The Kite Runner

It was the first time that I’d read a book on my cell phone. I didn’t know it was that thick until I saw it displayed in a bookstore.

Well, what firstly aroused my interested in it was its unique title -- The Kite Runner. Having went through one chapter, I was curious about what happened next and bewitched by the excellent writing, so I kept reading. Only when I finished half of it did I start to wonder its reputation. Later, I came to know that it was the Afghanistan-American author Khaled Hosseini‘s first novel. It was a best-seller. Most of media spoke quite highly of it. I was impressed by both the writing style and the plot. In addition, Hassan’s words to Amir “Do you want me to run that kite for you? For you, a thousand times over” lingered in my heart. Hope I can read its English version in the near future.

Now I’m going to tell you a little about its content.

Set from the early 1970s to the present day, this novel tells a story about the friendship between two young boys, Amir and Hassan, who grow up in Kabul in the relatively stable Afghanistan. Amir is the privileged son of a wealthy merchant, while Hassan, with “a face like a Chinese doll”, is the son of Amir’s father’s servant. They are like inseparable brothers.

Things change in 1975. In order to win all the love of his father (Amir’s mother dies when he’s born so father somehow dissatisfied with the boy), Amir is determined not only to win the kite-fighting tournament but also to run the last kite and bring it home. His loyal friend, Hassan, who is extraordinarily good at running the kite, promises to give him a hand. However, being a member of Afghanistan’s despised Hazara minority, Hassan is often jeered at by Amir’s school friends. On the afternoon of the competition, he is beaten by them. And Amir happens to witness the fight yet finally he doesn’t go to rescue Hassan. This later leads to the break-up of their friendship. Hassan is still kind and loyal to Amir. But Amir, who cannot bear the guilt about what he’s done, does something disgraceful to drive Hassan and his father away from this family.

Years later, to escape the war, Amir and his father flee to America for a new life. Amir’s father passes away after he gets married. His wife is a fair lady, and they lead a happy life. But the memory of Hassan remains haunted. Amir can never forgive his betrayal. To atone for the sin, he returns to his hometown, only to find the land comes under Taliban rule. His father’s old friend tells him that Hassan has already been dead. Then he learns a shocking secret (I won’t give it away here, hehe). Eventually, Amir endeavors to rescue Hassan’s orphaned child and then takes him back to America. The book ends as Amir is running the kite with Hassan’s son.

This great novel involves familial affection, friendship, love, jealousy, fear, guilt, humanity, atonement, war, religion, etc. It tells us more than how a person’s childhood can affect his later life. It’s a cruel but beautiful epic which can set readers thinking in many aspects. The author Isabel Allende commented, “This is one of those unforgettable stories that stay with you for years. It’s so powerful that for a long time after, everything I read seemed bland.”

In the course of reading, I thought the kite runner might be Hassan. But as the story developed, I realized Amir was also a kite runner and that this kite was like a symbol . To us, it can be friendship, love, dream, hope, loyalty, honesty, kindness or anything else. We all have one in our mind. What we need to do is pluck up courage to run after our own kite.