The Kite Runner

These last weeks in international english we have read the book "the kite runner" by Khaled Hosseini. This is Hosseini's debutnovel and it was first published in 2003. I have heard that so many who has read this book enjoyed reading it a lot, and i have to agree with them. Although i havent read the whole book yet i have already got some kind of connection with this book. In the book we follow the story of Amir who was the son to a highly respected and wealthy man, and Hassan who was the son of Amir's fathers servant and also Amir's best friend. The story takes us back to Afghanistan in the 1970's and we get to know the country's history until today (year 2002). Amir and Hassan grew up in what in the 1970's was a stabile and idyllic Afghanistan.

The relationships between the characters is something that really get's to you early in the story. There is the relationship between Amir and his father who has since the birth of Amir been difficult for both of them because Amir's mother did not survive during birth. Because of this Baba (Amir's father) blames his son for the loss of his wife. While Amir struggled through his childhood to make his father proud and to make him love him, but his father showed more attention and affection for his business partners and for the servants than for Amir.

And then there is the relationship between Amir and Hassan, the servants son. These boys grew up together and they are the closest you can come to best friends. Back in the 1970's it was not normal to treat a Hazard (servant) like you equal, so it is quite amazing how they balance their bond to each other since Hassan is a hazard.


Shirin