Review: The Kite Runner

Books are a man’s best friend. How true! You do not have to adjust to it unlike a few friends you might have but instead the books will adjust themselves to you. Now those are the one’s we refer to as true friends. I find it ironic that most of the Bollywood movies show the cool guy to be the ‘one-who-rides-fast-bikes-and-ruffles-girls’-hair-and-has-the-name-as-Raj’ types but in reality the smart guys are the ones’ who actually read books. Well if you’re an idiot who doesn’t know anything but just ride a bike and fight a rogue you don’t have any other option but to stupidly ruffle your girl’s hair!
Having said that, I recently read a not so recent book, The Kite Runner; not finding time during college to catch up with the novels is such a frustration, trust me! This is a one-of-its-kind-book that I have read in a long time. The author Khaleed Hosseini, an Afghani who was granted political asylum in the U.S is a truly gifted man. He spins in a web so intricate and so strong that you will hardly know whether you’re reading a book or watching a movie. The most astonishing part is his ease with human emotions. He knows exactly when to break or make a person.
Set in the 1960’s Afghanistan, when it was under monarchy, the book spans across 3 decades and traces the life of Amir, the protagonist, through the different political situations in Afghanistan. But eventually you will find that he is not the ‘only’ hero! You may have read Sydney Sheldon’s fast paced, the super-smart women kind of novels, or the Jeffery Archer’s politically and satirically motivated ones’ or even the cult symbology and religious blasphemy of the fame of Dan Brown but I bet you wouldn’t have come across a more true to life novel which would have made you think! ‘Thought’- now that’s the key word! You read a magazine, or the newspaper, or watch the news or even the saas-bahu rona-dhona but would you say any of them have given your right part of the brain any work? Agreed, you grab information, you calculate, you emote; but you never think! You read about a bomb-blast, feel sorry for the people and feel relieved that it wasn’t you; you read about the market soaring, you calculate the next month’s grocery; you watch a movie with a lot of sci-fi, you ogle at the hero/heroine, worry about their fortunes throughout the movie and come back as if it just changed your attitude towards life but later realize that it is not the case; but here, you do the unthinkable- you think! You think about Amir’s life, you think about Hassan’s misfortune, you do not just feel sorry- you think; about the circumstances which led to it, about the situation, about the selfishness and goodness, about bravery and cowardice, about the people of Afghanistan and then you COMPARE! You compare it with your own life, you introspect- you find out if you’re Amir, Hassan or Sohrab!
Amir is the only son of a rich Afghan father, whose mother dies at childbirth. They’re served by their loyal servants of more than 40 years, the paralysis struck Ali and his son Hassan. Amir is nothing like his father: a soccer player in his hay days, a strong Afghani, who always stands for what is right and the one who is respected by everybody. Amir was weak, fragile, low of self-esteem and most important of all he was Baba’s (his father’s) son who is his mother’s killer! Hassan was better in everything Amir was good at except in education, being a hazara, he is denied of education. The childhood of the two boys is filled with fun and frolic except at times when Amir has to show his dissent towards his baba’s liking of Hassan- that’s when traces of Amir’s dark side comes to the fore. But Amir’s chance of redeeming himself in his father’s eyes comes in the form of the kite flying tournament. Amir was really good at it and with the aid of Hassan- who is not only an expert gauge but also the best kite-runner: the ritual that follows the kite-flying competition wherein the captor of the last fallen kite-which is a medallion, a souvenir, is the person who goes home with the most coveted appreciation.
In the winter of 1975 when the kite-flying tournament is held, though Amir wins the tournament, he is confronted to make a choice that changes not only his life but the life of many others. He is held with not only a terrible secret but also the guilt, of cowardice, his inability, his helplessness and also his selfishness. The story then travels across to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and the family of baba and Amir are forced to escape to America. Here Amir grows up to be a fine young man amidst his other Afghanis. His flair for writing stories from his young age is nurtured and made to realize through his baba’s unwavering devotion and love towards his son. Though Amir has to think about his career as a budding novelist, his intrest in the beautiful general’s daughter, Soraya Taheeri, who is an outcast because of her explosive past, his ailing baba, he is never free from his guilt. He is blessed with a wondrous wife in Soraya, a promising career, but the loss of his baba, leaves Amir to fight the new battles that come along on his own. He is recalled by his old friend, Rahim Khan, who tells him about his past, his truth and also his chance at redemption.
The book is stunningly simple in its language, powerful in its human traits, characteristics and emotions. Its take on the Taliban lays the gives us nothing but the naked truth of the sufferings and torture of the people in the name of religion. How even the people of the same religion are ashamed the goings on and about the self-righteous people with murderous intensions and insomniacs and psychopaths who pleasure violence and killing and thinking that they are doing the work of God!
Most importantly, we relate to the protagonist, his weakness, self-centered attitude and his guilt. He is in a lot of ways most of us are. We fail to be bold, we fail to stand up to the people who trust us and have faith in us, we fail to understand ourselves and most importantly we fail to understand our mistakes. A lot of us may carry our mistakes and guilt of not rectifying the same to our graves. But we fail to understand that a lot of us have a choice – a choice of redeeming ourselves of our mistakes. Amir takes the chance and redeems himself of his mistake, his guilt and his weaknesses. But given a chance and a choice, are we prepared to redeem ourselves, is the question that rings as we end the book.
‘The Kite Runner’ is a must read book and a movie of the same name was also released in 2007 by the director of ‘Finding Neverland’ fame. It garnered one Academy award nomination and two Golden Globe award nominations for its exceptional story, screenplay and cinematography. For those of you who are of ‘Raj’ types or the non – readers, I suggest you watch the movie and try to understand the satisfaction that is derived from redeeming ourselves of our mistakes. As the author says, ‘There is a chance to be good again.’