Yet another book chosen because I’ve heard the title scores of times – and yet again did not find the book to be very impressive.
Set in Afghanistan, the story is about a young boy Amir and his, well, servant’s son, Hassan, who is about the same age as Amir.
Amir is a rich, confused lad, who constantly craves for his father’s attention. He finds solace in Hassan’s friendship and their tiny adventures, but sadly he can never accept Hassan as his friend and always considers him as just his servant’s son.
But our dear hare-lipped Hassan is extremely loyal and would, well, ‘eat dirt’ for his beloved Amir! How sad! Already feeling bad for Hassan? Well, there’s a lot more coming up…an endless list of the things Hassan does for his self-centered ‘friend’ Amir! But what does Amir do? ….well, he hurts Hassan more!
…And then the story ends with how, after many many years, Amir finds closure for all the things he has done to Hassan (though very guess-able).
The plot is ok, believable most of the time. But I felt the irony was just too much in some parts of the story, and it got onto my nerves when the Taliban guy turns out to be ….!
The narration is in the first person, as told by Amir; the style is ok - I thought it was a bit amateurish and in some instances, the descriptions were too detailed and totally unnecessary (reminded me so much of Enid Blyton! Remember the detailed descriptions of, for example, what food was there in the picnic basket?)
What I liked in the book is the depiction of Afghanistan, its people and culture – I found it very intriguing. I felt that the portrayal of the relationship between Amir and his father was well written.
Overall, it is quite a good story about friendship and loyalty.
Hmm, who is the Kite Runner? Well, it's none other than Hassan, but I thought ‘The Sling Shooter’ would’ve been more apt :D
