The Kite Runner

I wonder if anyone else read this book thinking if there is a little bit of Amir inside of them. Well I did, and I think Khaled Hosseini did an amazing job on Amir’s character. That boy exists, he was real!

The Kite Runner is the first novel by Khaled Hosseini. It has a simple storyline really, about how a boy growing up in a tough place, about his relationship with his dad and his relationship with his best friend. What makes it stand out is how Amir perceive things. The way he thinks and reacts, what he feels and fears. That for me made the book special.

It is amazing that Kite Runner is the writer’s first novel because of the depth of the story. However, compared to his second novel A Thousand Splendid Suns (TSS), Kite Runner is very raw. Raw in the style and the way the story move from chapter to chapter can be quite ‘crude’. But this is not to say it being raw affected the story. This book is excellent.

How does Kite Runner compare to TSS? TSS for me is a story of sad tragedy and Kite Runner is a scary, terrifying tragedy. While TSS has better flow to the plot and story, Kite Runner moves faster.

I used the words 'masterful gripping story' to describe TSS, the same words apply to The Kite Runner. A must read.

Can’t wait for Khaled Hosseini’s third novel.