The Kite Runner (Kyle Johnson) (Ben Menard) (Kevin Stefanik)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a piece of literature published by The Berkley Publishing Group. In the version I read it was 371 pages. I found this book off the summer reading list for the seniors.
The Kite Runner is a novel that focuses around an afghan boy, named Amir, who grew up in a rich family with his father, Baba, and his servant's son, Hassan, who is also his only friend. During the kite running competition Hassan ran and grabbed the last kite for Amir and as a result was cornered by an older group of boys who wanted the kite, but Hassan would not give the kite away and subsequently was raped while Amir, who saw the events from a hiding place, did nothing because of his fear. After not being brave enough to protect his friend from the older boys Amir was so ashamed that instead of reconciling with his friend he instead staged Hassan's father of thievery and they were fired. After this the Taliban started to invade so Amir and Baba went to America and became merchants at a bazaar. This is where Amir met his future wife Soraya. After beginning a successful writing career Amir got a call from an old friend, whose name is Raheem Khan, and got offered a chance at redemption for his past deeds. Raheem told Amir that Hassan's son was an orphan and was could use his help. After doing some investigating Amir discovered that Hassan's son, Sohrab, was being held by the same man who had raped his father, Assef, who was now one of the leaders of the Taliban. Amir soon confronted Assef and the result was a fight to the death that Amir won with a little help from Sohrab. After escaping Amir than took Sohrab back to the United States and adopted him.
I believe that the audience intended for this book is definitely young-adult to adult because it deals with very mature subjects, such as rape and the Taliban. In my opinion the author's writing style is very complicated. At times it is very somber and depressing, but times it is almost as if he is reminiscing. It is like a man telling a story but instead of omitting the parts he is ashamed of he tells them but they depress him as he says them. An example of the somber style can be seen here “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me… I actually aspired to cowardice”(77) and an example of the more reminiscent style can be seen here “ “Well?” “The general accepted.” I let out a burst of air. Sat down. My hands were shaking.”
This novel had many excerpts that struck me in a certain way. One of these is “I don't know at what point I started laughing, but I did. It hurt to laugh, hurt my jaws, my ribs, my throat. But I was laughing and laughing. And the harder I laughed the harder he kicked me, punched me, scratched me.(289)” This passage struck me because it shows that even though he was getting pummeled, he finally was at peace with himself for deserting his friend and that was all that mattered to him at the time. Another striking passage was “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me… I actually aspired to cowardice. (77)” This struck me because I realized that almost everyone at one time or another will flee from a problem that they wish they didn't and should you learn from it and grow to be a better person it wasn't a total loss. One final quote that made me think was “When you lie you steal a man's right to the truth.” This struck me because it made me ponder. I've always considered stealing to be one of the worst things you can do but I had never really thought about lying being the same.
All around the book was superb in connecting to the reader. At times, I saw that I could relate to Amir. I found that I related to him most when he was dealing with things that everyday people have to deal with such as cowardice, love, and regretting things he had done. There were also times where I found that even if I couldn't relate to what he was doing the book still spoke to me because everyone wants redemption for some of their past wrongs. In general the book was all around great and I could recommend it to anyone because it deals with themes that everyone can relate to.

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Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 356

I found this book at the South Hadley High School Library

Summary:This book is based in the 70's in Afghanistan, the boys Amir Hassan, who is his loyal friend and son of their Hazara servant Ali, are raised together in Amir's father house, they like playing in the streets and flying kites on the streets of a peaceful Kabul. Amir feels that his wise and good father Baba blames him for the death of his mother in the delivery. Also that his father loves Hassan compared to him. Amir feels a great respect for his father's best friend Rahim Khanand he supports his intention to become a writer. After Amir winning a competition of flying the kites. Hassan runs to bring a kite to Amir, but he is beaten and raped by a bully Assef in an empty street to protect the kite Hassan hides and watches his best friend get raped and beaten. On Hassan birthday Amir hides his watch so that Hassan father thinks he lost it to get back on Hassan since he didn’t help him when he was being raped. In 1979, the Russians invade Afghanistan and Baba and Amir escape to Pakistan. In 1988, they have a simple life in Fremont, California, when Amir graduates in a public college and that means a lot to Baba. Later Amir meets his woman Soraya and they get married. In 2000, after the death of Baba, Amir is a famous novelist.

Who Should Read This Book:I believe that this book is mainly for an audience ranging from high school till an adult.

Writing Style: This books is very descriptive and uses very intellectual words in this story. It has a form of imagery when it talks about them flying their kites. Also there is a lot of historical terms throughout the book also.” According to tradition , Soraya’s family would have thrown the engagement party, the Shirini-khori-or “Eating of the sweets” ceremony. Then an engagement period would have followed which would have lasted a few months. Then the wedding which would be paid for by Baba.” (Hosseini 169)

Stuck Out to Me:

“The soldiers laughed. One of them mad a squealing sound. I told Hassan to keep walking , keep walking.” (Hosseini 7)This stood out to me because Hassan mother died giving birth to him and I felt really bad for him when those awful soldiers were saying that

“On a high mountain I stood, And cried the name of Ali, Lion of God. O Ali, Lion of God, King of Men, Bring joy to out sorrowful hearts.”(Hosseini 11) This song meant a lot to Hassan because this is what his mother sung to him when she was inside of her.

“In the eighteen years that I lived in that house, I stepped into Hassan and Ali’s quartes only a handful of times.” (Hosseini 6) This shows that Hassan is embarrassed to bring him into his house since they lived in a shack and they live in the nicest house in all of Kabul.

How did I interact with the Book:
I really enjoyed The Kite Runner it was a wonderful book and I learned a lot about the way kids and adults live in Afghanistan. Also I liked how Ali and his father helps out Hassan’s family since they were very poor. Also that Ali would stick up for Hassan whenever people talked about his mother. I could say that I couldn’t really relate to this book since their type of life is totally different than a average American boys life.

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The book that I have chosen for the outside reading project is The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. It was published by Riverhead Books, and it contains 324 pages.
I found the book off the Summer Reading List, and I went to the South Hadley Public Library to go grab it.
In this piece of literature The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, the young Amir loses his house, and one of his best friends Hassan. Amir and Hassan are very close friends that live in Kabul, Afghanistan in their young years. Hassan is loyal, and respectful to Amir, being very protective and honorable towards him. It is only after Amir sells out Hassan to Amir’s father by lying and telling him that he has stolen money and a watch, in which Hassan’s father decides that should leave because of what has happened. Amir and his father are forced to leave to go to Pakistan when the Russians invade, and then they end up in Fremont, California. Amir graduates from college at the age of twenty in California, and tells his father that he wants to become a major in English, and his father becomes upset and becomes ill a few months later. Amir meets a girl named Soraya, which he soon marries during the time of his father’s death. Amir goes back Pakistan and finds out that Hassan was living in his old house after Amir and his father left. He found out that Hassan was shot and killed with his wife when refusing to leave their home, and he finds out that Hassan was Amir’s half-brother. Amir takes in Hassan’s son Sohrab and takes care of him, and eventually brings him to America to be safe.
I think that the audience who would like to read this book should be teens to adults because of the mature content in this piece of literature.
Hosseini’s writing style is an understanding, more mature type of writing style. This quote just shows the understanding of being mature at a point of a young age, "…there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?"( 17)
One passage that really gets my attention is, “I had played a cruel game with Hassan that day, toyed with him, asked him if he would chew dirt to prove his loyalty to me. Now I was the one under the microscope, the one who had to prove my worthiness. I deserved this.” (184) This passage strikes me because most people do not really own up to their faults. The second passage that struck me was, “Everywhere I turned, I saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty.”(4) This quote struck my attention because it seems that he is just realizing how much Hassan does for him. My last passage that caught my attention was, “It was Homaira and me against the world... In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things.”(99) That passage really just struck me because it made me think of the world, and my perspective of it against me.
This book made me think about my life in many different ways. One major way that I could relate to in this book is how I am somewhat like Hassan. I am an honest, very loyal friend to all of my friends. The part that truly relates to me is that sometimes, I don’t get treated as great as I treat my friends. I still am loyal to them though because I respect them, just as Hassan respected Amir.