A child tries to commit suicide. Children go hungry They weren't kidding when they said "There are many children in Afghanistan, but no childhoods. Also, the ideology the protagonist embraces at the end will not be acceptable to everyone. Teen, 13 years old Written by John. R February 3, The kite runner thouts I think that this book is a pretty good book.
I think its a good book becuse it had so many interesting things and it was more of a adventure book and i liked it this book amazed my just to where i think that this is a pretty good book. Teen, 16 years old Written by Charle T.
January 26, The Kite Runner tells a fascinating story of Afghanistan right before its takeover by the Taliban. While it is fiction, I agree with Yann Martel's view Author of Life of Pi that fiction is the best way to represent reality , it feels very real. The violence is undoubtedly realistic, showing up more in the second half of the book and will probably disturb more sensitive readers, if you've read the aforementioned Life of Pi or the book theif you should be okay, its about the same amount As for luanguage there are various swear words used, most notably three uses of the F bomb, though not nearly enough to earn a five rating on CSM.
A main character is raped early on, which plays a large role throughout the story, though only just enough is described so that you understand what happened. This book is undeniable well crafted and beautiful, a great read for anyone who can handle the violence its probably not even as bad as it really is.
Teen, 13 years old Written by Zaydotexe November 4, A Great Book But not for everyone It is a great book filled with complex themes and compelling characters. This book is quite mature. It carries a lot of heavy themes of loss, abuse and war, so it isn't for everybody. I have read it as a year-old, so my opinion might be a little skewed, but I think it depends on the child.
But if they're say 15 and extremely immature, I'd tell them to wait. Teen, 14 years old Written by realworld September 26, Although this is aimed at adults, the earlier this is read, the better.
It's hard to understand the complicated political themes without background knowledge, but you don't need to take this book to a PhD level to enjoy it.
That being said, it will be much more rewarding if you do. If you're looking for a fun, simple novel for middle schoolers, this isn't it. This should be read in 9th grade. Teen, 13 years old Written by mxhmoud September 19, This title contains: Positive Messages. Teen, 15 years old Written by LiterateMaybe August 7, It is emotional, gripping and can also be haunting. Teen, 15 years old Written by xviolettax June 11, Teen, 16 years old Written by Mr Nobody January 30, A disturbing, enlightening masterpiece The Kite Runner is a must-read look at the harsh life in Afghanistan that deserves its spot alongside To Kill A Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn in high school English class.
This book is NOT for kids, and even for teens and adults, it's rather disturbing, including a terrifying rape scene, and morally ambiguous characters. Wait until their teachers decide they're ready on this one. It's still one of the greatest books of all time, though, and well worth a read yourself, as well as one your kids must. They're forced to experience this for good reason.
Teen, 17 years old Written by uhhh.. It's difficult So this book is disturbing to those who aren't prepared. It is also very depressing during about the first half of it. It gets better as it goes on but still depressing. I still don't know if I would recommend it to anyone. I will say that it is a book to remember. It also made me a bit angry but that is ok. I think this book should read by someone who is 15 nd up The novel begins with Amir reflecting on his past in… Read more Read more of this comment.
While I didn't enjoy this novel, it's certainly beautifully written and something everyone should read at least once in their lives. Actions for lkim17's Comment. Set deeply with betrayal and the changing political landscape of the nation, Amir, the main character, who has… Read more Read more of this comment. Amir is from a wealthy family, while Hassan is his servant. This causes problems, and Hassan eventually leaves Amir. Later, the story… Read more Read more of this comment.
But although I was hesitant, I knew it was a book I had to read. The novel tells the story of two boys, Amir and Hassan. Amir is from a wealthy family, while Hassan is the son of a servant.
We see their lives while living in Afghanistan, and the heartbreaking friendship between them. It is evident in… Read more Read more of this comment. Actions for taeyunericakang's Comment. However, things take a fateful, yet unfortunate turn of events in the Afghanistan… Read more Read more of this comment. A novel discussing human morality, The Kite Runner possesses a main character different from the traditional main characters.
Unlike the majority of main characters, Amir of The Kite Runner is not very special, and is not even equipped… Read more Read more of this comment. Actions for joannjai's Comment. Dec 18, joannjai rated this title 4. When I picked up this book for the first time, I had no idea what an emotional journey it would take me on!
Set primarily in Afghanistan during the s, Khaled Hosseini weaves an incredible story about a friendship between two boys- the… Read more Read more of this comment. Actions for YourLocalReader's Comment. Dec 07, YourLocalReader rated this title 4 out of 5 stars. Amir, now an adult, is haunted over his childhood in Afghanistan, where his poor treatment of his best friend had lingering effects. Amir debates on… Read more Read more of this comment.
Summary: Two boys named Hassan and Amir are more than just best friends. They are always together. Since they were young, they have always been together: playing… Read more Read more of this comment.
D Derik2me comment from Derik2me. Hopefully that clears things up for those who were wondering. Finished this book about a month ago but it's taken me this long to write a review about it because I have such mixed feelings about it. It was a deeply affecting novel, but mostly not in a good way. I really wanted to like it, but the more I think about what I didn't like about the book, the more it bothers me.
I even downgraded this review from two stars to one from the time I started writing it to the time I finished. Let's start off with the good, shall we? The writing itself was pretty good when it comes to description, in that I really felt the author's descriptions of scenes, and in terms of moving the story forward.
That said, it's not particularly challenging writing to read. The very best part of the novel is its warm depiction of the mixed culture of Afghanistan, and how it conveys the picture of a real Afghanistan as a living place, before the coup, the Soviet invasion, and above all, the Taliban and the aftermath of September 11th created a fossilized image in the US of a failed state, petrified in "backwardness" and locked in the role of a villain from central casting.
Now for the not so good. Not to mention, some of what follows will only make sense to someone who has read the book. So if you don't want to spoil it for yourself, read no further, here be spoilers: My overwhelming emotion throughout the book is feeling entirely manipulated. Of course, one major reason for this is that the author's attempts at metaphor, allegory, and forshadowing are utterly ham-fisted.
But I feel manipulated beyond that. The members of the servant class in this story suffer tragic, unspeakable calamities, sometimes at the hands of our fine hero, and yet the novel seems to expect the reader to reserve her sympathies for the "wronged" privileged child, beating his breast over the emotional pain of living with the wounds he has selfishly inflicted upon others.
How, why, am I supposed to feel worse for him as he feels bad about what he has done to others? Rather than feeling most sympathy and kinship for those who, through absolutely no fault of their own, must suffer, not just once or twice, but again and again? Even when they are protecting their masters from their own arrogance, heartlessness, or downright stupidity. I don't see how the main character, Amir, could possibly be likeable.
Amir's battle with Assef, momentous as it is, is not so much him taking a stand because he feels driven to do so or feels that he must. Rather, he acts with very little self-agency at all -- he is more or less merely carried forward into events. And, moreover, in the end it is Sohrab Hassan again who saves him.
I finished the novel resenting Amir, and even more intensely resenting the author for trying to make the reader think she's supposed to care about Amir, more than about anyone else in the story. A couple other points: I'm wondering if one theme of the novel is that there are no definitive happy endings, no single immutable moments of epiphany or redemption. Because Amir's moral "triumph", such as it is, over Assef, is so short-lived.
He manages to crash horrifically only a week or two later, when he goes back on his word to Sohrab about his promise not to send him to an orphanage. And lastly, I don't understand why Baba's hypocrisy is not more of a theme. He makes such a point of drilling into his son's head that a lie is a theft of one's right to the truth. His own hipocrisy there is a profound thing, and it's a shame the author doesn't do more with it.
Nevertheless, after all the bad things I had to say about it, I do have a couple quotes worth keeping: "Every woman needed a husband. Even if he did silence the song in her. That's the Afghanistan I know. You've always been a tourist here, you just didn't know it.
Since then, my review has generated a very robust response from other Goodreads members. I have responded a couple of times in the comments section, but I realize that by now, the comments section has gotten long enough that some folks may not realize that I have added some clarifications to my review. So, although the extended reply that I posted in the comments section in October is still available in the comments section, I am re-posting it here, so people don't miss it. This kind of back-and-forth conversation on books is exactly why I signed on to Goodreads!
I appreciate the feedback, and look forward to engaging in more such discussion. Finally, one more quick reply. One recent commenter asked how I could have given this book only a 1 star rating, if I was so affected by it. As I replied in the comments, the short answer is that I am guided by Goodread's prompts when I rate a book. Two stars is "It was OK;" 1 star is "I didn't like it. Before I get into my response, I must start off with a great thank you for all those who have felt sufficiently moved positively or negatively by my review to comment and respond.
I appreciate all the comments, whether I agree with them or not. First of all, I'd like to address the question of whether we're "supposed" to like Amir or not. Here, though, the story is clearly meant to be about some kind of redemption -- but I found Amir so distasteful, that I simply wasn't interested in his redemption. The focus of the story was entirely on how Amir's life had been corrupted by the despicable things he'd done - when the things he'd done were entirely part and parcel of the position of power and privilege he occupied over Hassan.
Which brings me to my second point, the insufferable current of paternalism that runs throughout the story. The members of the servant and poorer classes are consistently portrayed as saintly, absurdly self-sacrificing, one-dimensional characters.
Regardless of what terrible things befall them, they are shown to have nothing but their masters' interests at heart. Granted, it may be unlikely that the powerless would be overtly talking back and setting their masters straight; however, the novel gives no indication that they even have any private wishes of recrimination, or much of a private life, for that matter.
Given this portrayal, it is even more difficult for me to muster any interest in Amir's suffering. But to suggest that perhaps we're misinterpreting the servants' subservient attitudes because we approach the story from a different time, place, or culture, is simply to engage in a cultural relativism borne out of -- and perpetuating -- the very same paternalism.
To clarify my point, let's look at some comparable examples from US culture. Consider any one of a huge number of films such as Driving Miss Daisy , Clara's Heart , Bagger Vance , or Ghost all simply continuing a tradition that reaches back to Shirley Temple's days in which noble servants or similar helpers have absolutely no concern in their lives other than making sure the wealthy people they are serving have happy, fulfilled lives -- while they themselves never seem to have any of their own personal hopes, desires, triumphs, tragedies, or even any hint of a home, family, personal, or romantic life at all.
Their total happiness is bound up entirely with serving the lives of their rich counterparts. It is this quality, present throughout Hosseini's book, that bothers me most. In the end, however, a beautifully written story could have overcome these criticisms -- or at the very least, I would have been able to temper or counter my points above with lavish praise for the writing.
However, here, again, the novel falls flat. It is not particularly well-written. As some other commenters have also pointed out, the storytelling is quite heavy-handed, and the narrative suffers from implausible plot twists and uncanny coincidences, and a writing style that relies far too heavily on cliches and obvious literary devices.
I wish that I could say I liked the book more. To answer [another commenter's] question, I haven't read A Thousand Splendid Suns ; I'm afraid I wasn't particularly motivated to do so after my reaction to this one.
However, I do believe, as that commenter also suggests, that there is something to be gained from the debate and discussion that the book has inspired. Ahmad Sharabiani. Published in by Riverhead Books. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet military intervention, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime.
Tharindu Dissanayake. Sad stories make good books. Given the overall high rating, it is redundant to tell, to which category does The Kite Runner belong. I don't think there are that many books, especially fiction, that could leave such a profound effect on a reader's mind.
Hosseini has done an amazing job developing them, which increases the emotional impact of the plot tenfold. Especially, it's remarkable how well he handled the first person protagonist, Amir.
The traditional 'do wrong, then atone, conclude with happy ending' is not the way with The Kite Runner, but utilizes an attempt to direct Amir towards a path of atonement, while sticking to a more realistic ending.
Had it not been for Hosseini's unique narrative, Amir's character could have turned far more contemptible. Luckily, for me, it was never the case. Many would probably love the secondary characters more, but it is important to remember that it was the protagonist's undistorted, self-criticizing account of the events that made it that way.
It's not a perspective you see everyday, but I loved it. Each of these parts had their own theme going on, while introducing an occasional twist to keep things interesting. The only minor complaint I have is about the attempt at creating a villain. Even though it introduced a tiny bit of mystery to the plot, that particular part felt a little out of harmony with the rest.
If anything, it felt more appropriate, reducing distractions from the flow of the story. But the plot, and the characters make up perfectly for any other shortcoming in my opinion. I wouldn't call this an emotional rollercoaster, for, the majority of the emotions include regret, disappointment, sadness, fear, anger, privation but very little happy ones.
But all this helped the book become more moving. I usually don't enjoy books with sad endings but this one was definitely an exception, and worth all the heartbreak. But with fiction, if and when things get too depressing, a reader could always be consoled by the fact that this is, after all, fiction.
It's easier attributing everything to being not real, and proceed from that safe spot. You're no going to find that solace here. If anything, unless we are fooling ourselves, the severity of reality has been lessened to make it more bearable. But I guess that's the whole point. That's what makes this deliver a profound reading experience. It enables all readers to understand, to empathize, and be considerate towards others.
Kite Runner easily made it to my All-time-favorites and I believe this should be read by everyone. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. Will Byrnes. He is a rich man, brimming with macho vibrancy, while his son is a different sort altogether. They are as close as brothers. There is much death and horror in this portrait of a tortured country.
But there is also emotional richness, and a look into the inner life. By the end of the book there was not a dry eye in the house. It is recommended unreservedly. A wonderful tale, movingly told.
This book made me so sad! I felt helpless and angry and there were times I actually was more than just tempted to stop reading.
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