Book Review - The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Hard to criticise an acclaimed book that's also been made into a film and I did love Hosseini's writing style. However, I could not take to the main character, Amir. As a boy he witnesses a terrible act against his friend, Hassan. But Hassan is not his friend, he is his servant. Wracked with guilt Amir compounds his problems by lying and causing Hassan and his father to leave.

Years later, after Amir had fled Afghanistan and is living in America, he is given the opportunity to redeem himself but the following events stretched credibility too far in my opinion.

I know it's not always possible to like all the characters in a book or their actions but, and it's hard to put my finger on exactly what felt wrong, this book just didn't have me wanting to keep turning the pages.

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