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A review by shreyas1599
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5.0
This one definitely goes on my all-time top 5 books.
I've rarely ever cried while reading a book. While reading this, it was hard not to, particularly towards the ending stages of the story. The only other book that has that led the floodgates open was When Breath Becomes Air.
The below were some of my impressions of the story.
1. Children can be cruel. A blank slate with no moulding or direction is naturally bound to go down the path of most destruction and mayhem as demonstrated through the character of Aseef. He did partially meet his reckoning in the form of losing one of his eyes. But the amount of destruction the sociopath wrecked, which I imagine there are lots of characters in the country even now (or rather particularly now), pales tremendously in comparison to the pain he has inflicted upon others. At times, it was painful to read the bits where this character appeared in the story. He never meets his reckoning and there are so many real-life Assef's who never meet theirs. Of course, it isn't fair. Nothing ever is.
2. I almost empathized with Amir for not even making a semblance of an effort to save his friend. All of the thankless devotion was met with disdain and indifference. But, at the same time, it must be stated that it is easy for an observer, seated in the comfort of their home, in some far distant land to make comments about how one should or should not have behaved in an extremely difficult situation.
3. I think most people reading this, would've prayed for an ending where Sohrab ends up adopted by Amir. Some sort of closure to the traumatising life. The author does provide that, but there is no happy ending in the sense that everyone lives happily ever after. There are broken souls, broken beyond repair. A child going through the cruellest of things, witnessing the worst of humanity, being forced to almost kill someone and then feeling bad about it, given hope that they would not land in the same hell only to have that promise revoked later on. Ultimately, choosing a (failed) suicide attempt as the only possible recourse. If after having read all of these soul-crushing depictions is not enough to make you bawl, or experience the pang of choking sensation in the deep crevices of your gut, then you are an Aseef. But I digress. There is no happy ending to any of it. But there's a semblance of hope for the life of Sohrab provided in the end.
4. Books like this (I know this is a fictional story but it doesn't seem far-fetched at all from real-life harrowing depictions of people who survived or continue to survive in that region) make me stray further and further away from whatever little is left in me, of the idea of religion.
5. There is no redemption for the narrator. He is cruelly and justly punished for his actions. And I say this with the pretext that not many of us would've behaved differently if placed in his position.
There's scarcely a book that has had an impact on me as much as this did have. The next couple of days are going to involve me brooding over various sections of the book, the lessons that I have unearthed and the beliefs it has made me question.
I've rarely ever cried while reading a book. While reading this, it was hard not to, particularly towards the ending stages of the story. The only other book that has that led the floodgates open was When Breath Becomes Air.
The below were some of my impressions of the story.
1. Children can be cruel. A blank slate with no moulding or direction is naturally bound to go down the path of most destruction and mayhem as demonstrated through the character of Aseef. He did partially meet his reckoning in the form of losing one of his eyes. But the amount of destruction the sociopath wrecked, which I imagine there are lots of characters in the country even now (or rather particularly now), pales tremendously in comparison to the pain he has inflicted upon others. At times, it was painful to read the bits where this character appeared in the story. He never meets his reckoning and there are so many real-life Assef's who never meet theirs. Of course, it isn't fair. Nothing ever is.
2. I almost empathized with Amir for not even making a semblance of an effort to save his friend. All of the thankless devotion was met with disdain and indifference. But, at the same time, it must be stated that it is easy for an observer, seated in the comfort of their home, in some far distant land to make comments about how one should or should not have behaved in an extremely difficult situation.
3. I think most people reading this, would've prayed for an ending where Sohrab ends up adopted by Amir. Some sort of closure to the traumatising life. The author does provide that, but there is no happy ending in the sense that everyone lives happily ever after. There are broken souls, broken beyond repair. A child going through the cruellest of things, witnessing the worst of humanity, being forced to almost kill someone and then feeling bad about it, given hope that they would not land in the same hell only to have that promise revoked later on. Ultimately, choosing a (failed) suicide attempt as the only possible recourse. If after having read all of these soul-crushing depictions is not enough to make you bawl, or experience the pang of choking sensation in the deep crevices of your gut, then you are an Aseef. But I digress. There is no happy ending to any of it. But there's a semblance of hope for the life of Sohrab provided in the end.
4. Books like this (I know this is a fictional story but it doesn't seem far-fetched at all from real-life harrowing depictions of people who survived or continue to survive in that region) make me stray further and further away from whatever little is left in me, of the idea of religion.
5. There is no redemption for the narrator. He is cruelly and justly punished for his actions. And I say this with the pretext that not many of us would've behaved differently if placed in his position.
There's scarcely a book that has had an impact on me as much as this did have. The next couple of days are going to involve me brooding over various sections of the book, the lessons that I have unearthed and the beliefs it has made me question.