This is a brilliant, if at times harrowing story, that was made into a film in 2007. It tells the tale of Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy in Kabul, Afghanistan, who is best friends with his Hazara servant, Hassan. They have a very close relationship despite their immensely different places in society, which is often tested by the views of other children that they encounter, in particular the school and local bully Assef.
Following a local kite running tournament (in which tradition states that the greatest honour is given to the person who returns with the last kite remaining in the sky) Hassan bumps into Assef whilst trying to claim the kite for Amir, and is subjected to a brutal physical and sexual assault. Amir sees it all from a distance, but is so desperate for his father Baba's approval that he is more interested in claiming the kite, than helping his friend.
Racked with guilt at ignoring his friend in his most desperate hour, Amir resorts to cutting contact with Hassan believing it is the only way he can live with himself. He plants some valuables in the servant's hut so that they are forced to leave the house, and watches as Hassan remains loyal to him until the end, lying to Baba about stealing in order to protect Amir from the consequences of his plot.
Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Amir and Baba escape to America, where their riches are lost and they live in relative poverty. He goes to college and becomes a successful writer, marrying a girl he meets at a market, but they fail to have any children. His father dies, and years later he receives a letter, asking him to return to Afghanistan. It is there that he learns that Hassan is dead, and has left his son an orphan, amongst other shocking revelations, and the past that he has tried so hard to cover up, threatens to break the surface.
Considering that the novel deals with such dark subject matter, the language that Hosseini uses is exquisite at times, and he has a true talent for capturing things in a way unlike any other I have encountered in books before:
'I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.'
He uses metaphors so that there is no denying what is being discussed, yet it remains fresh and innovative. The following passage shows this to a certain degree, addressing Amir's feelings upon returning to Kabul for the first time since living in America.
'I stepped outside. Stood in the silver tarnish of a half-moon and glanced up to a sky riddled with stars. Crickets chirped in the shuttered darkness and a wind wafted through the trees. The ground was cool under my bare feet and suddenly, for the first time since we had crossed the border, I felt like I was back.'
One of the main themes throughout the book is the feeling of guilt and self-loathing that Amir faces after his decision to do nothing about the ordeal that Hassan suffered. The writer uses an interesting technique to tell the reader about these feelings without making it too obvious. In places, he seems to be explaining how another character must feel, but one can't help but see that it is due to Amir himself having had the same feelings that he can understand them so clearly. A good example of this occurs towards the end, when Amir takes Hassan's son Sohrab back to America with him:
'What he yearned for was his old life. What he got was me and America. Not that it was such a bad fate, everything considered, but I couldn't tell him that. Perspective was a luxury when your head was constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.'
I would highly recommend this book. It is a unique and complex story that manages to be both immensely delightful and sickeningly grim, showing the joys of childhood, but also the haunting effect that secrets can have upon life. A pensive read.
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