The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

This is a very engaging read and the characters literally leap to life as you turn the pages. It is an epic tale that spans lives across two continents. We start the story with an adult man, Amir, looking back to 1975 when he was 12 years old and growing up in Afghanistan. The novel lets you experience the depths of his thoughts and feelings, and the reader cannot help but become heavily involved in his life and relationships. I could not put the book down as the characters lives were spread out before me.

The book, by its location, covers the war and destruction of those living in Kabul, with the fall of monarchy, the oppression of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban regime. However, it is relationships that figure most strongly - between a father and son and with his best friend, Hassan. The very fabric of the novel is woven from love, guilt, betrayal, fear, cowardice and atoning for past mistakes. Amir is tormented by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father's servant, and this is carried into the next generation with Hassan's son. We follow his journey to redemption and how he manages to "find a way to be good again."

The writing is so good it makes the characters' emotions almost palpable and the descriptions of various incidents are vivid. Many have questioned whether it is a work of fiction as it seems so real. The author, Khaled Hosseini, has revealed that he has drawn heavily on childhood memories, but it is definitely a work of fiction and is now an acclaimed top book. Khaled's family were granted political asylum in the U.S. in 1980, and moved to California, where he studied to become a doctor. His knowledge as a medic certainly enabled him to describe various injuries and traumas in the novel in great detail, and his words conjure up haunting images. At times, it is a heart-breaking and emotional read, but it is also spiritually uplifting and inspiring as we travel along with Amir and his struggle through life.

The book begins and ends with the practice of kite running, a popular sport in Afghanistan - trying to remain holding the last kite flying in the air, by cutting down the contenders with a kite string coated with ground glass. Then the kite runners chase through the streets to catch the falling kite - the symbolic chasing of a dream in a nightmare world.