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pasc96's review against another edition
4.0
This book really polarized the women in my writing group--with several loving it, several despising it. What can I say--I fell for the characters, so much so that I found myself weeping in an airport upon finishing it.
tulgey_wood's review against another edition
3.0
Easy writing style, difficult subject matter (a couple is stoned to death while a crowd watches, a child is raped, a couple struggles with infertility, sickness, suicide, an orphanage sells children into sex slavery, etc). I almost gave up on it, but I finished it in the end. The ending was fairly happy, although not as happy as I would have liked after all that.
kaitwernsing's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a good book. At times, it was very hard to get through, but it is such a beatifully written story. Absolutely loved it.
starrynews's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a different book than the ones I've been reading lately! This is a very good book about a boy who grows up in Afghanistan, before he and his father have to flee to the US, and his eventual return. It is a very compelling and emotional tale.
craftymoni's review against another edition
2.0
I really had high expectations. Everyone I know loves this book. I mean, my Dad says it's one of the best books he has ever read. However, I just didn't like it. I so despised the narrator and main character that it really affected my reading. I actually got mad at at various points when the narrator was a child. What a whiny, spoiled little jerk! He is a little bit more tolerable as an adult but he still bothers me. I don't know if he ever stops being a whiny jerk. I think he learns some lessons and he does the right thing by going back to Afghanistan, but the narrator is still so sickeningly self-centered at the end of the book. It bothered me.
The writing wasn't the best, in my opinion. I thought the story was predictable and I agree with the other reviewers that felt the metaphors were heavy handed. They were.
However, I don't discount that this book is loved by the majority of people. I guess it just wasn't for me.
The writing wasn't the best, in my opinion. I thought the story was predictable and I agree with the other reviewers that felt the metaphors were heavy handed. They were.
However, I don't discount that this book is loved by the majority of people. I guess it just wasn't for me.
mayokid's review against another edition
4.0
So much misery and sadness...pain and loss. At one point I just wanted to throw away the book. Amir’s self-righteousness and cowardice frustrated me, and I just wanted someone to speak up and rescue poor Hassan. Having said that, the novel was unputdownable and I highly recommend it.
angelface777's review against another edition
4.0
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini has everything in a book that I never want in a book lol.
One of the reviews I read for this book was "This is the sort of book White America reads to feel worldly." (Goodreads) Honestly, I am White America when I picked this book up. I am very big on the white, usually British, usually male author... that's just usually where my eyes have landed when I search for literature. I'm working on that.
Also, to go along with that I don't tend to pick up newer fiction (I tend to stick with classic fiction in literature), like to a point that I'm always surprised when books mention 9/11 as something that has happened (especially now that I've lost all track of time to how long ago 9/11 actually was. Damn. RIP my youth). So, I do these book lists to see what is new/what else is out there.
The Kite Runner was one of those "everyone must read this" books, and it was well written. I don't think I've ever read any books about Afghanistan before or after their issues with Russia and then the Taliban. This book takes place before AND after these events.
Amir and his best friend/servants son Hassan are just 2 boys living in 1970s Afghanistan. Their dads have been best friends/master and servant for over 40 years, and the dynamic works for them. (The caste system is rough my friends. I suggest reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson for deeper deets). Amir's dad is a rich guy who is legit the nicest man in town. Dude uses his own money to build an orphanage, but he never seems to give Amir the attention he thinks he deserves. He always has to share his dad with Hassan. So Amir enters the local kite fighting competition one year, and wins! Hooray! Hassan is his... Kite Runner! Always have to find the title in the book. This is the best and worst day of the boys lives.
Now once Russia invades Afghanistan Amir and his dad Baba leave and become refugees in America, and the story kind of mellows out. School. College. Becoming a writer. Getting married. Until Amir gets a call to come back to Afghanistan to "Be a good person again."
Look. It's a good story, but on the topic of "everything I never ask for in a book". There are multiple accounts/allusions of child rape. Attempted regular rape (I really have to stop reading books with war in them). Extremely violent scenes. Bullying. Infertility issues. As well as a scene where 2 people get stoned to death. Thankfully there is very little detail involved. I can get through it if there is very little detail.
One of the reviews I read for this book was "This is the sort of book White America reads to feel worldly." (Goodreads) Honestly, I am White America when I picked this book up. I am very big on the white, usually British, usually male author... that's just usually where my eyes have landed when I search for literature. I'm working on that.
Also, to go along with that I don't tend to pick up newer fiction (I tend to stick with classic fiction in literature), like to a point that I'm always surprised when books mention 9/11 as something that has happened (especially now that I've lost all track of time to how long ago 9/11 actually was. Damn. RIP my youth). So, I do these book lists to see what is new/what else is out there.
The Kite Runner was one of those "everyone must read this" books, and it was well written. I don't think I've ever read any books about Afghanistan before or after their issues with Russia and then the Taliban. This book takes place before AND after these events.
Amir and his best friend/servants son Hassan are just 2 boys living in 1970s Afghanistan. Their dads have been best friends/master and servant for over 40 years, and the dynamic works for them. (The caste system is rough my friends. I suggest reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson for deeper deets). Amir's dad is a rich guy who is legit the nicest man in town. Dude uses his own money to build an orphanage, but he never seems to give Amir the attention he thinks he deserves. He always has to share his dad with Hassan. So Amir enters the local kite fighting competition one year, and wins! Hooray! Hassan is his... Kite Runner! Always have to find the title in the book. This is the best and worst day of the boys lives.
Now once Russia invades Afghanistan Amir and his dad Baba leave and become refugees in America, and the story kind of mellows out. School. College. Becoming a writer. Getting married. Until Amir gets a call to come back to Afghanistan to "Be a good person again."
Look. It's a good story, but on the topic of "everything I never ask for in a book". There are multiple accounts/allusions of child rape. Attempted regular rape (I really have to stop reading books with war in them). Extremely violent scenes. Bullying. Infertility issues. As well as a scene where 2 people get stoned to death. Thankfully there is very little detail involved. I can get through it if there is very little detail.