The Kite Runner

By: Khaled Hosseini

Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship and betrayal, and about the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But through the devastation, Khaled Hosseini offers hope for redemption.

©2003 Khaled Hosseini (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS. is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division. Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2004

"A beautiful novel...ranks among the best-written and most provocative stories of the year." (The Denver Post)
"Powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love." (The New York Times)

Kites have taken on a new tale

While the book told a wonderful narrative it also raised my awareness of daily life, and the struggles and attitudes of people in a repressed regime. The story was engrossing and passionate. The transition from Kabul to the rather basic life in America seemed almost too easy, with the images of Kabul being much stronger and feeling more realistic.Overall a memorable story with many remarkable twists and turns.

Love it

One of the best novel i ever read
I m so touched with all details
All scene are vey well described
Love it

Lovely narration

Wonderful story that reminded me of my youthful summers in India... Excellent narration by Hosseini

Real and Raw

This is an amazing book and narrated perfectly! Such an amazing heartfelt story! I would definitely recommend this book!

Love this author

The characters were interesting and I grew to love them. Found parts of myself in each character. I loved learning the history.

Heart Rending

A world completely unfamiliar was revealed and moved me to tears. This book should be required reading.

I have no words

I have no words that can explain how deeply this touched my soul. So incredibly important a work that can have me able to visualize with certainty what I am hearing. One of the best and most important books I've ever had the pleasure to read!

Review

I’ve had my eyes on this book for a long while. I could never find it for cheap and my old library never had a copy (I really need to get my library card for this new library). However, the audio landed in my lap so it works!

The story follows Amir from his youth as a boy from a rich family. His best friend is his servant Hassan who would do anything for Amir. Things happen and the two are torn apart. Hassan stays and Amir ends up in America.

I felt so bad for Hassan. He was such a good, loyal friend and servant. Amir was a little snot and did not deserve a friend like Hassan. Amir is a coward and a selfish little boy. Karma does strike him more than once for what he did and didn’t do. I had a hard time at first with the story because I loathed Amir so much. However, I stuck with the story and as Amir grew up he was more tolerable especially since karma did serve him a little here and a little there. It also helped that Amir did realize how terrible he was to his friend. Guilt is a powerful thing.

There was an event that happened that made me respect Amir. I never grew to like him...but I did respect him and understand him in the end.

The story really was good. It really shows that people are not perfect no matter what part of the world they come from. It was an interesting viewpoint and the author brought the world to life. There were a lot of things one can take from this story and they are important messages. It took a lot for Amir to learn some of these messages. Well…he KNEW the lesson but he had to actually apply them and do. You can know something but if you do not do what is right there you truly did not learn.

The author narrated this and he did a good job. I do wish that his voices changed for different characters even a smidge. I had to really pay attention when dialogue was going on especially at the beginning when I was learning everyone’s name. Other than that? No complaints.


Overall, I did enjoy this story. The characters were interesting and I had to know what was going to happen next even though I know the political things that happen, I still wanted to know how this impacted our characters. Besides for my loathing of Amir at the beginning, I did grow to understand him. I still did not like him but understood him and I respected him after a certain event happened. The narration was good, but I do wish the narrator tried to give the characters a smidge of a different voice to help us, listeners, out. In the end, I’ll stamp this with 4 stars.

LOVED IT.

I loved this story and the audiobook. Sometimes authors don't make good narrators, but this one worked very well. I highly recommend.

Insight and understanding

A wonderful way to learn more about a misunderstood culture. Beautifully written and read. I would recommend a thousand times over.