Book: The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is shaped by two stories: the deep friendship between a privileged Afghani boy named Amir and Hassan, the son of his father’s servant, and Amir’s desperate struggle to win his father’s love. When Amir is forced to choose between Hassan and his father after a kite-running contest, his life is changed forever. Set against the backdrop of a turbulent period of Afghan history, from just before the Russian invasion in the late ‘70s through the brutal Taliban regime twenty-five years later, The Kite Runner also tells the story of a country torn asunder by war and religious and ethnic conflicts when Amir, having moved to America, return to Afghanistan after twenty years to make restitution for his betrayal of Hassan as a boy.
While Conversations ’06 will focus on issues of power in the novel, the story also addresses intolerance, violence, cultural conflicts, friendship, family relationships and – perhaps most profoundly – guilt and redemption.
Publisher Resources for the Book and Author
Book Reviews
The New York Times, Edward Hower
The San Francisco Chronicle, David Kipen
Asian Review of Books, Sue Bond
BookBrowse for reader reviews and other resources
MostlyFiction.com Book Reviews, Mary Whipple
UTA Testimonials About the Book
The Kite Runner reminds us not only of the value and importance of the gifts of tolerance, understanding, and friendship but of the devastation and hurt that spring from hatred, intolerance, and oppression. With all of the conflict in both today’s world as well as in recent events here at UTA, readers of this book cannot help but feel compelled to reconsider many social issues that should concern everyone, both abroad and at home. - Sally Hoelke, College of Engineering
The minute I finished Kite Runner, I called my father to tell him I had a book I was sending him to read. We enjoy discussing anything and everything, and we often share books with each other so we can talk about them. We live in different states, so normally we wait until a visit to hand over a book or to discuss one. The minute he finished the book he called me to say, “I just finished Kite Runner and I had to call you so we could talk about it.”
This is the very reason why Kite Runner is such a great choice for the new OneBook program here at UT Arlington. A component of the OneBook program is Conversations. A theme is chosen from the book and the idea is that this theme will be threaded into events and classroom discussions across campus. The theme chosen from Kite Runner is “power.” The possibilities for classroom discussion regarding “power” are endless, whether a student is sitting in a Math class, a History class, or an English class. I’ve read so much lately about what is wrong with education today. I’m excited about the OneBook/Conversations program because I think it will enhance the learning process on our campus and that is definitely something good.
My hope is that the UT Arlington community – students, faculty and staff – will embrace this new program. - Leigh Young, University Advising Center and returning student
It really gave me an insight into a culture so unlike my own. It was a step into an Afghanistan that I never saw on TV. It was hard to put down because of all the twists and turns; you’d think you knew what was going to happen and then something else happened that changed the whole story. It showed that everyone has their own faults and that it is only in our own faults that we can truly be ourselves. - Amanda Flores, current student
The Kite Runner is both a story specific to Afghanistan and applicable to universal political and social tensions. It speaks to relationships between dominant social and political classes and under classes and how these societal norms impact individual relationships. It shows how external interference in a society can cause total upheaval in the core interrelationships in the society. It speaks of how a children’s game, like kite flying, encompasses the love of country and its culture and the longing for an earlier time when life’s rules were simpler. It also acknowledges the realization that those simpler times were flawed and were culpable for the devastation in the society. – Nancy Rowe, Office for Information Technology
After teaching at UTA as an adjunct instructor in the English department for several years, I now have a full-time job elsewhere. I will miss much about the University—its diversity, its cultural offerings, its particular faculty and students. In many ways, I am loath to leave. One of the most gratifying things about having been there, however, is the adoption of The Kite Runner as the “OneBook” chosen for incoming freshmen to read. In a way, it is part of the small legacy I leave behind.
As a teacher of World Literature, a Bahá’í, and one of the faculty members who had a vote on the selection, I voiced strong endorsement of the text. Set in Afghanistan, the novel thrusts the American reader into a different reality—the Middle East. While a host of other works, both classic and contemporary, and largely European or American, were suggested, The Kite Runner stood out. For me, it promoted my own goal of cultivating worldmindedness, of understanding “the other” (in terms of culture, religion, social standing, values)—something we need as our world becomes increasingly diverse and interdependent. The novel would help students understand situations in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel, I reasoned. It also reaches out in a personal way, with themes to which we can universally relate—childhood traumas, family and friendship issues, guilt, shame, redemption, power, love. But the single most important reason for my endorsement of the book was the effect it had on my students in World Lit.
In the beginning, they voiced resistance. We don’t have time to read a novel, they complained. And why this one? I warned them that there were no cliff notes, and the best course of action in any case was to plunge into it and try to enjoy the experience. They were still dubious. But before the first section of reading was due, several students rushed in, excited. “Dr. Perry—I hate reading, but I loved this book. Do you have any more like this I could read?” responded one student from Dubai. “I couldn’t put it down all weekend,” one mother of six declared. “My kids went hungry.”
While not every student responded favorably, most did, and I could tell from the ensuing discussions and papers that students had actually read the novel, word by word. I leave UTA with a keen satisfaction that the effects of this book will ripple out and create greater interest in reading as well as understanding and compassion in the world. I am also delighted to share some of the comments of my students, below, who have given permission for their names to be used. Perhaps these comments will relieve and inspire the incoming freshmen and give teachers some ammunition against the resistance they may encounter. And who knows? As more students have a common reading experience through this work, perhaps their epiphanies will evoke new awareness that might actually change the world. - Dr. Anne Perry, Adjunct Instructor, Dept. of English
“I hadn’t read a book in 12 years, not once. I started reading The Kite Runner and couldn’t put it down. This is an excellent book and a very easy read.” - Greg Sandler, Student
“The Kite Runner is a fictional novel based around true events. It is a real eye-opener for anyone unfamiliar with Middle-Eastern culture. The Kite Runner is also a fantastic work of literature and should be required by all universities with a bent toward modern society and its literature.” - John Kretzer, Student
“I loved reading The Kite Runner; it is now my favorite book. I gave it to my brother and he completed it in a couple days and loved it, too. We talked about it for like an hour.” - Zahra Jafry, Student
“Comment for The Kite Runner: I’m not a person who ‘loves’ to read, but The Kite Runner is a type of book that once you pick it up you won’t be able to put it down until you are finished. That is the greatness of the book.” - Thien Dao, Student
“Between its descriptive images and complex characters, this book grabs you and pulls you in; it doesn’t spit you back out even after you’ve finished it. You’ll put the book down and walk away, thinking about Amir, the kite runner.” - Amanda Murphy, Student
“Whether one relates to the characters or not, The Kite Runner always kept one wanting more. I had to finish the book so that I could know what became of Amir and Hasan. This book was well written and while reading it, I felt as if I was the fly on the wall watching these characters grow, unbeknown to them. It was extremely easy to visualize the sequences in my mind. I liked this book so much that even at the end of it I hoped for more.” - Abraham Diaby, Student