Three

The First Book Review:

The Kite Runner - By Khaled Hosseini

I originally read this book as a summer reading assignment for school, after seeing it at the front of Border's, purchasing it, and getting the hell out because I was late for work.
However, I had heard some great reviews about it in spring of last year, and thought I'd check it out.

This is the first novel by Khaled Hosseini, which just makes it all the more impressive. If you're into the contemporary genre, enjoy eye-opening and educational books, and need a good read, you should pick this book up.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, a priveleged boy living in Afghanistan with his father and servants in the early 1970's. The country is in political turmoil, yet even in difficult times Amir can find solace playing with his best friend Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. The boys are inseparable, like brothers, until one fateful event changes their entire relationship.

From then on, Amir is haunted by his cowardly actions, and has trouble facing himself, Hassan, and his father. As the days go on and the country is headed toward complete distruction, Amir and his father flee to California.

One part of the book chronicles Amir's boyhood, and then picks up with him as an adult, trying to establish a life for himself and forget about his troubled past. As an adult, a long time after he arrived in America, he finds out that Hassan and his wife were murdered by the Taliban, and he must venture to Afghanistan to find and rescue their young son, and attempt to find redemption and peace within for his actions as a boy himself.

The plot twists and characterization alone at times made me forget that I was reading a fictional account and not a memoir. In a metaphor from the title, this story soars, and I urge all to pick it up... and learn something.