The Kite Runner

Has anyone else read this FABULOUS book by Khaled Hosseini? I'm dying to discuss it with someone!

PS- The book will be a major motion picture near the middle of 2007, I'm so excited. They already have the teen/young adult Amir casted.

What's it about?  I'm always up for finding new authors...

Excellent book!  I read it last year but didn't know it was being adapted to film...wow

The book is about two kids that grew up in Afghanistan, Amir is the older of the two and is very rich, and then Hassan who is the youngest and Amir's servant in a sense. Hassan would die for Amir, but Amir doesn't feel the same way. There is this huge tradition in Afghanistan where the children kite fight and work to be the last kite left in the air. Well, when Amir wins, Hassan goes to get the kite from him and something (I won't say what.) happens to him that Amir witnesses but says nothing about it. He spends the rest of his life trying to overcome what he did. It's fabulous! There's more to it, but it's hard to really explain.

I loved it!  We read it as one possibility for our "First-Year Common Reading Experience" this fall at my college.  It made the final three picks, but we ended up with Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is also amazing but more non-fiction.

Every time I go into Barnes and Noble I see it. The cover catches my attention. I just haven't bought it yet.

I read it last year, and I thought it was amazing, really.  Amir is such a flawed character, and he knows it and admits it, and feels so badly about it, but doesn't really do anything to change.  I thought it was great to see a character with such depth, while at the same time being so shallow and self-interested.  I highly recommend it.

A couple of non-fiction books, but still quite interesting and they take place in the middle east:

The Ten Parts of Desire (about the role of women in Arabian societies)

and

The Bookseller of Kabul (also about the role of women, in Afghanistan, but more about a family, and their experience under the Taliban)

Happy reading!

This book is truly amazing. I finished it a few months ago, and it has been a really long time since I have read something that has made such an impact on me. Although, I do have to admit that there were a few moments where it was really hard to get through because of how tragic it is. I thought Khaled Housseini wrote beautifully and honestly. He is supposedly releasing a new book fairly soon. I am really excited to see what the next one brings. 

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a pretty good book if you're into Middle East non-fiction.

I totally agree with defrog! The fact that he is so flawed and you still are rooting for him most of the time boggles me. There are of course points where I wanted to bash his head in, but it was so great anyways! Anyone who hasn't read it really should. It really gives in great insight to what people in Afghanistan have had to go through. I can't wait for the movie either! It's being directed by Marc Forster who also directed "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball." He did amazing work on those two so I can imagine he'll do just the same with The Kite Runner. 

Why do I have this feeling that this will be one of those books that I'm glad I read but that I never wish to read again?  I'll have to pick up a used copy and hang onto it until I'm in the mood to read something like that.

I read this book. It's fun to discuss it with my Afghan consultants. The issue of child abuse is a big one in that part of the world. The people in rural Afghanistan are so poor, and uneducated.

Soldiers returning from Afghanistan have told me that when you go to these villages, you have to be careful not to express any admiration for the beautiful children you see there, particularly the boys. The men might offer them to you!

What impressed me most about this book was that he does such a great job of exploring shame. A very worthwhile theme. And a very worthwhile read.

I agree with alibuch. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a wonderful book, and will make you want to run right out and start a book group (not to mention, re-read Lolita).