The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

The text written above isn't mine, of course. I wouldn't have been able to form an opinion in such terms even if I wanted. Why wouldn't I? There are a few reasons brought me to write in a way one can perceive it effortlessly. One of them, obviously, the language limitations. One may ask: "How dare you read a book in a foreign language? Moreover, how audacious does your "review" look like?". It's absolutely fair exclamation. The answer could be something like "If I can read, why may not I share my opinion?". I just would like to warn you about the fact I hadn't been using any translators and dictionaries writing this review. Sorry for mistakes.

I have never heard neither about "The Kite Runner" nor about Khaled Hosseini before I started reading it. The explanation I chose the book is built on a pure accidental. A story placed between the pages is not so complicated to understand. The plot is simple as it was composed to be unobtrusive. Mr Hosseini tells us the story about a huge guilt, unpleasant lies, tangled relationships and hard fate of Afghan people. It's the vivid tale of becoming a grown man haunted by ghosts of past, writhing because of guilt, crying over spilt milk.

There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.

There were two boys who were born in Kabul at the same place and almost in the same time, but in the different circumstances. One of them, Amir, was a son of a wealthy man, the other appeared from a servant's womb. One of them was born to serve the other. They grew up together until the master's son made a sort of mistake which will pursuit him for a very long time. This step split boys forever. It will bring Amir back to Afghanistan after many years of departure to eager desire fix it up, wipe it out of the ground, treat the old withered but bleeding wound.

When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.

The quote above is a kind of wisdom which was told Amir by his father. We follow the process of Amir's growing up from a boy to a man. Some of his character traits could be interpreted as a product of his mother's absence and father's disappointment. You won't have any chance not to judge Amir and a handful of his acts. Will you excuse him or will you wish him be punished depends on your own attitude of mind. A way of his life interwove with Afghanistan historical events. The great tragedy of the people left its trace and dimmed significant parts of their life.

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.

I liked the story in general, though it's been a while since I last read a non-fiction book. Because of my haughty expectations being based on a perspective of diving into the new Afghan history (which actually were ruined), I forced myself to stop seeking for any inconsistencies of the plot, to cease interpreting author's decisions as artificial dramatic blasters or too naive coincident. If you prefer family stories or if you're looking for a light book that wouldn't occupy you for more than a week, "The Kite Runner" can be pretty nice choice. Furthermore, in the reading process, you may discover a pile of quite curious facts concerning the people living out there and make your own virtual comparison table which will readily be able to lead you whether to stop complaining and be complaisant or to look out of the window on your vitality through the new lenses from a different point of view.

Rating: 7/10