The Kite Runner Review

"For you, a thousand times..."

There are certain phrases in great novels that not only sound poetic, but also encapsulate the larger theme that the author is expressing in the story.  I won't give away the reasons, but the above phrase brought tears to my eyes, burrowed into my soul, and resonated with me long after the story concluded.

With his much-heralded story, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini brings the abstract news stories of life in Afghanistan into focus so that readers can view the abstraction of a foreign culture in a fundamentally relatable story; no matter what your background may be.

The Kite Runner follows two Afghani boys destined for vastly different life paths by virtue of the status in which they are born.  Though they are as close as brothers, their paths diverge wildly after a shocking series of events intrudes on their everyday lives and separates the boys from life as they once knew it. 

Hosseini gives us fully developed characters, a poignant--but not sappy--story rich with imagery, complex subject matter, and insight.   This is a book about what it means to live with decency in a sometimes indecent world.  It is about living with self-loathing and earning self-forgiveness.  Most powerfully, it is about the grace required to learn from the past and earn redemption from our secret sorrows.  It is only then that our spirits can soar like the kites flown by two innocent boys.

"For you, a thousand times..."  

It still gives me a lump in my throat.