The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is about the story of two boys Amir and Hassan before and after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Despite the fact that Hassan's father was a servant to Amir's, the boys gel well and spend time together. Both have lost their mother and perhaps this is the common thing between them together and knits them in a close relationship.

While Amir's father Baba is a successful business man in the early 1970’s, Hassan's father Ali does not share a good reputation in society because as a Hazara, his race is considered to be despised in Afghanistan. Since Amir's family is from the Pasthun race, they are considered considerably high in the Afghan social hierarchy. Hassan also has to face the disgrace of having a hare lip and mongoloid features for which he is cruelly mocked frequently.

Hassan is described as 'the best kite runner' in the whole of Kabul, where his job is to fetch kites that are cut in their favourite sport - the kite flying competition. During one such competition, Hassan is beaten up by bullies, and though Amir chances upon the scene, he flees in fear abandoning Hassan. Later, he influences his father to remove Hassan and his father from the job.

During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Amir and Baba flee to the United States, where they lead the life of poverty stricken immigrants. Later plagued by remorse, Amir returns to Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban to face considerably harsh circumstances in his efforts at redemption with someone whom he had betrayed many years earlier.

This is Khaled's debut novel, and though he has written after that, I consider this novel to be path breaking because it presents the portrayal of life and society of Afghanistan in a fictionalized novel format to the American audience for the first time. The ripping apart of Afghanistan's cultural heritage first by the Soviets and later by the Taliban is movingly described in this book.

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