Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Kite Runner  By  cover art

The Kite Runner

By: Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.96

Buy for $17.96

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial review


By Seth Hartman, Audible Editor

THE KITE RUNNER CONTINUES TO SOAR

Like many of my favorite titles, The Kite Runner came into my life when I was in middle school. The novel was sold to me as a coming-of-age tale set in a changing Afghanistan. While that is technically a solid gist, author Khaled Hosseini’s masterwork is so much more than that.

This story centers around Amir, a sensitive boy born into a wealthy Afghan family. The Kite Runner begins in the year 1973, a very tumultuous time in Afghanistan. Amir’s upbringing in the idyllic Kabul region is undercut by the rumblings of political upheaval. As the government faced a swift coup d’etat by the king’s ambitious cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan, wealthy citizens all over Afghanistan fled as quickly as possible. Amid all of this turmoil, Amir is separated from his servant and friend Hassan after the latter is sexually assaulted. While Amir’s family would escape inside an oil tanker, Hassan is left behind as the revolution takes hold. A good novel would build up to this massive climax and leave it there, but The Kite Runner takes a much more nuanced approach. Amir experiences this trauma from a young age and is then suddenly dumped in America, forced to cope with survivor’s guilt while adjusting to a totally new culture. His journey then becomes a bid to accept his surroundings, grow into the man he hopes to be, and address his checkered past.

I have always been a huge fan of historical fiction. Something about experiencing key moments in time through an intimate perspective just works for me. Listening to the audiobook, Khaled Hosseini's narration adds yet another layer of context to the story. Imagine my surprise, then, when The Kite Runner pulled away from Afghanistan and introduced a culture shock element to the plot. The beauty of this title comes not just from its intricate setting descriptions and steady character development, but also from this tonal shift. This title has something for everyone, but is especially relevant for people who have dealt with a lot of change in their lives.

I will never forget where I was when I first experienced this section of The Kite Runner. I bought the book in the airport for an international flight and cracked it open while waiting for my flight to board. By the time I was on the plane, I was an absolute puddle. My young brain struggled to comprehend such an extreme level of social unrest and the human cost of political upheaval. Despite these unpleasant feelings, I was ready to dive deeper into this beautiful yet demanding story. This is not a tale about bravery, or defying odds, or even revenge in the traditional sense. This is a story about one man’s hope to redeem himself in the eyes of his oldest friend, and if that is not possible, at least do some good in the world for once.

Continue reading Seth's review >

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)

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

What listeners say about The Kite Runner

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14,733
  • 4 Stars
    3,773
  • 3 Stars
    947
  • 2 Stars
    282
  • 1 Stars
    207
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,568
  • 4 Stars
    2,316
  • 3 Stars
    658
  • 2 Stars
    150
  • 1 Stars
    106
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,958
  • 4 Stars
    2,051
  • 3 Stars
    536
  • 2 Stars
    137
  • 1 Stars
    122

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A Worhty Read

It might seem a difficult task to stay with a book whose protagonist is so weak, bullying and completely self-absorbed while at the same time thoroughly understandable. Yet, I could not stop; I could not turn it off. Set in the context of recent Afghan history, it describes a relationship of two children contorted by social limitations and a frustrated father-son relationship thwarted in part by the same factors. It is however, beyond all else, a tale of wounds and scars, both self-inflicted and not. Very disturbing and thoght-provoking on many levels. Though authors often do not make the best readers of their work, this author's presence adds to the texture of the prose.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

152 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

worth staying with

The first half of this story could have been about any whiny, privileged child trying to gain our empathy for having grown up in the shadow (you say "shadow", I say "great example") of a father of great character. Not new, not insightful.

BUT the second half takes off, as the narrator is thrust into a chance to redeem himself as a man, an Afghan, a muslim. The characters become much more intriguingly drawn and the world they traverse becomes palpable.

The skill of a reader is essential to my enjoyment of an audio book - a bad reader will make me abandon a good story. The author of the Kite Runner is an excellent reader of this tale. He speaks in an English that is clear even to my very provincial northern US ear, but with Afghan pronunciations that add musicality to the story and draw the listener fully into the author's world.

Well worth the reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

148 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A storyteller's story

I never thought, from the descrption of this book, that I would fall in love with it! The characters are so real and every page of the story is captivating! Written like a memoir, but definitely a novel ending in present day. The descriptions of the "old" Afghanistan made it come alive with the smells, sounds, tone, formality of life, family and what it means, and hierarchy of society. I really "rooted for" some of the characters yet there are moments you can hate them, with all their flaws. These, too, are easy to relate to. Now I feel like I understand a little bit more about Isalm and the people who worship this religion. I also have a deeper understanding of the Middle Eastern customs. The story, though.....The Story is what I would recommend this book for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

133 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

My Goodness, What a Audiobook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are audiobooks and there are GREAT audiobooks. This is a GREAT audiobook!!! After hundereds of audiobooks, only Nelson Demille's "The Gold Coast" is in the same class. I resisted listening to The Kite Runner for a long time due to the fact I thought a setting based in Afganastan just wasn't my cup of tea. I could not have been more wrong. The plight of Amir and Hassan is a story I'll not soon forget. The book is very well written and the pronuciation by the author made the book feel even more alive. It was an emotional rollacoaster I loved and as the book ended I cried. All I can keep saying is "For You a Thousand Times Over".

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

95 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A compelling story

This was one of the top ten audio books I've listened to. A compelling story, read by the author, that is not predictable and will have you listening to every word. It gave me an extraordinary sense of what Kabul was like before the Soviet invasion and after the Taliban took over. An absolute must-hear recording.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Standout Author Narration

We've learned the hard way that authors don't always make great narrators, but Khaled Hosseini is remarkably gifted in both roles. I have listened to the The Kite Runner again and again to be transported to Hosseini's Afghanistan and can appreciate it all the more because of his authentic pronunciations.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

For you my friend, a thousand times over

This book is written and read in the precise way it should have been. No blemishes. It is superb.

The book is not a lesson in Afghan history or Islam. If one is searching for a history lesson embedded in a good plot this is not the book. This is a story, a novel. A classic, gripping, engrossing story full of powerful characters. It will touch your soul and do not be surprised if you quietly wipe a tear or two during the listen as I did. Also, do not be surprised if you chuckle aloud while listening. The story is about a privileged weakling in Kabul and how he grows up with a moral burden, migrates to US and finally returns and to redeem himself. A folk hero like father, his servants son as a friend, a local bully and an immigrant Afghani General the characters are interesting and events around them thought provoking. All scenes in the book including the kite battles are well written. I could visualize everything and see it like a movie.

This was a good listen even through it did not fall under the genera of books I usually listen to. It was also a surprise as after a long time a non-thriller was so compelling and absorbing.

Go ahead. This book is for all taste buds. My favorite phrase form the book: For you my friend, a thousand times over.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unbelievably touching

I've listened to over 60 books in the past year and this is my favorite so far, by far!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Dramatic window into another life.

This book is worth a listen for the window it opens upon a life not lived by the majority of Americans going about our lives with our ipods and books-on-tape: a hard life, a basic one, yet filled with humanity and wisdom. The writing is good, and having the author read the tape-version helps keep the pronunciations accurate and the sentiment honest. The plotting has both predictable turns, and surprising ones where the author refuses to take the easy way out. This, more than anything, kept me reading because I was always certain there would be an element of the story I could not foresee. The last two hours of the book feel a little like a denoument that takes too long to resolve itself but upon further reflection I don't think there is any other way to tell the tale while being true to the characters. Amir's relationship with Hassan is heartbreaking and satisfying, alternately confusing and then brought into crystal clear focus by a plot turn. The brutality of the situation is Afghanistan is painted bluntly but not without artistry. Listen to this book if you like stories about foreign places and customs and tales of sons and their fathers. Overall, after listening to this book you will feel as if you have a friend from that part of the world. The author succeeds in putting the listener into the shoes of his characters. Finally, don't be surprised if you find yourself practicing the language of the characters while you're listening. There is something inherently fascinating about listening to the words spoken again and again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The author is the reader, but it turns out great!

Normally when my book club buddy and I see, read my the author we shy away. This was very well done. The author has very good diction and it's great to hear the proper pronunciation of the Afgan words. I felt that he was speaking from the heart. The book has justifiably gotten some outstanding press. I highly recommend this book, especially in the audible version.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful