Customer Reviews
A Page Turner that's Good for the Soul - By: Maplo, 28 Nov 2008 
A lot of novels are "worthy" but you need to put a lot of effort into getting the most out of them; others are page-turners & pass the time easily & pleasurably, but don't do much else. The Kite Runner has that rare quality of being both worthy & a page-turner - & you learn a good slice about Afghan culture to boot. It's a very concisely written novel which tells a fascinating story & which contains sharply-observed characters that you come to really care about; the author's honesty shines through from start to finish.
Excellent - By: Dot, 25 Nov 2008 On a Winter's dayin 1975 Amir witnesses an awful act involving his childhood friend Hassan that will have unimaginable bearings on the rest of his life. Amir is the privaleged son of a rich & respected merchantin Afghanistan; Hassan is the son of his father's long-time servant Ali. Although from different ends of the spectrum, the boys share a childhood until the day that changes both of their lives forever.
There are so many themes running through Hosseini's book; friendship, childhood, loyalty, trust, cruelty & redemption are just a few. The author manages to vividly evoke the daily horror of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, especially when mirrored with the security of Amir's new lifein San Francisco.
I had constantly put off reading this book as I was worried that all of the hype surrounding it would be unfounded. However, I have to say that this is one of the best books that I have readin such a long time. The Kite Runner is not a nice book, it explores the decisions we makein life & what it is that leads us to make different choices. Why does one person run whilst another stays to fight, however terrified? Hosseini has you gripped from the first page & there are many twists & turns along the way but I believe that the reader keeps turning the pages due to a sense of hope that Amir will find true redemption. As the book states:
'...there are bad peoplein this world, & sometimes bad people stay bad.'
The reader knows what Amir did on that Winter day was horrendous &in some ways unforgiveable but the actions he takes laterin life ensures that he does not remain a bad person, a fate that befalls other charactersin the book.
what an amazing tale... - By: URANIA, 15 Nov 2008 I instantly fellin love with the characters & was deeply moved by the story. I usually read on the train & did not expect to cry my eyes out with this one; but I did.
A tear jerker - By: Mrs. Gail Radka, 14 Nov 2008 A very emotionally charged book. Enjoyed & hated at the same time. Well worth a read
Run and get the Kite! - By: Isabel Maria A. Alves, 06 Nov 2008 Here's a book everyone should read. No exception. Please do so.
I was totally taken by this book, cried a couple of times whilst reading it & even sometime after i had finished it i still remembered the characters so well. Haunting but oh so worth it!
A must havein you own private collection of books, even if its a small one.
I have also read 1000 splendid suns. top book too! waiting for Khaled's next book... please hurry!!!
