For you, a thousand times over

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner reads like a memoir, but is actually a novel.  It is an intriguing book set mainly in Afghanistan and covers the course of a young man’s life from childhood to adulthood and the different struggles he went through to accept the path that his life choices made.  We journey through Amir’s life and learn about his friendship with his servant’s son, his constant wish to be loved by his father, and his struggles to learn how to become a good person.

This book was great.  It was eye opening in a way that the news can’t be.  His perspective of what he grew up in, going from a rich home where everything was provided for him when the monarchy ruled Afghanistan to destitute and escape when Russia took over his mother country to the struggle of going back and seeing the death of his country during the Taliban’s rule.  He and his father escape to America before the Taliban takes over and he returns to a world he did not know existed except through media. 

I enjoyed this book very much.  It was well written and kept my attention locked in for the course of the 371 pages.  I read this book fairly quickly and I wanted it to last and last.  I borrowed the Kite Runner from a friend and I have also borrowed A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author and I am excited to read it.  I have to take a break and process my thoughts before I jump into another book by the same author.  Although I loved this story, it has opened my eyes to a life that I did not know existed either in America or across the globe.  We are extremely spoiled as Americans and it’s hard for me to keep the world in perspective when I have my comfortable job and my wonderful home and my 2 paid for vehicles. 

I loved Amir, he was a character that I could relate too.  He makes a decision early in life and he regrets it for many years, but he learns to live with it.  He was a great character to grow up with too, hearing how he felt as a child sitting on his Baba’s knee, yearning to be loved, it is heartbreaking.  We watched what decisions made him into the man that he became.  As he became an adult, and fell in love, I enjoyed reading his relationship with his wife Soraya, it was traditional Afghani yet American at the same time.  I wonder how many couples must live this way in America, open and free under their roof, but drastically different under the eyes of their elders.

I know that I’m a few years behind, this book rocked the Bestseller lists many years ago, but have you read it?  What did you think?  Did you read A Thousand Splendid Suns?  Keep Reading my friends!