Reviews

عداء الطائرة الورقية by Khaled Hosseini, إيهاب عبد الحميد

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vikramdas's review against another edition

5.0

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini - As I put this book down after reading it at almost one stretch (which I normally don’t have the time and patience to do), I must admit jubilation or happiness wasn’t the emotion that encountered me. Although, the overall story revolves around the protagonist’s fall from grace due to a weakness of character to redeeming himself (“there is a way to be good again”) by performing the heroic rescue of his friend Hassan’s son, I wouldn’t recommend picking up this book for its feel-good factor. Far from being feel-good easy-read story, the Kite Runner is probably one of the most hard-hitting stories that you would ever come across and is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
There are a lot of things that you would admire about this book, not least of them is how each of the characters are not just believable but you can understand their actions as the author does a tremendous job of adding depth to the portrayal of not just the main characters but even the side characters. The author also does a wonderful job of depicting the transformation of Afghanistan from a secular happy nation to a nation where the majority lives in fear and is suppressed brutally by the Taliban extremists. However, even here the author does not go overboard in showing the menace that the growing influence of Taliban has created in the Afghan society. It probably would have been easier to cite some macabre incidences to bring this point home, but the author does not do so but rather provides subtle examples of the Taliban influence. For example, there is a scene in which Hassan’s wife tries to get a near-deaf shopkeeper’s attention by repeating her point loudly, only to be stuck vengefully by a person from the moral police who considers it a crime for a women to raise her voice in front of a man. Hassan who is standing besides his wife can do nothing but watch this in pain as he knows any retaliation by him would result in his wife and son losing him. Similar, subtle and some not so subtle incidences provide us with a glimpse of the tragedy that Afghanistan has become. Some critics have argued that there is a political subtext to the entire story, wherein anything western or people with western views (read secular etc.) are shown in good light (for example, baba). Whereas Afghanistan today has been shown as a land of extremists who are depicted in worst possible light possible (child abusers, fanatics, hitler-admirers). Although there may be some truth in this argument, but unfortunately the author is not far from the mark when he depicts the present-day Afghanistan in this manner. The thing I liked about the story is that the author at no point tries to impose any political agenda through his story, so if there is a political subtext in the story that is largely hidden and is not really important to the main story as such.
If you recall, I said earlier that I finished this book at one stretch and a big part of this was due to the twists that the author throws in the story to always keep it gripping even through some of the saddest and more slow-paced parts of the story. The twists are also so well crafted that after the twist is revealed, you realize that there were hints about it all along and it’s just that you missed spotting it earlier. Revelation of Amir’s half-brother and Assef’s entry as a Taliban as two such examples but there are plenty more (I wouldn’t elaborate on them not to spoil the fun for you).
The final thing that I admired about the book was how the author managed to maintain a fine-balance when dealing with the hard-hitting scenes of child-abuse. The author doesn’t try to sensationalize these parts or misuse his creative freedom in proving gore details and it is here that he comes across as a matured author. Its how the author handles these parts with sensitivity that it leaves a mark on you long after you have put the book down and makes the story all the more believable.
Well, if you noticed I did not try to narrate the tale of the book like a normal review as I felt the story is written so well that to try to paraphrase the author would surely be an exercise in futility. All in all, The Kite Runner is a dark, and almost disturbing story of human emotions, failures, hope, courage and loyalty and is a fantastic read anyone. Actually, I take that back, I did tell a friend of mine who was about to get married to not read this one just before her marriage. As I had mentioned earlier, this one is not for the faint-hearted but this somewhat dark tale does leave a mark on you.
For you, a thousand times over

hannahnana73's review against another edition

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4.0

devastating. tragic. eye-opening.

a bit too culture heavy tho (imo?) i just found the islamic part a bit too much and basically forceful at times and did make me feel uncomfy as someone who doesn't believe in islam...

this was a compulsory read for school:)

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reread (two years later) because hey i'm about to sit my ALs:
equally devastating and tragic
at first you really hate Amir and Baba though but then as the story pans out your heart breaks for them and all the other characters, every single one of them shown suffering (except maybe like the blonde lady at the American embassy)

mirtlifthewise's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tararoi_'s review against another edition

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2.0

Five years ago, it would have found its place in my Favourites shelf.
I don't like melodrama any more.
The first quarter of the book was very promising, but the rest of it became really messy. Messy is acceptable sometimes. It is just that Hosseini made it seem too corny.

themrshedrick816's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I knew it had a lot of cultural aspects to it as well as being considered a “banned” book. It’s not my usual style/genre of reading, but with that being said, it was good. I did struggle some with the concepts and cultural differences and fully understanding them as I read but also enjoy that I feel more educated on them after reading this book. Overall, there were a lot of difficult, sad, and frustrating parts to read, but I do think the story was told well. While not based on a true story, I did feel that all the aspects and hardships faced by the characters are real things that happen to Afghans and I feel that after reading this book I have an even deeper sympathy for what people of this origin faced during this time period. I do recommend this book, not necessarily as a “pleasure” read but as an expand your knowledge read, if that makes sense.

Content Warnings