The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner

An amazing book!

Khaled Hosseini

An amazing author!

I chastised myself for not reading the book earlier! It came out in 2002, and here I am! Reading it in 2015! (Thankfully, I have not watched the movie that came out in 2007 either!) But boy o boy! I was glad I did read it at least now. The book took me all the way to the Kabob shops in Kabul, and to the Flea Market in San Francisco.

A poignant tale of two boys – Amir and Hassan- who have their lives (or is it destiny) intertwined by the choices each of them makes. And if I had to name one thing that the book thought me, it is that Karma will never let go of you, till it is really and utterly done with you. Whatever you sow (even if you were a kid) you will have to reap the rewards for it. Well, then for whatever you don’t do, when you could have? For that too, you will have to pay the price.

Loyalty always comes at a price – a staggering one at that. If your very life were threatened, would you rather face the threat (though it might be the last thing you do), or run away from the battlefield? The book asks this question a lot of times. And what the characters (no.. to me they were people) in the book do at such instances makes up the story.

The book also helps one to come to terms with what a war could do to a peaceful society. Both when the war is being waged, and when it has come to an end. One is left to wonder which is the worser of the two. But then the most important question – why the war in the first place?

I would very much like to elaborate on the plot. I believe I might be one of the few out there who discovered this precious gem of a book as late as 2015. But then, if there are more people who are yet to discover it, then I wouldn’t want to spoil it for them! As the author says in the book – “You don’t reveal the ending of the movie (or a book for that matter), and if you do, you will be scorned and made to apologize profusely for having committed the sin of Spoiling the End”

So, please please please do yourself a favour and purchase a copy of the book, and read it!! And let me know once you are done, because then we can discuss to our heart’s content about the book and the plot!!

Yes.. Indeed a thousand times over..!

Favourites from the book:

Line– “For you, a thousand times over”

(have a few more, but one will have to do!)

Character– Hassan… ok.. alright.. Amir as well.

(There is no protagonist, antagonist over here)

Takeaways– Karma is watching you! 😛