Jump, Dive and Roll

These are three words that I find befitting as a description for Khaled Hosseini's first novel The Kite Runner-- along with the kites that color the story, the novel itself jumps in and confronts many aspects of human nature. It has been a #1 New York Times Bestseller and it has quickly flown to the top of my favorites list, which is very difficult to do.

The story follows the life of Amir, an Afghani boy that learns about his own demons as well as those of his country. It is very rare that I will read a book and applaud the author--often the story is fascinating, but the voice is not sincere. Hosseini has managed on his first try to encompass the lives of every Afghani that has seen the wars, the ruin, the pain, and the realization of a lost country, in one story. I hesitate to use the word 'try,' as it assumes the author strove to create this, but I doubt it--it comes from a man who has grown up in Afghanistan. The voice of the story is his own. It is the voice we all would have shared if we lived those lives and it is the voice we hear in our tears as we weep for Amir, his family, his friends, and for every innocent person.

It is not a history book, but a great resource for learning history through story. The reader follows Amir from childhood through adulthood and experiences every pain Allah bestows upon him and his loved ones. His crises are not common, no 'someone stole my bubble gum' or 'I couldn't go to prom'--they are about survival, about religion and politics decapitating all one knows as good and safe, and about stealing the happiness of your closest friend.

The story revolves around a haunting winter day when one cowardly act changes the course of many lives. It tests Amir's relationship with the closest friend he ever had, Hassan, and teaches him that in the end, he must take charge of his destiny and most importantly, learn to forgive. Unable to stand up for himself, Hassan always steps in and saves him--yet when Hassan himself is raped by a neighborhood tormentor, Amir hides behind a wall and curses his inability to do anything.

Secrets, regrets, and redemption follow the characters from birth until death, and the understanding that nothing would ever return to normal is forever haunting. In the end, Amir learns that the one person he thinks of as a brother has indeed been so, but is no longer alive. Left is his only son Sohrab, who has been abducted by the very man who raped his father years ago. It is the journey to save his nephew and fix his mistakes that brings him back to his old home. It is where he hopes to make some amends.

Despite prior knowledge of the horrors that plagued Afghanistan for years, Hosseini incorporates a heart-wrenching event into his novel over and over again and reminds me of something I wanted not to exist: rape and the loss of innocence comes in many forms.