September 2020 Classic of the Month: 'The Kite Runner'

How Khaled Hosseini's story of redemption will break your heart, yet leave you inspired.

'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, 371 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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The classic of the month for September 2020 is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. When I first read this book about two years ago, it was proof enough for me to immediately buy Hosseini’s other two novels, and, although A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed were amazing, they do not compare to the sensation that is The Kite Runner.

Beginning his book with Amir narrating, “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.” Hosseini immediately draws you in. Amir begins his recount of his childhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, living with his father Baba and their servants Ali, and his son Hassan.

Jumping to winter, the kite-flying tournament is underway, in which boys battle by severing the strings of opposing kites and chasing and recovering the losing kites (called kite running). Amir and Hassan make the perfect team, with Amir winning the tournament, and Hassan running after the losing kite.

Searching for Hassan and the kite he ran after, Amir makes a disturbing discovery. Trapped in an alley, Hassan is pinned down by Wali and Kamal and raped by Assef, three neighborhood boys. Shocked and unsure of what to do, Amir runs away and acts as if nothing happened when he sees Hassan again. Amir soon becomes riddled with guilt, and, unable to be around his childhood friend any longer, decides to frame Hassan for stealing from his father, so that Hassan and Ali have to move away.

Jumping through time again, the story is now set in March 1981, when Baba and Amir are escaping from Kabul, a newly Soviet invaded war-zone. Barely surviving their treacherous journey, the pair eventually moves to the U.S. and settles in Fremont, California, where Baba works at a gas station and Amir attends high school and college.

Meanwhile, Amir meets Soraya, Baba’s friend General Taheri’s daughter, at a flea market. Unfortunately, Baba is simultaneously diagnosed with lung cancer, leading to a quick marriage between Amir and Soraya, just a month before Baba’s sorrowful death.

After getting a call from Rahim Khan, Baba’s old close friend, who is now sick, Amir immediately follows his request to visit him in Pakistan. When in Pakistan, Rahim Khan tells Amir about the destruction of Kabul that has ensued after his departure. Now the Taliban (the new leaders after the Soviets were forced out) rule through violence.

Rahim Khan then tells Amir of the tragedy that occured to Hassan. The Taliban went to his house, shot and killed him and his wife, and sent his son Sohrab to an orphanage. Rahim Khan wants Amir to rescue Sohrab from Kabul and bring him back to Pakistan. Further shocking Amir with the news that Baba was actually Hassan’s father, Amir agrees to the mission.

Arriving at the orphanage with Sohrab nowhere to be found, Amir is told that a Taliban official took the boy a month prior. Amir goes to a soccer stadium the next day in search of the official, where he finds him stoning a man and woman to death.

At a meeting with the official, Amir meets Sohrab for the first time, while he is dressed up in blue silk clothes and makeup. After saying something Amir recognizes, he realizes the official is Assef, the young bully grown up into a still heartless ruler. Assef beats Amir with brass knuckles, but Sohrab shoots Assef in the eye with his slingshot, allowing enough time for Amir and Sohrab to escape. While recovering in the hospital, Amir asks Sohrab to move to the U.S. with him, which Sohrab excitedly agrees to.

Learning he may not be able to adopt Sohrab, since he can’t prove his parents are dead, Amir makes the mistake of telling Sohrab this news. Amir and Soraya discover a way to get Sohrab into the U.S., but aren’t quick enough to tell Sohrab before he attempts to kill himself.

After surviving the attempt and even moving to California, Sohrab becomes a mute, no longer talking. After many attempts to get Sohrab to communicate, Amir sees people flying kites, and gets Sohrab to fly one with him. Sohrab smiles as they win the battle, and Amir goes running after the losing kite.

A beautiful story of redemption, friendship, and the persistence of the past, while also a dark story of rape, violence, and betrayal, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is one of the most powerful stories I have ever read. This book not only made me more empathetic, but also taught me about the beauty of a culture I knew nothing about beforehand, which I am infinitely grateful for.

In the inspiring words of Rahim Khan, “There is a way to be good again.”