Book Review: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


It hurts more to have something and then lose it, than to not have it at all.

But life, at all times, causes us to believe in it, to grapple its experiences, identities, joys and pleasures; and just when we’re fully indulged in its illusory ecstasy, life slips in quietly, reappearing in its shadowy form, and knocking the door of our heart, it whispers in our ear,
“Hey, that’s it, buddy. The show’s over. Time to return!”

Life, in fact, is a cruel creature with a charming face, who, lends us all that we need in a given moment, only to take it away, just when we are beginning to grow fond of it.

And like a slaughter to a lamb, it slices the delicious crumb of this teeny-weeny world that we’ve created for ourself, and we, are forced to return to where we have come from; our heart, the true home.

The Kite Runner, too, is one of those works of fiction, which takes you to glimpse this great field of life, where you lose when you win and you win when you lose.

It presents a story of two boys growing up together; each one experiencing the harsh aspects of being human, as life reveals these to them, in different ways. One point of view to look at the storyline is survival of the fittest. But yet another point of view will reveal to you that there is a life force which transcends all thought and unfolds itself to trigger total wonderment in our heads. Life, is full of surprises, but the surprises reveal only when we’re least expecting them. The truth is that.

The book is both happy and sad, both harsh and tender, both sweet and painful. From the two boys Amir and Hassan, playing together, eating together, reading together; to a shocking reunion in the bungalow of a Taliban leader. It is a creative chronicle, not only of friendship, love and destruction, but also of fatherhood, family and boundaries.

Mr. Khaled Hosseini is a magical storyteller who knows how to pluck every string buried deep inside your heart, and play the melody which will cause stirrings even in the hardest of hearts.

While, some books are ideas,
some, are stories…
but some are those which transcend the realm of all material.

These are the books which cause you to land directly in the field of feelings. You may want to step away, because, some feelings are too unbearable to look at, but in the end, you’ll taste the essence of life, something that is common to every human being, to every being of life.

The Kite Runner is not merely a book. It is a feeling…A feeling that will emerge in your throat till your heart.

No wonder, the book is a best-seller. It doesn’t really sell an idea or even just a story. It embodies the magic of the deepest feeling which makes us all human.

Like the protagonist Amir in the novel, you’ll take a short trip from your childhood innocence to the dark place of your mind and then homecoming to the home of your heart.

Beginning from the scenic descriptions that are beautifully crafted, to the happy-sad emotions bejewelled like gemstones, to the entire pathway of the storyline, the book strikes just every nail guarding your heart, and break forths the wellspring of feelings residing within the honest-most region of our heart.

This book was recommended to me via a reading list provided in a creative writing class I attended.

I cannot write enough for what this book felt to me, but I can only say that this is one of the most beautiful, most wholehearted books I have ever read in my lifetime. One of the greatest works of fiction and of course, a must-read.

A writer or a reader, whoever you are, no one should have to leave the planet earth before reading this book. That kind of a book this is!

In the end, I’d like to quote three lines from the book, which, also summarize my overall review for it…

“some stories don’t need telling…”

“Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.”

"In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things.”

Thank you!
Neha
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