The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

Feb 2009 · A&C Black

About this eBook

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

'Devastating' Daily Telegraph
'Heartbreaking' The Times
'Unforgettable' Isabel Allende
'Haunting' Independent

Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Ratings and reviews

I couldn't put this book down, it covered, tragedy, love, and happiness all in one book. In places a hard book to read due to its content...the troubles in Afghanistan, the daily heartbreak .. How privileged do I feel compared to what these children and families have been through. This book was a recommendation (author) to follow.... I will certainly look at Khalid Hosseini's other books.

Not a lot of people have interest in how Afghanistan and the Taliban got to where it is and what the country and it's people had to suffer through in order to get desperate enough to form a party that would later in slave its own people. This is the very real backdrop to the story that focus on the rejection the starvation the fear that grown ups but more so lil children had to survive and overcome. The strength in forgiving ones enemies and the freedom in forgiving one self. I cried through most of this.

I was immediately captured by the author's vivid style, almost smelling and tasting the attractions of the market streets described. Though what I ultimately embarked on was a journey of humanity and redemption, worth every minute spent in it's discovery. It is as honest and blatantly shocking as life can be and will offer you a new set of eyes in many respects if you read it with respect. A good story is one which leaves you impacted in some way. This story has left me impacted in many.

About the author

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with over thirty eight million copies of his books sold in more than seventy countries. The Kite Runner was a major film and was a Book of the Decade, chosen by The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. A Thousand Splendid Suns was the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008. Hosseini is also a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Refugee Agency and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lives in northern California.

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