Flying Without Wings

• Date: 26.09.2008
• Book: Kite Runner
• Author: MikeMcP

Review

Superior airport fiction from Hosseini, this is a traditional page turning yarn, but set against the unusual backdrop of the fall of Afghanistan and the events which ultimately led to the Taliban taking over and the current mess it is in.

While it is a history lesson of sorts, it is essentially a very personal story of redemption about the principal character Amir. The story follows the friendship between a childhood Amir and his best friend Hassan (The Kite Runner of the title), and through a series of events Amir betrays Hassan thus setting in motion a series of events which spans the rest of the book and sees Amir reach adulthood.

Set initially in Afghanistan, the action then switches to America for the middle section of the book, before returning to Afghanistan in the final third when Amir returns to make amends for past evils.

It’s a gripping, thoughtful read which effortlessly navigates through historical detail with human melodrama. I was pretty ignorant about Afghanistan when I began and not overly enthused about the prospect of learning more about the country, but the book draws you in and ultimately makes you understand today’s situation a little more clearly and empathatically.

The story telling is both straightforward and pacy, and occasionally shocking, and it is a classic ‘can’t put down book’ for about the first 200 pages or so anyway. It can sometimes treat the reader like they are dumb, overly explaining what certain Afghani words mean and even going so far to signpost what some characters stand for.

For example, in a scene towards the end Amir, now a man, is looking to adopt an Afghani boy and take him home to America. The immigration agent he meets is rude and unhelpful at first, but we do get some sense that there is a deeper, softer side to him, which is all done through the dialogue and is fair enough.

However just in case we don’t get it, the author then adds in a casual stranger who goes up to Amir and says ‘Oh he’s not usually like that, his daughter killed herself recently’. It was just unnecessary and a very obvious plot contrivance.

The final 75 pages become an almost Indiana Jones style action adventure which is out of kilter with the rest of the book and seemed like an overly convenient way to tie things up. It also felt like the author had a movie deal in mind, and indeed there was a movie made last year about the book. Haven’t seen it, but I plan to.

But all in all, well worth your time.