say is that it is an important, heartfelt work of art and I believe it will be causing readers to replenish boxes of tissues far into the future.

Buy Now: Books by Khaled Hosseini

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KHALED HOSSEINI

The kite runner.

Overview The New York Times bestseller and international classic loved by millions of readers. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic. Excerpt Discussion Questions

“An astonishing, powerful book.” — Diane Sawyer

“This powerful first novel, by an Afghan physician now living in California, tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love…In  The Kite Runner , Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence – forces that continue to threaten them even today.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Like  Gone with the Wind , this extraordinary first novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history.” —People  

“Poignant… The Kite Runner  offers a moving portrait of modern Afghanistan, from its pre-Russian-invasion glory days through the terrible reign of the Taliban.” —Entertainment Weekly  (Grade: A)

“A marvelous first novel… an incredible story of the culture. It’s an old-fashioned kind of novel that really sweeps you away.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A powerful book…no frills, no nonsense, just hard, spare prose…an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us. Parts of The Kite Runner are raw and excruciating to read, yet the book in its entirety is lovingly written.” —The Washington Post Book World  

“ The Kite Runner , Hosseini’s first novel, is more than just good writing. It is also a wonderfully conjured story that offers a glimpse into an Afghanistan most Americans have never seen, and depicts a side of humanity rarely revealed.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer  

Originally screened in theaters on December 14, 2007 the film, directed by Marc Forster is an adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel of the same title, The Kite Runner. The screen adaptation was performed by David Benioff. Set in Afghanistan, the film was mostly shot in Kashgar, China for safety reasons. The majority of the film is in Dari with subtitles or English. In 2007, the film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the film’s score, by Alberto Iglesias, was nominated for Best Original Score at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. The DVD was released on March 25, 2008.

Learn more about The Kite Runner Movie

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the kite runner.

THE KITE RUNNER, Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys --- Amir, the novel’s narrator and the son of a prosperous Kabul businessman, and Hassan, the son of Ali, a servant in the household of Amir’s father. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although Amir is troubled by Hassan’s subservience, and his relationship with his companion, one year his junior, is ambivalent and complex.

The other source of tension in Amir’s life is his relationship with Baba, his hard-driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father’s affection and respect, Amir turns to the sport of kite flying, and at the age of 12, with the assistance of Hassan, he wins the annual tournament in Kabul. But Amir’s victory soon is tarnished when he witnesses a vicious assault against his friend, who has raced through the streets of Kabul to retrieve the last kite Amir had sliced from the sky, and fails to come to his aid. Amir’s cowardice is compounded by a later act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home, and he now faces the nightmare prospect of bearing the burden of his ill-fated choices for the rest of his life.

"Khaled Hosseini’s novel offers a potent combination of a setting in an exotic land that has taken on increasing importance to Americans in the last several years with a compelling human drama."

In 1981, following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, Amir and Baba flee the country for California, where Amir attends college, marries and becomes a successful novelist. Amir’s world is shaken in 2001 when he receives a call from his father’s best friend, informing him that “There is a way to be good again.” That call launches him on a harrowing journey to rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab, orphaned by the brutal Taliban, and at the same time redeem himself from the torment of his youthful mistakes.

Hosseini, a native of Afghanistan who left the country at the age of 11 and settled in the United States in 1980, does a marvelous job of introducing readers to the people and culture of his homeland. He makes no attempt to romanticize the often harsh reality of life there throughout the last 30 years, though he’s adept at capturing mundane and yet expressive details --- the beauty of a winter morning in Kabul, the sights and smells of the marketplace and the thrill of the kite flying tournament --- that demonstrate his deep affection for his native land.

In the end, what gives THE KITE RUNNER the power that has endeared the novel to millions of readers is the way that it wrestles with themes that have resonated in classical literature since the time of Greek drama --- friendship, betrayal, the relationship between fathers and sons, the quest for redemption and the power of forgiveness. For a first-time novelist, Hosseini demonstrates striking skill at melding a page-turning story with intensely involving characters and conflicts. Those features of this absorbing novel give it a timelessness that transcends the specifics of the tale.

The fact that THE KITE RUNNER has spent more than 120 weeks on the New York Times paperback bestseller list and has sold more than four million copies in the United States is hardly an accident. Khaled Hosseini’s novel offers a potent combination of a setting in an exotic land that has taken on increasing importance to Americans in the last several years with a compelling human drama. If he can continue, as he has again in A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, to join those elements in his future work, his readers are likely to remain loyal for many works to come.

Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg on April 26, 2004

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

• Publication Date: April 27, 2004
• Genres: Fiction
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade
• ISBN-10: 1594480001
• ISBN-13: 9781594480003

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - review

A gripping and emotional story of betrayal and redemption, The Kite Runner had me thrilled and moved, both at the same time. It tells the story of Amir and Hassan, the closest of friends, as good as brothers, and also experts in the art of kite flying. The two young boys live in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and this year they are going to try harder than ever to win the local kite-fighting tournament—a popular Afghan pastime, and this is Amir's one hope of winning his father's love. But just like the kites battling in the sky, war comes to Afghanistan, and the country becomes an extremely dangerous place.

In war, people are often forced to make great sacrifices, and the young Amir himself commits an act of betrayal, towards his best friend Hassan no less, which will haunt him for the rest of his life. Amir and his father are forced to flee Afghanistan for America, and The Kite Runner becomes the story of Amir's quest for redemption – righting the wrongs he committed all those years ago as a boy in Kabul.

The story is fast-paced and hardly ever dull, and introduced me to a world – the world of Afghan life – which is strange, fascinating and yet oddly familiar all at the same time. Hosseini's writing finds a great balance between being clear and yet powerful, and not only is the story itself brilliantly constructed, but the book also explores the very art of storytelling. Amir himself becomes a writer, and he reflects on his experiences in the story as though his life itself were a piece of fiction (which of course it is!).

But I think the best bit about the kite runner is its sense of fate and justice, of good overcoming evil in the end, despite all odds. Without giving away the ending, Amir ends up back in Afghanistan and makes a very different set of sacrifices in order to set things straight. The final chapter of the book is perhaps my favourite, and one that I have found moving even when rereading it. The message behind the very ending could be interpreted differently by different readers, but personally I feel that it offers a small sense of hope for both the future of its characters, and perhaps for war-torn Afghanistan as well.

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The Kite Runner

By khaled hosseini, the kite runner study guide.

The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini 's first novel. He was a practicing physician until shortly after the book's release and has now devoted himself to being an author and activist. The story of The Kite Runner is fictional, but it is rooted in real political and historical events ranging from the last days of the Afghan monarchy in the 1970s to the post-Taliban near present. It is also based on Hosseini's memories of growing up in the Wazir Akbar Khan section of Kabul and adapting to life in California. In a 2003 interview with Newsline, Hosseini specified that the most autobiographical parts of The Kite Runner are those about "the difficult task of assimilating into a new culture." He also revealed, "My father and I did work for a while at the flea market and there really are rows of Afghans working there, some of whom I am related to." Because Hassan did not return to Kabul until 2003, after The Kite Runner's publication, much of his portrayal of Afghanistan after the Soviet takeover is based on research. Hosseini's choice of time period for the book, though corresponding with his own life, also went beyond his personal experiences. He has said that he did not just want to call attention to the devastation in Afghanistan; he set out to remind the world that until the last few decades, before the world's eye was drawn to it by violence, Afghanistan was a generally peaceful nation.

Structurally, The Kite Runner can be divided into three sections: memories of pre-conflict Afghanistan, adjusting to life in America, and returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Thematically, it can be divided into just two: life before the rape and life after the rape. From any angle, The Kite Runner is a tale of love, betrayal, and redemption and it gained an enthusiastic audience from the start. After its 2003 release, The Kite Runner became a New York Times Bestseller and was eventually published in thirty-eight different countries, although not yet Afghanistan. Critics praised the book's intimate examination of relationships amid the fraught and very topical environment of Afghanistan. Many of them, however, expressed disappointment regarding some coincidences, specifically the way that Amir and Assef reunite. One reviewer called the moment "more suited to a folk tale" and another even deemed it worthy of a "B movie." Despite such comments, critical and popular response to The Kite Runner was almost universally positive.

The Kite Runner's most adoring readers and also some of its most critical are Hosseini's fellow Afghan expatriates. Hosseini said in a 2003 interview, "I get daily e-mails from Afghans who thank me for writing this book, as they feel a slice of their story has been told by one of their own. So, for the most part, I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of my fellow Afghans. There are, however, those who have called the book divisive and objected to some of the issues raised in the book, namely racism, discrimination, ethnic inequality etc." In addition to the deep feelings Hosseini's first novel aroused in the hearts of fellow Afghans, it also spurred a more lighthearted response, the resurgence of interest in kite fighting in America. The American invasion of Afghanistan may have 'put Afghanistan on the map' for Americans, but The Kite Runner goes farther by giving a detailed, human account of life and survival there. Its author continues this service to the world by serving as an activist in addition to writing. Hosseini has said, "If this book generates any sort of dialogue among Afghans, then I think it will have done a service to the community." As we know The Kite Runner has sparked conversation among Afghans and countless other groups of people worldwide. It is not such a surprise to Hosseini's admirers that a physician, accustomed to caring for people's bodies, has made such a graceful transition to caring for their histories and spirits.

The Kite Runner Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Kite Runner is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini chapter 2&3

I'm not sure what your question is here.

Baba gets lung cancer. What has Baba been trying to teach Amir?

He wants to teach Amir how to be on his own.

What must grooms do before they ask a girl to wed?

Grooms must ask the father's (of the bride) permission first.

Study Guide for The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner study guide contains a biography of Khaled Hosseini, 100 quiz questions, a list of major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Kite Runner
• The Kite Runner Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

• Amir’s Quest for Salvation in The Kite Runner
• A Journey for Redemption in The Kite Runner
• Redemption in Kahled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
• Assef: Why Is He the Way He Is?
• Emotional Intertextuality Between Death of a Salesman and The Kite Runner

Lesson Plan for The Kite Runner

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Kite Runner
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Kite Runner Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Kite Runner

• Introduction
• Composition and publication
• Plot summary

The Kite Runner

Khaled hosseini, everything you need for every book you read..

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Kite Runner: Introduction

The kite runner: plot summary, the kite runner: detailed summary & analysis, the kite runner: themes, the kite runner: quotes, the kite runner: characters, the kite runner: symbols, the kite runner: theme wheel, brief biography of khaled hosseini.

Historical Context of The Kite Runner

Other books related to the kite runner.

• Full Title: The Kite Runner
• When Written: 2001-2003
• Where Written: Mountain View, California
• When Published: 2003
• Literary Period: Contemporary literature
• Genre: Historical fiction, Drama
• Setting: Kabul, Afghanistan, Pakistan (mostly Peshawar), and San Francisco Bay Area, California
• Climax: Amir’s fight with Assef
• Antagonist: Assef
• Point of View: First person limited, from Amir’s point of view

BOOK REVIEW : THE KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI

“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” – KHALED HOSSEINI (THE KITE RUNNER)

TITLE : The Kite Runner

AUTHOR : Khaled Hosseini

GENRE : Historical Fiction, Contemporary

FBRC RATING : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ ( 5 Stars)

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant,  The Kite Runner  is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years,  The Kite Runner  is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

FBRC REVIEW :

I have been wanting to read a Khaled Hosseini book for ages. Finally, I got around to it. I am so glad I was able to get my copy of this book and 2 of his other books in my haul from Amazon India. I started reading this book at the end of December. I am so glad I picked this book for my first January Read. This was such an incredible reading experience for me. 

I absolutely loved it and will be one of my favorite books of all time. The book was an emotional, heartbreaking and unforgettable journey that will tug at your heartstrings. It will grip your heart and pull it out and stamp all over it. The story of Amir and Hassan is so tragic and devastating that I was choked up about the majority of the time. I didn’t cry but was very close to losing control of my emotions. This is the best hard-hitting contemporary fiction I have read in a long time.

Now that I have expressed my love for the book and all the ways it gripped me, I feel like I can discuss the characters, plot, and the impact of it much more calmly.

Amir and Hassan are the central characters of this book. Amir is a flawed character. His yearning for his father’s love is hard to read about. We feel sympathetic towards him at the same time hate him for his cruelty toward Hassan. Amir is cruel, manipulative and taunts Hassan and goes to great lengths to make sure he feels secure in his life. You can see him battling with his guilt at the same time taunting him and mistreating Hassan. The way he takes a step back to gain his father’s acceptance and praise and the price he was willing to pay, haunts him. The devastation that comes on to their family because of the choices he made will forever follow him into his future.

Hassan is a pure soul. He is without malice and vengefulness. We see the purest form of love, loyalty, and devotion towards the family he and his father served. He is forever standing up to protect Amir not expecting anything in return. I don’t think I have ever seen a character so full of love and loyalty in my life. His love for Amir is the purest, unconditional and truest there is. The way he faces his difficulties and still manages to smile through life is simply admirable, inspirational and commendable. I love how naive and at the same time secure he is in his life to love truly without any agenda. Even at his hardest time in life, he keeps his word to his thankless friend. His blinding devotion and affection for Amir after everything that happened between them shows his character and who he is as a person. No matter what life throws at him he takes it in stride, facing every difficulty with grace and honor. His integrity, honesty, and steadfastness are some of the best traits we as humans can aspire to achieve.

Ali and Baba and Rahim play important roles in bringing the story together. Baba is a very interesting character. He has a presence, a formidable one in this book. He is the ultimate macho man and his ideas of what a man is often so distorted that you couldn’t help feeling sorry for the life he had. The constant expectations from Baba left Amir drained and disappointed with himself for not being able to be the boy his father wanted him to be. 

Rahim Khan brings some much-needed softness to Amir’s life, silently supporting him and encouraging him in his endeavors and often times seeing the good in Amir when he himself couldn’t see good in him. 

Ali is the reason I believe Hassan is who he is. He is silent and compassionate. A man like him is so admirable in the way he deals with life and how acts in the face of difficulties. He is the epitome of forgiveness, kindness, and loyalty. His honest behavior and unwavering loyalty even in the midst of betrayal is simply astonishing. 

Sorabh and his lost childhood will forever stay in my heart. It was devastating to read about the kind of life he had to endure after his parent’s death. Everything he had is taken away including his innocence leaving him a hollow shell of a person. 

This book was not just about tragic events but told us stories of friendship, loyalty and family ties. The shared moments of innocence and fun between Amir and Hassan were beautiful. The atmospheric writing, in-depth exposure of human emotions, lack of common decency in the face of war all tugs at our hearts painfully. I felt so many emotions while reading this book. The story was painful, powerful, and hopeful to the very end. 

The writing was fantastic, evoking strong emotions from me, the setting was mesmerizing and atmospheric. The story was very well written bringing together the events and scenarios making the perfect tale. I will forever carry a piece of it in me. It’s so poignant and though-provoking at times, discussing the political, personal, racial prejudices existing in our communities towards certain people. The other-ism and how our nurture affects our nature and the power of evil and good in the world. 

A masterfully crafted story that will leave a mark on your life. This story is guaranteed to make you feel all of your emotions and then some. It is in my opinion of my favorite stories of all time. I highly recommend checking it out. I have given it 5 stars and for sure read it again. 

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GOING DOWN THE ACOTAR RABBIT HOLE……

Great review! I’m wanting to read this. I just keep putting it off.

Thank you. It’s just awesme. Definitely check it out!!

Julia's books

This is one of my favourite books of all time too.

I love this book , the emotions it made me feel , I can’t describe But i’d say this book is one if the most truly beautifully crafted piece of art .

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Moms for Liberty Fail to Ban Books at Brevard School Board Meeting amid Fiery Arguments

T he Brevard County School Board in Florida held its first meeting of the year, with the agenda featuring a challenge to two books: The Kite Runner and Slaughterhouse-Five. However, the meeting became a challenge for the anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty and their supporters. In reality, only one supporter of the group was present, with all other attendees opposing the Nazi-style book bans aimed at the novels.

At the core of the dispute were challenges to two widely read novels, “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut. Moms for Liberty, a group that gained quick notoriety with its stringent opposition to what it perceives as the “woke indoctrination” of students, called for these books to be banned, citing content concerns.

The recent meeting, however, underscored a potential shift in the dynamics surrounding Moms for Liberty’s influence. Notably, only a solitary supporter of the group attended, dramatically outnumbered by those who arrived to defend the freedom to read and maintain the novels in the curriculum.

The discussion at the meeting turned incisive, with opponents drawing parallels between the books’ narratives, particularly “The Kite Runner’s” account of the Taliban’s oppressive regime, and the burgeoning parental rights groups seeking to constrict educational content. Others accused Moms for Liberty of attempting to impose “their ideology on all children.”

After an extensive period of public commentary, which included nearly “20 speakers voicing opposition to removing the novels from school libraries,” the board rendered its decision. In what amounted to a rapid vote roughly three hours into the proceedings, the motion to ban the books was defeated, allowing them to remain accessible to students.

This local episode is indicative of a broader challenge faced by Moms for Liberty. Initially galvanized into action by opposition to COVID-19 safety measures in schools, the group has expanded its platform to encompass various educational and social issues, often sparking intense debate. However, pushback is increasing, and critics are scrutinizing the group’s tactics and associations.

One opponent sharply compared The Kite Runner‘s depiction of “the growth of the Taliban and its repressive autocracy in the name of religious nationalism” and “the rise of parental rights groups that want to limit what students learn.” Another accused the group of pushing “their ideology on all children.”

The woman left the meeting feeling humiliated and defeated after declining to speak to the board or the press.

According to a CNN report, the events in Brevard County are linked to a broader decline in the group’s support. Jack Schneider, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, indicated via email that while Moms for Liberty’s message may resonate abstractly with conservative voters, there is a general satisfaction among Americans with their children’s schools, which does not translate into a desire for disruption.

Relevant articles:

– Book banner humiliated at Florida school board meeting. She fled without saying a word.

– Moms for Liberty on the ropes as ‘lone’ supporter attends book ban meeting: report , Raw Story, Sat, 03 Feb 2024 21:43:00 GMT

– Effort to ban books with graphic public readings spreads in Florida , Tampa Bay Times, Thu, 21 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

– Moms for Liberty , Southern Poverty Law Center, Tue, 06 Jun 2023 18:14:56 GMT