Book Review: The Kite runner by Khaled Housseini

This was my favourite line from this book. The quote that set the mood.  The point at which I sat down and went 'oh snap!'. I took longer than I should have while reading this book.  Which is a polite way of saying that I was distracted by the two other books I was also reading at the time.

   This book was an insightful look into Afghani culture. When you've live in this part of the world and you've grown up with terrorism and Al-Qaeda as part of daily news, it's easy to think of the country as this god-forsaken place full of murder, refugees and patriarchy. You don't think of the people or the families or the culture. You don't think of the massive humanitarian crisis being faced on a daily basis. The details don't even occur to you. And I can relate to that as an African in 21st century Kenya fighting against the stereotypes about the continent that have been propagated by decades of Western sensationalist reporting.

    This is a story about two boys who are such good friends that they consider each other brothers (Those who've read the book see what I did there). One of them (Amir) however betrays the other (Hassan) in the worst way possible by being too afraid to stand-up for him. Sure he was just a kid but his choice ends up having far-reaching consequences. The kind that affects future generations. And he (Amir) lives with that guilt for years and years. The memory lingering in his dreams and gnawing at his conscience. He was a coward who eventually faces-up to his fears once and for all and finds redemption.  But fair warning, the road to bravery is paved with bruises and broken bones.

   I feel like this is Khaled's most dramatic book.  'And the mountains echoed' and 'A thousand splendid suns had pretty straight-forward storylines. But there are twists in here that you just don't see coming. So if you like Khaled Housseini and are a fan of his work, read on! And if you're feeling embarrassed for not having already read this after all these years of hype, you should probably go ahead and check-it off your budget list. You're in good company... I promise.

Ciao...