Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 9781573222457
Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 10 and up
Genre: Historical--World Historical Fiction--Twentieth Century
Reader’s Annotation: Amir carries the guilt of having failed his friend with him his whole life. When he learns there may be a way to make things right, he returns to Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule.
Plot Summary
In the first part of this three-part novel, Amir and Hassan are growing up together in Kabul. Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman, and Hassan is his father’s servant’s son. Despite the differences in their lives—Hassan is Hazara and Amir is Pashtun, Hassan waits on Amir and has to work instead of going to school—the two boys are very close. Their world darkens when an older boy, Assef, begins threatening Amir. Hassan frightens him off with his slingshot, but Assef vows revenge. Some months later Amir wins a kite battle, and when Hassan runs the last kite down for him, Assef corners, attacks, and rapes him. Amir does nothing to stop the assault, and to get rid of the reminder of his guilt he treats Hassan so badly that he and his father leave Kabul.
The second part of the book brings even greater changes to Amir’s life. He and his father flee Kabul in the wake of the invasion by the Soviet Union. They go to Fremont, California, where they find a large Afghani immigrant community. Amir’s father works at a gas station and Amir finishes school. He falls in love with another Afghani immigrant, Soraya, and they marry just before Amir’s father dies of cancer.
In the third part, Amir answers a summons to return to Afghanistan to make things right with Hassan. Hassan and his wife have been murdered by the Taliban, and his son is in a Kabul orphanage. Amir sets out to rescue the boy from the hell Kabul has become.
Critical Evaluation
I found this book disappointing, primarily because I had heard so many good things about it. I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I had also read several books in a row in which the reader is told that something horrible is going to happen long before it does, and I was sick of it. I find this technique is rarely effective; it’s better to just tell the story and use tone and subtle foreshadowing to induce foreboding in the reader. (The Book Thief is an exception in which giving away the ending early works well.)
I have a few more complaints, too. I found Hassan unrealistic and underdeveloped—too saintly and subservient. I also got tired of listening to Amir talk about how guilty he felt. The fact that he starts doing it long before the cause of his shame actually happens didn’t help. Furthermore, the final section stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far. I found the plot twists involving Hassan’s son too dramatic for credibility.
On the positive side, the book is elegantly written, and Amir and his father are interesting, well-rounded characters. We see Amir’s father go from proud, intimidating business magnate to gas station clerk. He regains some of his old dignity when he’s among other Afghan immigrants, but it is further taxed when he is diagnosed with cancer. It’s touching to see how Amir comes to see his father as a person through these hardships. In Afghanistan, Amir longed for his father’s approval but regarded him with an awe that put him at an emotional remove.
Probably my favorite thing about the book is the amount of detail it gives about Afghanistan’s ethnic groups, languages, cultures, and history. I learned a great deal, for example, that Farsi is one of Afghanistan’s major languages.
Curriculum Ties: History/government--Afghanistan, Taliban, war in Afghanistan
Booktalking Ideas
Describe Amir and Hassan as boys.
Describe how Amir and Baba's lives changed when they fled to California.
Challenge Issues: Language, violence
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist and mixed reviews from Amazon.com and the New York Times Book Review.
About the Author
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Hosseini was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004.
While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 70 countries. In 2006 he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in May of 2007. Currently, A Thousand Splendid Suns is published in 60 countries. Khaled has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for The Khaled Hosseini Foundation was inspired by a trip to Afghanistan Khaled made in 2007 with the UNHCR. He lives in northern California.
http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bio.html
Why is this title included?
Cart identifies The Kite Runner as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens. It's also received great critical acclaim, including the Boeke Prize.