The Kite Runner

3.5

I find it somewhat difficult to review this book, as I have conflicting feelings towards its various aspects. The author writes quite well, I can see why so many comment on the prose, it's largely effective and entertaining, even if I found it dull and hollow at points.

will looking through some of the reviews, I was again reminded of the utterly unhinged, egoistic, and delusional nature of both negative and positive top Goodreads reviews, Jesus Christ.

Many reviewers despise Amir in one form or another, which I find very interesting. It seems so many are compelled by nothing more than a virtuosic, Disney-esque main character, and any deviation from this is met with hilariously infantile commentary about just how terrible the main character is for possessing very human flaws. There are, however, some very valid criticisms I have of The Kite Runner. I found the highly “coincidental” occurrences in the book to be a bit much, and even found myself losing immersion and my ability to suspend my disbelief because of them. I won't be going in depth, but mainly the reappearance of Assef and Hassan's son becoming a Bache bāzī.

But my greatest issue with this book lies in its dealings with the Taliban and frankly in some of the ways it deals with contemporary Afghan politics in general. Hosseini's depiction of the Taliban is devoid of any material analysis or understanding—they are portrayed simply as a very scary and cartoonishly evil group who are bad just because. I find that much of this book can simply serve to reinforce the warped and backward perspectives many Americans hold of Afghanistan and the Middle East in general, while also making the reader feel as though they are sufficiently educating themselves on this issue. Just a thought.