My Take - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a tale of love, loss, friendship, betrayal, faith and redemption. It is the heart-wrenching tale of two friends, Amir and Hassan and how one event impacted their entire lives and even of those around them. The plot, though magnificent in itself, is enhanced manifold by the powerful writing style. It is one of the most well-written novels that I have ever read. The novel is a first person account of Amir’s experiences and takes an almost autobiographical/confessional tone.

The author intimately explores personal experiences within the broader framework of oppression, violence and exploitation. The novel poignantly describes the plight of the war ravaged Afghanistan but it does not dwell at length on the gory details of violence, that is, Hosseini does not sensationalise violence which many authors, perhaps inadvertently, end up doing. Rather, the novel focuses on the plight of common Afghanis and their quest for survival. Hosseini empathises with all his characters and rather than passing moral judgements on their actions, he gives a fair chance to each of them for representing themselves, sometimes even vicariously.

I liked the fact that the novel refrains from labelling any character as good or bad based on their past actions. It emphasises on kindness rather than judgement because we can never know the anguished torment of our fellow humans. I am glad that Hosseini did not rush with the ending. He did not oblige to the convention of closing the novel either with a happily ever after or a corny, maudlin ending, because that is not how things happen in real life. Life is a cycle of happiness and sadness, and there is no such than as a happy or sad ending. However, hope is the only thing which remains constant and helps in turning the wheel of life through various phases. And, this is how the novel ends, with a tiny, feeble ray of hope. For me, the last scene was the crowning gem of the novel. It is such a common-place scene yet it conveys the most powerful and subtlest emotions.

I like reading about people from different cultures, people who speak a foreign tongue, and the extraordinary story of their ordinary lives. And, I am glad that I picked up this book. More than anything else, I think, it is the story of what it means to be human, to be humane. I will end my review with my favourite line from the novel:

“Children aren’t colouring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favourite colours.”

My rating - 5 ⭐