The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner is an exhilarating read. This novel was an original work, not just a borrowed plot from another successful book. I got very attached to the characters in this book. There are places in this book that are horrible in their reality, and others that are simply beautiful.

The story starts in urban Afghanistan, following the lives of two boys, one a poor servant, and the other the wealthy privileged child. The privileged child, Amir, is more of an intellectual, academic child, whereas Hassan, the servant child, can't afford school, and is left to having Amir read to him from his books. The two are good friends until a terrifying incident in an alley with the neighborhood bullies builds a barrier between them, a barrier of Amir's guilt. The celebrated overthrow of the Afghan Monarch, and the takeover by the Taliban is wonderfully interwoven with the plot.

I can't really give you much else without spoiling some part of the book. I would recommend this book to people over at least 14 because of the sheer magnitude of the actions of some characters. The end was good, and I can't think of a single string left untied. When I got to the end of the first section, I thought that would be the end of that story line, but not to fear, EVERYTHING comes back. This book was amazing in the way that all ends of the story fit together. It's like when you are working a Sudoku puzzle, and you get one number, and all of the sudden, ten more numbers fall into place. This book was excellent, and was definitely worth reading.