A review of The Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini.

The Kite Runner By Khaleed Hosseini book review by Bilha Lusaka

Good Afternoon Reed readers,

My Friend Bilha came upon the book, 'The Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini and here is her review on it.

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It’s a cold Friday night,

 I get home and start making dinner while listening to Cardi B’s new album ‘invasion of privacy’. Dancing and singing, I find myself laughing at the lyrics, sticking my tongue out to all the men that have silenced women for all these years, to societal double standards, I feel a sense of pride because I have been fortunate enough to have  lived in a generation where women have decided to be unashamedly and unapologetically be themselves, a time when women are finally speaking up and standing up for what we believe in, with Beyonce as our queen haha I digress.

 I settle into bed to watch Queen B’s Coachella performance for the third time because this woman is a true legend an icon of our time ,every time I listen to her perform, I feel like she passes on some black girl magic and all over sudden you feel so invincible, me in my  2015 loose fitting Dettol heart run t-shirt, tights, socks and that headscarf I stole from your mum, singing off key to her song ‘’girls run the world’’.

I finally settle into bed grab the Kite runner by Khaleed Hosseini tell myself that am only going to read a few pages of the book and call it a night… I open the book to page 34….you see I have been trying to read this book for a few weeks now, but it seemed to have been off to  a really slow start, and I decide that perhaps all the hype around it was for nothing. So I give the book another shot not because am looking forward to the read at this point, but because am looking to give it a bad review……… well, I was in for a surprise, its 3 a.m in the morning now am still holding the book and only pause to gasp for air, suck myself out of the emotional roller coaster, it doesn’t help that by this time Sam smith’s break up songs are playing in the background and yes I shed a tear…..

   ‘’ For you a thousand times over ‘’ – Khaleed Hosseini

   ‘’it may be unfair but what happens in a single day can change the course of your life’’

-          Khaleed Hosseini

   ‘’I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany,  

         But with pain gathering it’s things, packing up and slipping away

                     Unannounced in the middle of the night’’ – Khaleed Hosseini

    ‘’ She said, I’m so afraid!’’ and I said ‘why?’ and she said, ‘Because i’m so profoundly happy. Happiness like this is frightening” I asked her why and she said, ‘’they only let you be this happy if they are preparing to take something from you.’’- Khaleed Hosseini.

Every now and then a book comes along and leaves my heart physically aching afterword and to my surprise this book was one of those books. "The Kite Runner" A fairly simple title, for an absolutely amazing book. I was swept away on a journey and on this journey, I experienced a whole range of emotions, shock, disbelief, pain, inspiration, compassion, sorrow. The style in which this author writes is nothing less than amazing.

 The story is, handled with sheer poignancy, and yet this book is not for the weak at heart. This is a wonderful, moving novel set in Afghanistan of the early 70’s and of today, about a young boy and his friend growing up in Kabul. Amir desperately wants his father’s approval, but Baba is not quick to give it. He is a rich man, brimming with macho vibrancy, while his son is a different sort altogether. Amir is fast friends with Hassan, the son of his father’s servant.

 They are as close as brothers. But, beset by bullies, an event occurs that changes Amir’s life. There is much death and horror in this portrait of a tortured country. But there is also emotional richness, a look into the inner life. The sense of insecurity in the father-son relation has been woven nicely by the narrator.
 

I found entire story heart wrenching and the scenes and plot around the friendship of two boys from two different and opposite strata of the society were perfectly written and composed by Khaled.

I was particularly drawn to the second half of the book which focuses on Amir's adult life in the US. The story of Amir's poverty-stricken life with his father, his courtship of an Afghan girl is charmingly narrated, but what completely does it for me, is Amir's subsequent return to Afghanistan, the violent climax, and the bittersweet end. 

I am instantly made aware of something, that to be honest I have never given much thought to till now. We only ever listen stories about war tone countries perhaps give a sigh in passing to show our not so heartfelt sympathy to what is happening to those people, I say those because they are so far removed from us, but this book, this book makes you feel what they feel, it puts you right there in the middle of it all and makes you see things you have never imagined could happen to human beings. 

This book makes you appreciate the little things, and when I finally finish the book at 3.55 a.m on Saturday morning, I say a silent prayer thanking Jehovah for the gift of life, the measure of freedom that we enjoy, the gift of Family and friends and everything in between, everything that we so foolishly take for granted.

By Bilha Luseka.

Feel free to drop a comment/view if you've read the book  or even recommend one.

Lots of love.