The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
| Published: 29th October 2007 18:00 |
This is a story about a boy, Amir, growing up in Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy. The book starts well, concentrating on the friendship between Amir and Hassan (the son of his father's servant), with the political situation in Afghanistan very much the backdrop to the story, rather than its key focus.
The friendship between the boys is severed when Amir betrays Hassan and his unerring loyalty - and the political situation in Afghanistan then forces Amir and his father to flee to America.
This is where the story goes downhill - this section is interesting in that it forces you to think about what it's like to be an immigrant, leaving a position of respect, authority and wealth in your home country, and then having to start again in a new one. However, the story itself then becomes cliched and unbelievable when Amir returns to Afghanistan to put right the wrongs of his childhood. There are too many coincidental meetings between Amir and the ghosts of his past and all the loose ends of the story are too neatly tied up.
Overall I'd says it's worth a read, but very overrated.
Review by Kate Pedlar
