Book # 140 - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

I'm not really sure what I expected from The Kite Runner... for some reason I imagined that it would be a dense tougher read and was surprised when it turned out to be written at a sixth grade level. I guess since it was a massive best seller that I should have known. I chose to read it now because it is Banned Book Week and once again The Kite Runner made the list of the top ten most challenged books in America. I'm guessing that it gets assigned in high schools now and some people object to it because it has a few shocking violent scenes and a handful of four letter words... but it does seem like the type of book that is written specifically for high school study.

The book is broken into three main parts. The first is about Amir and his best friend Hassan. They live in Afghanistan where Amir's family is wealthy and Hassan's family lives with them as their servants. They're having a pretty good life even though Amir always feels like he can never please his father until one day Hassan is violently attacked and Amir is too afraid to help and runs away. He feels so guilty he can't stand having Hassan around anymore and sets it up so that Hassan's family has to leave. Soon afterwards the Russians invade and Amir and his father flee the country. The middle section is about Amir and his father's life in San Francisco and how they adjust to American life and how Amir still feels guilt and tries to earn the approval of his father. In the final section Amir is in his late thirties and is called back to Afghanistan where he finds out some family secrets and must help Hassan's son and atone for his past cowardice.

I enjoyed it and thought the story was moving and full of emotion. Maybe part of my enjoyment of it was due to it being completely different from Bleak House... it had a tight focus on a few characters that it deeply examined, the story moved along, and I actually wanted to know how it ended.  Along the way it mentions Wuthering Heights and Les Miserables.  I'm starting to notice that when specific books are mentioned (even in a casual way) they give hints at the theme of the book or foreshadow something. I'll give it an A-.