This literary masterpiece made me feel emotions I didn’t think I could feel
In times when coming across spoilers for popular books, shows, and movies is extremely common, I walked into Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner completely blind. I didn’t think the book would break and mend me all at once.
I bought this tragic fiction quite a long time ago. However, I would open the book, start with Hosseini’s note for the book’s tenth anniversary or the back cover and put it back on the shelf without reading it. Once I finally started reading it, I realised my mind and heart were not prepared for what I came across in this masterpiece. In hindsight, having read it once, if I were to read it again, I still don’t think I will be prepared for the heartbreak it takes its readers through.
The book is set in Afghanistan and revolves around two boys, Amir and Hassan. Saying that these boys are related in one way, would be unfair. They are childhood best friends, servant and master, the guilty and the sublime, but above all, I think, they are, in many ways, two sides of the same coin. Always together but never truly facing each other; same but different.
Hosseini has a way with words
By the end of chapter two I had already realised that Hosseini has a way of striking at one’s heart with his words. His writing helped me paint a vivid picture of Amir’s story. In many scenes, I believed I was standing right beside Hassan and Amir. But that almost made me despise Hosseini’s talents as some instances were just too heartbreaking to witness.
Saying that “I shed tears” is an understatement. I was bawling my eyes out during many scenes and gasping in surprise during others. The book is an emotional explosion waiting to be opened. Twists, one after the other kept me on the edge of my seat.
I was able to connect with traits in each character, be it Hassan’s compassion or Rahim Khan’s empathy, or Baba’s love for his beloved Afghanistan, or Amir’s guilt. The characters are painfully human and not in the way literature sometimes paints characters which is so real that it feels artificial. Hosseini’s characters are hauntingly human. So much so, that there are moments when a character makes a moral mistake, you find yourself justifying their actions because you understand the trauma causing those mistakes. And that stays with you long after you put the book down.
Another well-written part of the book was Baba’s struggle in the U.S. as an immigrant. He lived his whole life as a prominent figure in Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul, so when he becomes a nobody in California, it’s hard for him to accept that his former lifestyle was left behind in Kabul. That part of the story is very beautifully developed.
Heartbreaks and redemption
There are obvious heartbreaks, but some unexpected. For example, when Ali and Hassan leave the house and Amir witnesses what happens after from the window, it made me want to dive into the book and punch Amir for not doing anything to stop it.
Hassan staying in the dark about Baba’s secret was both a relief and a cause of uneasiness. Relief because he will never feel the agony of knowing his own blood was a source of his many sufferings. And uneasiness because a kind soul like him obviously deserved nothing but the warmest sunshine.
What pulled at my heart the most was Amir’s redemption. I love nothing more in a book than a good redemption arc. The way he went from a scared, insecure, and selfish young child to a brave and accountable adult, I couldn’t help but be proud of him.
Amir’s journey felt human. In the real world, many times, one doesn’t wake up one day and decides to turn their life around. It takes days, weeks, and sometimes even years for life to change. I will always remember this authenticity in portraying Amir’s character development in The Kite runner.
Amir’s journey felt human. In the real world, many times, one doesn’t wake up one day and decides to turn their life around. It takes days, weeks, and sometimes even years for life to change. I will always remember this authenticity in portraying Amir’s character development in The Kite runner.” – Arufha Malek
Story behind the book
While the book was published in 2003, the plot was written several years before. As kite flying was a big part of Hosseini’s childhood, he was inspired to write a story revolving around it in 1999, when the Taliban banned kite flying in Afghanistan.
The original short story was rejected by some publishers. Years later, Hosseini decided to write a book developing the plot. And aren’t the readers thankful to him for doing so!
Reading The Kite Runner was such an incredible experience that I am scared to pick up Hosseini’s other books for the fear of going through the same amount of heartbreak again.
I have heard great things about A Thousand Splendid Suns, another one of Hosseini’s war fictions, but I am not ready for the heartache it will cause, so it has to wait until I prepare myself. However, if you haven’t read The Kite Runner yet, this article is a sign for you to grab it and shed a tear or two or a million.
