Central Booking

The Kite Runner is a book I never would have read if it hadn't been suggested by Ann from At Home with Ann.

It's really not my kind of book. I'm not really into conventional character-driven dramas, and I almost never read novels that have been written in the past 20 years. When I read novels, it's usually science fiction or "classics." And to be honest, the book didn't really pull me in at first. I might have given up on it if I weren't for my obligations to the Lamest Contest Ever.

I'm really glad I stuck with it though. The Kite Runner is a powerful book; the kind of novel that sticks with you, probably forever. On one level, it's the story of a friendship between two boys. On another level, it's the story of modern Afghanistan. The threads of the two stories are interwoven expertly, and parallel each other in many ways. Both threads are tragic, but both end on a note of cautious hope.

The story begins in the 1970s, when Afghanistan is a poor but beautiful, peaceful and cultured country. The protagonist is Amir, a young boy who lives a sheltered life as the son of a prominent Afghani. Hassan, the son of his father's servant, is Amir's best friend. Because Hassan is a Hazara, one of Afghanistan's underclass, Amir cannot openly acknowledge his friendship with Hassan. The result is a one-sided relationship in which Amir cherishes and relies upon Hassan while simultaneously disdaining and disavowing him.

At the same time, Amir struggles to gain the approval of his father, who doesn't understand his unathletic, bookish son. An opportunity to endear himself to his father arises in a kite-fighting contest. He believes -- with good reason -- that if he wins the contest, he will garner his father's respect and love. Amir becomes so obsessed that when he is unexpectedly thrust into a situation where he must choose between this goal and his friendship for Hassan, he betrays his friend.

From this point, things go rapidly downhill for both Hassan and Afghanistan. You're probably at least a little familiar with the travails of Afghanistan: First the Russians invaded, which was bad enough. But when the Russians left the Taliban took over. The Taliban makes the Russians look like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. After reading this book, I am hard pressed to think of a group that embodies evil more purely than the Taliban. Honestly, I don't think even the Nazis measure up. Occasionally I hear people use the term "American Taliban" to refer to the religious right in this country. I'm not fan of the religious right, but with all due respect, people who use the term "American Taliban" in this way are f***ing retards. Read this book. If you think Pat Robertson measures up to this level of depravity, then you should be in therapy.

Amir and his father eventually flee to the U.S. (the East San Francisco Bay area, to be specific -- about an hour from where I live). But Afghanistan -- and his betrayal of Hassan -- continue to haunt him, and in the book's final act he finally has an opportunity to "be good again." The final few chapters are so riveting and haunting that you won't be able to put it down.

I don't want to give you the impression that this is a "political" book. It's not at all. It's the story of a young boy who becomes a man against the backdrop of the unfolding tragedy of Afghanistan. I highly recommend it.