SMV 794

Book Review

Rohan Gupta

2010SMF6590

The Kite Runner

By Khalid Hosseini

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid, overcast day in the

winter of 1975," Amir tells us in the opening lines, when he, a successful novelist

now living in Fremont, California, receives a phone call from his father's former

business partner, Rahim Khan, now in Pakistan. Rahim had stayed behind in

Afghanistan when Amir and his father escaped to America in 1981, and he is now

dying. An intimate part of the family, Rahim has long been aware of a childhood

betrayal committed by Amir, one which had catastrophic consequences for others

and which has tormented Amir for his entire life. "There is a way to be good

again," Rahim Shah tells him, and Amir immediately sets off for Pakistan to see

him for the last time.

In flashbacks, Hosseini recreates the day-to-day existence of Amir and his father,

a highly successful merchant in Kabul in the 1970's, creating a warm and

emotionally involving story of childhood and its traumas and stressing the

importance of family in times of trouble, as he follows the lives of Amir and his

father until Amir is in his late thirties. But this is more than the story of Amir and

Baba. It is also the parallel story of Hassan and Ali, their servants, who represent

an entirely different world. Amir and Baba are Pashtuns, while Hassan and Ali are

Hazaras, descendants of the Moguls who are also Shi'a Muslims, and it is in these

parallel tracks that we come to see the variety of life in Afghanistan, its mores,

traditions, and its hierarchies.

As infants, Amir and Hassan share the same wet nurse, both boys having lost their

mothers within a week of their births, and this shared experience proves to be

prophetic of their close relationship. Just as Baba and Ali have been closer than

most masters and servants, Amir and Hassan grow up together, are best friends,

and even get into trouble together. Hassan, however, always knows he is Amir's

servant, and he is often cruelly mocked by others who consider him inferior

because of his ethnicity, his Mongoloid features, and his unrepaired hare-lip.

The best "kite runner" in Kabul, Hassan is often first on the scene to capture

prized kites when their lines are cut during kite-flying competitions, a huge

spectator sport in Kabul. During one of these competitions in which Amir is

participating, Hassan captures a particularly prized trophy. Emerging from an

alley, he finds himself confronted by several fierce bullies, and when he refuses to

give in to them and hand over the trophy kite, he is beaten, tortured, and severely

injured. Amir, chancing upon the scene in time to prevent some of the damage,

runs away in fear instead, abandoning Hassan. Later, tormented by what he has

done and jealous of the close relationship his father has with Hassan and Ali, Amir

ensures that Hassan and Ali will be dismissed.

Six years later, after a Communist coup in Afghanistan, Baba uses his wealth and

connections to escape with Amir to Pakistan and eventually the United States,

where he works in a gas station, and on weekends sells goods at a public flea

market so that Amir can go to college. In this middle section of the book, the

relationship between Amir and his father changes dramatically. Away from the

roles demanded of them in Kabul, they are on a more equal footing as they

explore their new lives in America. Remaining part of the close Afghan community

where they live, they maintain traditions and values in their relationships with

other Afghans, while finding their roles in America, roles reversed in some ways.

When, twenty years after leaving Kabul, Amir gets his call from Rahim Khan, he

returns to Pakistan and eventually to Afghanistan, where he has a chance to relive

circumstances similar to those in which, many years before, he betrayed Hassan,

this time discovering a way to "be good again."

Hosseini's narrative is fast-paced, and his sensitive portrayal of childhood with all

its fears and tensions is particularly striking. The glimpses of Afghan family life and

values are captivating, particularly because they have been virtually unknown in

American fiction, but it is the author's focus on the humanity of the characters

that gives the novel its universality and great appeal. Amir's betrayal of Hassan is

believable and understandable in human terms, apart from culture, and his long-

term remorse is not surprising. Hassan's nobility in the face of his trauma, born

from both his unwavering acceptance of his role as a servant and his genuine

affection for Amir, gives him a saintly aspect which never cloys--he has simply

accepted the role he's been given in life. Baba is almost larger than life, and

though he never knows exactly what it is that Amir has done, he is sensitive

enough to be disturbed by it when it occurs, especially since he fears that it may

signal weakness. It is only much later that Amir discovers that Baba, too, has kept

some secrets.

Afghan cultural traditions, which stress pride, honor, and a sense of hospitality

toward strangers, add color to this narrative, and when scenes involving the

Taliban are presented in the last part of the book, the true horror of their

repression of a living culture, in addition to their repression of individuals,

becomes obvious. By following two families, one in the U.S. and one in

Afghanistan, the contrast becomes clearer.

This dual focus, however, creates a few structural problems for the author at the

end of the novel, as he must figure out a way to connect all his characters. Relying

heavily on coincidence, and in the case of diplomatic officials, on stereotypes, he

ties up the loose ends and resolves the conflicts. This was a bit distracting to me,

as some of the coincidences are not necessary and do not advance the story line--

Amir's meeting an old beggar, who turns out to have been a university teacher

who knew Amir's mother as a young woman, for example. Details related to the

fate of a daughter of a consular official with whom Amir deals seem artificial,

inserted only to provide parallels with Amir's own circumstances. When Amir gets

a split lip, the parallels with the hare-lipped Hassan are obvious, and probably

unnecessary. Despite some narrative clumsiness, however, the novel is a moving,

dramatic, personal, and compelling read, fascinating in its setting and in its

development of the father-son relationship. I was totally engaged by its

characters--and by its considerable charm.