My Thoughts - The story begins with Amir looking back to 1975. The day that he cowardly hid behind a muddy crumbling wall looking down a ally. That is all he shows he. He doesn't go into more detail. The reader can however see that this memory still pains him. Something horrible must have happened that day and it seems Amir was a bystander.
He also mentions receiving a recent phone call from an old friend called Rahim Khan who is beckoning him to come Pakistan. That very day as Amir walks down the street he comes across two children playing with Kites, something about this scene has obviously touched him as he remembers Rahim's words "There is a way to be good again" these words obviously seem to haunt him. Now the actual story starts.
Amir growing up had a best friend called Hassan growing up, more like a confidante who did everything Amir asked and respected him thoroughly. He also happened to be Amirs servant. Amir's father who he calls "Babba" is rich and greatly respected within the community, he is also greatly respected by his son Amir yet they seem to have a communication barrier - neither speaking to the other. Amir blames himself, maybe his father hates him because his mother died giving birth to him. On the other hand his father can't understand why his son is so timid and such a coward, and always expecting Hassan to defend him.
Being so arrogant and egotistical that comes with being rich and proud it is hard for him to comprehend this, and therefore finds it much easier to deny him rather than talking to his son and solving the problem. I found their lack of communication and understanding very sad. Amir is a child who is obviously seeking love. His father seeming to have a preference for Hassan doesn't really help things either. Whilst Hassan doesn't go to school due to being poor, he has a gift for learning. It is mentioned how Hassan who is illiterate finds an actual fault in Amirs story which shocks Amir and angers him due to shame, but gives us readers an insight to Hassan's potential and intelligence.
I found an instant kinship with Hassan. I often felt that if we ever got the opportunity to talk we would get on very well. I Also thought Amir didn't seem to appreciate Hassan and maybe Amir didn't deserve him as a freind.
Their friendship is one that wouldn't be understood in today's society. They had a great love for one another. Say that to a boy nowadays and they would instantly make a face and assume all sorts of things, but their friendship was much deeper than that. They gave each other everything or maybe just Hassan did. Their friendship was such that Amir could have told Hassan to jump off a cliff and he actually would. Hassan would rather have inflicted pain on himself than see Amir suffering, that is the extent to which Hassan loved his friend Amir. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that in the end it would be this loyalty and dedication towards Amir that would be Hassan's downfall.
It's the day Rahim Khan rings Amir does the story really kick in.
I cried throughout this book because I felt I had never read anything more meaningful, beautiful and tragic. Being a Muslim myself I could see a bit of myself in Hassan - I could see and feel the torments that he faced. I felt we had so much in common, and that only made it worse.
I have everything. I have lovely family and friends. Food and comfort, but others out there - including children and families - are still dying of abuse and hunger. Khaled Hosseini captures; pain, torment, hope, and love, so painstakingly beautifully that you cant help but sob your heart out for Hassan. As the book comes to a close a part of you knows the truth, but the other part of you refuses to accept it.
The ending is so hard to accept. This book is just one emotional roller-coaster ride that by the end of it all it will just leave you emotionally drained and silent. I needed time to heal after reading THE KITE RUNNER. There were so many emotions swirling in my head that I had to pull myself together. This book is not for the faint hearted. I would recommend that you prepare yourself to have a few sleepless nights ahead of you if you are going to read this book. I can't watch the movie, I just can't. If the book has me like this, then seeing it all on screen will just be too much.
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