When packing my suitcase for Marrakech, I was wondering how many books I should bring. I was reading The Canterbury Tales and Glass Sword at the time, but I thought I should bring one more just to be safe. Looking at the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, I picked The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It has been on my want-to-read list for ages, and I was really looking forward to reading it.
About the book
As a contemporary novel, the book takes place in America and Afghanistan. Roughly, the book is divided in two parts: flashbacks and current day. This makes it possible for the author to describe the influence of Western culture and the changes in government in Afghanistan over a few decades.
No spoilers, but this is roughly the story: when the main character, Amir, receives a phone-call from an old friend, he decides to go back to his home country Afghanistan and relive some of the mistakes he made as a child. Together with the role of and relationship with his father, these mistakes form the core of the story: everything revolves around it.
Especially the parts about Amir’s childhood in Kabul give a nice idea of how Afghanistan used to be, before war changed the country. And later, when Amir goes back as an adult, how shocked he is about everything that’s different. Of course, reading it in the Moroccan sun made me live the story through Amir’s eyes even more!
Verdict
The Kite Runner is a nice book that gives insight in a – for me – unknown culture and country. The story cleverly takes place in the present and the past, to deepen the history of Afghanistan. For one who is not familiar with this part of world history, I feel that now I know what I should know about it.
Besides the history lessons, reading this book was really nice. Hosseini’s words pulled me in and didn’t let me go until the very end. According to the cover, others agree with me: words as “haunting” and “unforgettable” are used to describe this book. I think The Kite Runner is well-written and uses clever techniques to deepen the plot. It’s a pleasant read that should be on every book-lovers list!
