Name: Doan Tran Minh Thanh's review of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Item: The Kite Runner
Rating: 4
Author: Doan Tran Minh Thanh

Khaled Hosseini

I became what I am today at the age of twelve. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a mud wall on a frigid winter day in 1975 . . . looking into a deserted alley. It's wrong what they say about the past, about how you can bury it, because the past claws its way out. I realize I've been looking into that alley for the last 26 years. Afghanistan is a divided country on the verge of war and two childhood friends are about to be torn apart. It's a beautiful afternoon in Kabul and the skies are full of the excitement and joy of a kite flying tournament. But neither Hassan or Amir can foresee the terrible incident which will shatter their lives forever. Khaled Hosseini's first and international best-selling novel has now been adapted into a stunning stage adaptation by Matthew Spangler. This edition was published for the production at Wyndham's Theatre, London, from 21 December 2016.

The Kite Runner

It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s flight. But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.

I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.

I wanted to pull him close, hold him, tell him the world had been unkind to him, not the other way around.

A sadness came over me. Returning to Kabul was like running into an old, forgotten friend and seeing that life hadn’t been good to him, that he’d become homeless and destitute.

it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.

hope is a strange thing. Peace at last. But at what price?

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir,”

And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last.

“Remember, Amir agha. There’s no monster, just a beautiful day.”

And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother.

And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper- thin slice of intersection between those spheres.

“Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.”

there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft.

And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words.

People say that eyes are windows to the soul. Never was that more true than with Ali, who could only reveal himself through his eyes.

the light of his life, very important to him– from the dedication section

khush

Drachenläufer

Emma Kim

 Ein Dozent eines Kurses für Kreatives Schreiben an der San Jose State University hatte einmal über Klischees gesagt: »Meiden Sie sie wie die Pest.« Und lachte dann über seinen eigenen Witz. Der Kurs stimmte mit ein, aber ich fand schon immer, dass Klischees zu Unrecht kritisiert wurden; denn oft treffen sie den Nagel auf den Kopf. Doch die Tauglichkeit einer abgedroschenen Redensart wird überschattet von ihrer Wahrnehmung als Klischee. Zum Bei-

Gabi🌸🌷

Toliko sreće osjećam da me to plaši. Čovjeku je dano da bude ovoliko sretan samo kad se sprema nešto što će mu to oduzeti.

Doan Tran Minh Thanh

Finia

Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

shen

My favourite book of all time.. while im not a very emotional person myself, i cried reading this. What a book.

“For you a thousand times over” - sobs.

Painful and beautiful - tragic and devastating while also being inspiring and hopeful(?). Would like to read it again in my own time as the first time was for my A Levels English Lang&Lit course which makes me feel like I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would’ve liked to. 

“For you a thousand times over” - sobs.

Painful and beautiful - tragic and devastating while also being inspiring and hopeful(?). Would like to read it again in my own time as the first time was for my A Levels English Lang&Lit course which makes me feel like I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would’ve liked to. 

This book was devastating. It exposes the very worst things about the human condition, but still manages to give you hope that people can be good. “For you, a thousand times over” 😭

Kaitlyn Wendler

devastating. loved this book though, a thousand times over.

ellie

I am left speechless. While I did see a thing or two coming - what I did not predict was the pain this would give me at certain points. Some places, you feel scared to go to the next page, terrified of the next paragraph, petrified of the next line. You come out a little hoepful, a little spent, but overall a little calmer than when you began.

diya

this is a good book for teenagers to read in class. it is ridiculously heavyhanded and self analyzing

yasi

This book was heartbreaking the entire way through, but the ending just tied everything together so well and the writing was incredibly poetic and moving I really couldn't rate this any lower no matter how sad it made me

Emma Lechner

An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

Maureen

"For you, a thousand times over."

***

I had high expectations for this book. It didn't disappoint. Not one bit. Its Goodreads rating is well deserved, if not more. Really glad to have read this book in my lifetime. This may be the best, non YA book I've ever read (!!)

pamela enojas

Sajiya Chaudhary

It's written so beautifully, and I couldn't put it down, once I started to read. Also, it's as if Amir and Hassan are a part of life

anjali

Heart-breaking and very, very beautiful. It left me awed, wondering how writing could achieve and create something as amazing as this. Two days is all it took for me to finish this book, despite my best efforts to read as slowly as possible. Very highly recommended. One of the books that just make you feel immensely.

Megan Parrott

This is one of the first books I remember LOVING. Need to read again.

armoni mayes

I found this book particularly hard to read, but I am glad I finished it. I feel like I have learned so much about Afghan culture and traditions (although this book is not a history lesson of course). I am glad I read this novel!

extremely disheartened by the author's political views. 

sani

I had never read a story set in Afghanistan before. It showed me a lot of the country and its people. Also, the narrative about the two boys, whose destinies are strikingly different, deeply moved me.

Friedrich Schuler

Crystal Mfeka

Amelia C 

it was an excellent book that brought me to tears...

Marz 

One the best books I have read in awhile, I was hesitant to read this book at first because a friend had told me this had pages and pages of meaningless in detail descriptions that were useless to the plot . But I am happy to report they were quite wrong. While this book is full of vivid images they were balanced out by a interesting plotline.I do have to that the real action happens a few chapters into the book and it does absolutly pull at your heartstrings...ah I am not the type to cry reading books but this book left me tearing up at times. Hassan and Amir's friendship is precious and beautiful to witness and it was very upsetting when all didn't turn out as planned. 
There were one or two inaccuracies in the book but they were easily overlooked as this book I have to say is a must read.

Have just finished this book and I wholeheartedly agree. It was a little more contrived and at times frustratingly predictable at key plot turns, but the central motifs and the beautiful characterisation and essence of goodness overcame these minor quibbles. It took my time getting to this book for a great many reasons and now that I have finally read it. This book moved me. I was somewhat blind going into this read, unaware of the content of the story and the true depths of anguish I was about to dive into.

Hosseini was able to pluck heart strings of emotion that I had thought silent and stolid. The themes of loyalty, friendship, devotion countered with betrayal, animosity and selfishness were plaintive notes played out in a literary orchestra of human sentiment.

Beautifully written and told with compassion, empathy and with a skilled writer's eye for detail and expression, this can also be a painful book to read. Not for everyone, but for those who can endure what is at times heartbreaking the reward is as magnificent as is this work.

Can't wait to watch the movie next. Hassan was a reminder of the attractiveness of purity and the parallels with Lord were hard to miss.

Andika Farhan

Have just finished this book and I wholeheartedly agree. It was a little more contrived and at times frustratingly predictable at key plot turns, but the central motifs and the beautiful characterisation and essence of goodness overcame these minor quibbles. It took my time getting to this book for a great many reasons and now that I have finally read it. This book moved me. I was somewhat blind going into this read, unaware of the content of the story and the true depths of anguish I was about to dive into.

Hosseini was able to pluck heart strings of emotion that I had thought silent and stolid. The themes of loyalty, friendship, devotion countered with betrayal, animosity and selfishness were plaintive notes played out in a literary orchestra of human sentiment.

Beautifully written and told with compassion, empathy and with a skilled writer's eye for detail and expression, this can also be a painful book to read. Not for everyone, but for those who can endure what is at times heartbreaking the reward is as magnificent as is this work.

Can't wait to watch the movie next. Hassan was a reminder of the attractiveness of purity and the parallels with Lord were hard to miss.

“"For you, a thousand times over"

Ankit Panchal

' For you, A thousand times over... '

Khalied Hosseini just brought the emotions of friendship so precisely on the pages of this novel that you wont put down this novel while reading. It is worth to read the novel. Hosseini is an epic story-teller. Before reading the book, I was just touching outforms words ' The Kite Runner' on the cover. After reading it, while touching these words I can feel the emotions that novel has. So touched by the book. Must read.

Kite Runner

maitha mana

Very fast paced in comparison with the book, but that's nothing unexpected.

Doan Tran Minh Thanh &
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Doan Tran Minh Thanh &The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Doan Tran Minh Thanh &
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