The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Bob Mehew: May 24th, 2008

Where obtained: Book Shop - Mcleod Ganj
Where read: Rishikesh
Where left: Rishikesh
Thoughts: Having already read Hosseini's second book 'A Thousand Sacred Suns' I could not resist picking up The Kite Runner - his debut novel which had recommended to me by travellers all over India. Hosseini has an Afghan background and this novels is set here and in America where he and his family flee during the Russian occupation of his homeland. He captures extremely vividly the struggles the Afghan people are facing at the time, and the harsh brutality of the subsequent Taliban extremist regime. The story is quite beautiful too, told in the first person and centering on his boyhood relationship with a lower caste servant's son who he ultimately betrays in horrific circumstances and spends the rest of his childhood and young adult live dealing with. With both books the author is a master at drawing compassion and sympathy for his believable characters and I was very moved as the story unfolded. My only complaint was a fantastical and ever so slightly 'holywood' final third of the book with one too many coincidences. This does not detract from the book as a whole though and I would recommend it to anyone, both in its own right as a story and for a reader keen to gain an appreciation of what has been going on in Afghanistan pre Twin Towers.

I read the book in hot and steamy Rishikesh in June. That time of the year is a bit out of season for Westerners as it is so hot but it did make for long lazy days on our guest house balcony with a great book, which is what this was. Rishikesh itself is teeming with Indian tourists and pilgrims at this time of year making the sites and areas of interest so hectic that only brief forays into the swirling throng of madness were possible. Retreats to the leafy travellers enclave above the main town - High Bank - were welcome and the book a comforting escape from the real world down below.

Novel Travelling

Follow the journey of books around the world and leave your own location and thoughts. For more information and to see the index of other books on this blog go to:
Introduction and Index

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