a book review: the kite runner by khaled hosseini

"for you, a thousand times over."


a guru cemerlang lent me this book when i visited her house last month. knowing that i'm a literary buff, she wanted me to experience the whole gamut of feelings.

unlike any other postcolonial novels that i've read before (which is always set in india), this story takes place in afghanistan and later in the US. it's a story of a rich boy craving for his great father's attention and love, and how jealousy leads him to do an unforgiveable thing - which is to watch his half-brother, hassan,(which is revealed near to the end of the story), who was born to serve him; sodomised by his rival, and not do anything to stop it. what is even more touching is that, the half -brother, is so devoted to his "master", and always he'd say to his Amir agha "for you, a thousand times over". amir, as a boy, cannot forgive himself for his silence and is reminded of his crime as he sees hassan everyday. this guilt conscience leads him to frame the half-brother for a theft.

only as a man does he discover the true identity of hassan, and he struggles to redeem himself by trying to adopt hassan's son, his nephew, and bring him to america.

what do i think of this book? hmm...probably slightly above the average, though not as bad as arundhati roy's first novel the god of small things. to be sure, hosseini knows how to manipulate the readers' emotions, and i was affected when i read the part when hassan is sodomised, but this is like a roller-coaster ride, when your adrenaline rush is the greatest when you descend. after the 2nd roller-coaster descend, i'm beginning to get bored. seriously, i was even waiting for the 3rd one. anticipation by a reader is not good for a writer. it kills the sense of unexpected.

well, the story ends happily, conflicts resolved as amir gains redemption through the smile of his nephew in the land of american dream.

okla, he had me when he has hassan says "for you, a thousand times over".