arjita's Full Review: Marc Forster and Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner...
When I was growing up in India, we would have discussions about partition of British India, which resulted in the formation of Pakistan. How things might have been different if this had not happened was the common theme. We would wish that the two countries would be one again ending the senseless hostilities, bringing prosperity to both regions, and of course forming a great cricket team that would rule the world.
These last few years though have been different. Whenever the topic of the turmoil to the north west of India came up, I was thankful that we had the buffer of Pakistan to keep the ugliness in Afghanistan away from us.
This book did not change my mind about this, but made me realize that centuries of cultural exchange mean that we have ties that cannot be denied. I was amazed how similar we are in the language, the food, the kite flying but also in the way the society is structured.
This is a story of friendship, love, loyalty, gratitude, betrayal, cruelty and jealousy on a personal level. However, it is also the story of a fragmented society. A society that is rigidly divided by class distinctions. In this society even the most liberal and respected, such as Amir's father, whom he calls baba, cannot think of revealing his love for his illegitimate son. So strong are the rules that even in a land many miles away, in the land of the free, the members of this society live by them.
Amir and Hassan are two boys growing in the same household but in entirely different worlds. Hassan, the son of the servant Ali lives in a bare hut in the backyard of Amir's house. Ali and Hassan know their place in the society and accept the cruelties and scorn of those "superior" to them. Amir, the son of a successful businessman, lives a privileged life wanting for nothing but his father's approval. Set in the backdrop of recent Afghan history, the book traces the lives of these two boys, who grow apart as they grow older but are still joined by their past.
It is a well written, well conceived story, and I did not want to put down the book until I knew it in its entirety.
However, while reading it, I sometimes felt that the incidents moving the story along were too connived. Also, I wanted to know some things like where did Hassan learn to read eventually, how did the proud, successful businessman from Afghanistan adjust to living a hard life in sunny California without being bitter, why did Rahim Khan, who knew certain things about Amir and Hassan did not do anything about it. Some other things like the shared fate of Hassan and his son Sohrab bothered me. After the suffering of Hassan, I guess I wanted the son to find the world a better place.
I definitely recommend this book to all those who love to learn about faraway mysterious cultures. Khaled Hosseini brings the Afghanistan of 1970s to life. He also shows the despair and hopelessness Afghans today feel for the state of their motherland.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.