The Kite Runner

For my independent book project I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Khaled Hosseini has also written 2 other books A ThousandSplendid Suns, And the Mountain Echoed.  I haven’t read all of these books, but the Kite Runner spent 101 weeks on the best seller list. The other two of his books were also on the best seller list just not as long as The Kite Runner. A theme I saw that kept reoccurring was the tension between Amir and his father. This to me was the biggest theme because all Amir has in life is his father.

In the first chapters of The Kite Runner, Amir and the servant’s son Hassan play together all the time. One day they are playing and this bully named Assef threatens them. Hassan toughens up and takes his slingshot and shot it at Assef making the bully leave them alone. The book then skips to the kite race. All the kids loved the kite races, after your kite had fallen down you would have to go retrieve it. Hassan went to retrieve Amir and his kite.  Hassan was taking a while so Amir went to go look for him, and discovered Hassan helpless in an alley. Amir decided not to say anything about seeing him. Amir felt that Hassan was in danger so he stashed some of babas watches under Hassans pillows and says he stole them. Amir did this to protect his friend. The book then talks about how his country becomes a war-zone so Baba and Amir leave to Pakistan for 2 years and then to California. When in California Amir Meets a beautiful girl named Farzana they end up getting Married about a month later Baba dies from lung cancer. Rahim wants Amir to go back to his country because he has some tragic news. When Amir gets there, Rahim tells him Hassan and his wife were shot and killed. Their son Sohrab was left in an orphanage. Amir looks around everywhere for Sohrab. Amir finally finds him and takes him back to America with him.

I would recommend this book to everyone. This story is so inspiring and tragic, it needs to be heard. When I started reading it I thought it was just going to be a story about two little boys who were friends. As I started reading more of the story I was hooked. I was so amazed at how this story turned from a story of friendship to a story about a war, a fight for life, and freedom. This story was well written and defiantly one of the best books I have ever read. I guarantee you would not regret reading a story just so beautiful and horrific. Khaled Hosseini did an amazing job with The Kite Runner and I cannot wait to read the other two books he has written.

Book Review by Amber M.