The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Rarely does a book live up to the hype which surrounds it. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is in that rare collection of books which actually does!

This is a fantastic novel and an insight into life in Afghanistan from the late 1970s to modern day.

It is a cultural exploration and a snap-shot of society in a country which is torn apart by war and a desire for power. It is a story about the racial differences, class system and hatred between pushtans and hazaras so ingrained within Afghanistan that it attempts to prevent friendship and love.

It is a story which highlights the terrible actions humans can inflict on one another and it is a story about a father and son desperate to escape to safety, only for one of them to return years later to undo an injustice he caused and ease the guilt he felt.

But it is also a story about two boys, Amir and Hassan, who enjoy playing and flying kites. It is also a story about how nothing can stand in the way of friendship and love. 

Hosseini is a master at writing. He makes it look the easiest task in the world, when writing this good is far from easy. Sentences, paragraphs and pages flow as smoothly as silk and the reader is taken on an effortless journey through the story.  

While some of the content within The Kite Runner makes you want to look away and has the stomach churning, the explanation and descriptive nature of the story makes it very difficult to take your eye off the page.

After The Kite Runner you want to read and read and read in the hope that the next book is just as good as this one. The chances are it probably won’t be!

The Review of Books score: 5/5