The Kite Runner
Posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:01 am
- ISBN13: 9781594480003
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The timely and critically acclaimed debut novel that’s becoming a word-of-mouth phenomenon…Amazon.com Review
In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country’s political turmoil–in this case, Afghanistan–while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. (”…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.”)
Some of the plot’s turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America’s collective consciousness (”people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz”), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. –Gisele Toueg
Horrible
Never buy this book
The worst
It is a waste of money
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 1 / 5
while glimpses of a different culture were interesting, the protagonist (at least of the first 100 plus pages – which was all I could read) was such an unpleasant (as well as unhappy) boy, that I just couldn’t care what happened to him – and didn’t want to learn more.
Rating: 2 / 5
I did not like this book at all PERIOD. here is the bottom line why i did not like this book _ but really COMMA, this book is sad, cliche’d, and by being cliche’d gets repetetive fast. Some might call this foreshadowing. I call it lack of creativity and wanting some poor joe to think ur smart because they think you put “foreshadowing” in the book. The book isnt sad its downright suicidal, mayB not quite that bad, but still. Heres why its sad: EVERYONE GETS RAPED!!! And then children slit wrists with razors. I this this Khaled man is a sicko! If i want to get depressed i can turn on the news for Heaven’s sake. BY GOTT MAKE IT STOP
Rating: 2 / 5
Left me feeling sick inside from beginning to end. The main character is so unlikable. It may have some insight into the sick ways of afghani people but overall sucked. I have no idea why so many people recomend such a depressing and unrewarding book.
Rating: 1 / 5
Afghanistan schmanistan. Where are the evil sorcerors and elves? I don’t see any orc armies! Like dude, man! Why did you write about THIS world? You know? I don’t see any love between an elf and a Bardic fighter! California? That’s your final destination? I was waiting for you to wisk off the guilt ridden toad of a son to Nargalon. Poor little human! Trapped in a world of disease and industry. No magic spells of flight and invisibility here. Dad croaks, and I’m still waiting for the demon Balthazor to announce his wicked presence. Dude, you be illin’. I give it 2 stars because somehow I made it through the whole thing (obviously).
Rating: 2 / 5