Saralee says
This book is not for the faint of heart. The Kite Runner is hard to put down and is a fascinating look at the structure of society in Afghanistan as well as a story about redemption and atonement within one family.
This is the first book by author Khaled Hosseini who lived in Afghanistan as a young boy. Hosseini's father in real life was a diplomat and the family was granted asylum in the United States after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. Hosseini grew up in California and eventually became a doctor. Hosseini uses his childhood memories of Afghanistan to write this book that is made for discussion.
Reading and discussing The Kite Runner is also a way of trying to understand current events in the Middle East. So if you are interested in Afghanistan and family relationships, you will be mesmerized by The Kite Runner. If you are not interested, then you will be disturbed and possibly frightened.
The narrator of this novel, Amir, grows up in the most affluent part of Kabul, Afghanistan, during the 1960s and 1970s - or the first 18 years of Amir's life. Amir and his father, or his Baba, live in a beautiful house. In a shack in the back of the house live their servant Ali and his son Hassan. Amir's mother died in childbirth and Hassan's mother ran away after Hassan was born so this book is mostly about men.
Amir lives an enchanted life except for the occasional bully. When he is not in school, he plays with Hassan. In fact, because of Amir's elevated social status, he can order Hassan to do just about anything. Fun for Amir, not much fun for Hassan. Amir lives to please his father and is jealous that his father wants to include Hassan in many of their family outings.
In order to please his father, Amir decides to win an important event, a contest of kite runners. Whoever wins this event is a local hero and Amir wants to prove he is a strong young man to his father and to the neighborhood bullies. Using Hassan's talent, Amir enters the contest and tragedy results, which is the focus of the inner turmoil for Amir.
Larry's language
One of the great American myths is that class does not matter. So we call it status instead. Who your parents are, what zip code you live in, and what party invitations you receive are important in many circles.
The Kite Runner is a book about status being fixed and all important. In Afghanistan where Amir grew up, his male gender, his Pashtun tribal identity, his Sunni religion and the wealth of his father were all important. Those factors determined where Amir lived, who he played with, where and if he went to school, whether he would learn to read and write, and that he did not have to bow and scrape to anyone except the local bully. Amir's best friend and servant boy, Hassan, had no status in Amir's eyes because Amir could not see past Hassan's different tribal background, different religion and lack of standing in their community.
For Amir it was a wonderful childhood in a closed and cruel society where he viewed Hassan as a friend, but one who had to do anything Amir said. Amir never understood that Hassan believed honor, friendship and integrity were more important than tribal background and wealth. Amir's father however, favored Hassan in some ways. Amir and Hassan endure medical, sexual and emotional attacks, crimes and disappointments.
When Amir's father loses his status because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, they flee to America. In California they maintain their high status in the Afghan immigrant community. The mystery of The Kite Runner is that Amir will not understand his father's behavior until his father has died in America and Amir must return to Afghanistan.
This is a story about how two boys and two fathers define honor. Unfortunately the two main characters get it wrong and while they try their best, they live their lives dishonorably and dishonestly. Even more unfortunate, the two characters that are most courageous die an early death. So it is easy to dislike this story and to rebel against it even while it teaches serious moral lessons.
Join us for our next book club discussion which will feature Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (William Morrow) by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubne.
