The Kite Runner

The club members talked about their favorite characters. My favorite character was Sohrab, Hassan's son. Other members thought Hassan's father Ali was a good character. All members agreed that The Kite Runner was a well written, beautiful book. We learned about Afghanistan and the culture. We learned about kite fighting, which was compared to the war.

The book is rich and there were so many areas to discuss. If you plan on reading the book and haven't read it yet, please do not finish reading this blog. The Kite Runner is predominately composed of male characters. It is the story of the friendship between a wealthy boy (Amir) and the son of his father's servant (Hassan). Amir and Hassan grow up in the same household. Amir vies for his fathers attention and often feels like an outside in this father's life. Shortly after the Russians invade Afghanistan, Amir and his father end up leaving Afghanistan and eventually live in America. This is where Amir father's dies. Amir returns to Afghanistan after he is older and married to Soraya. That is when he discovers that Hassan is his half brother. He goes on to find out that Hassan married after Amir left Afghanistan and he has a son. Hassan and his wife were murdered by the Taliban. Amir attempts to adopt his Hassan's son, Sohrab. Adopting an Afghanistan boy is not as easy as it sounds. Amir does end up bringing Soharb back to the US, but Soharb is not the same boy that left Afghanistan. He does not speak. The book's ending is a beautiful, poignant scene with Amir and Sohrab kite fighting and a slow smile coming to Sohrab's face. This one's a keeper.