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This powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini's privileged young narrator who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country's revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence -- forces that continue to threaten them even today.

The Kite Runner is a book that I debated reading for a far longer time than it took me to actually read it. The book was so wildly popular, especially among book clubs and other clusters of bibliophiles, that I had little choice but to give it attention. Many times as I would peruse the shelves at the bookstore I would see The Kite Runner. Each time this happened I would pick up a copy and hold it in my hands. I would read the back of the book, which displays a synopsis provided from a review rather than from the publisher, and really try the book on. What I found each time was that it did not fit, if I may continue the metaphor.

It was at the advice of two readers I know that I finally bought a copy of The Kite Runner. They both, on separate occassions, heard what I detailed above about how the book and I seemed to have creative differences; "it does not sound like a book I would enjoy," I told them both. "Read it. I did for my book club and really enjoyed it," was what they both said in reply. And so I did.

I found the synopsis, which talks so much of the power struggle between Russia and Afghanistan and then the portrait of the current state of affairs in Afghanistan to be irrelevant through the first half of the book. I had been worried about the synopsis because I have not met a book that talks of political conflict that I have enjoyed. I read to be entertained by something a little...lighter than the subject of politics. You may think me odd for that, or you may agree, at least in part. That which had me concerned was presented in a manner secondary to the story. The conflict was the setting of the book, not the subject. The subject is and always was Amir, a boy with whom we see the years pass after he makes his way to America. He struggles to leave his past behind while other immigrants around him pay particular attention so as to not lose theirs. It may not be as easy as he had hoped to start over in America.

Much in the same way the two who had recommended the book to me had created a situation in which they felt somewhat obligated to read the book (their respective book clubs), I manufactured a similar reason for myself.

Having now read The Kite Runner I feel comfortable suggesting it to others, though you need not make up an excuse to read it. read it because you are in search of a story that will, among other things, grip your heart and soul, squeezing a little at times, while you read. Read it because it educates in the ways of another culture, deserving as they all do, to be recognized. Read it because you want to know what past Amir wants to leave behind when he comes to America and if he is finally able to do just that.

I cannot say that The Kite Runner is to be raved about, but it is a beautiful story that made for a good read. I was pleasantly surprised by The Kite Runner. Despite the popularity of the book, I still consider it a diamond in the rough, when the rough is endless shelves at the bookstore. The Kite Runner is a relatively short book and a quick read. I hope you enjoy it. I think you will.

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