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.