About the author:
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California.Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Hosseini was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004. While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner, was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 48 countries. In 2006 he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in May of 2007. Currently, A Thousand Splendid Suns is published in 40 countries. Khaled has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for The Khaled Hosseini Foundation was inspired by a trip to Afghanistan Khaled made in 2007 with the UNHCR. He lives in northern California.
The summery:
Amir, a well-to-do Pashtun boy, and Hassan, a Hazara and the son of Amir's father's servant, Ali, spend their days in a peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the streets. Amir’s father loves both the boys, but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough. Amir also fears his father blames him for his mother’s death during childbirth. Amir wants his father’s love so much, so he tries to win in competition of running kite with the help of Hassan. A notoriously mean and violent older boy, Assef, wants the kite, but Hassan keeps the word for Amir "For you, a thousand times over." He refuses to give up Amir's kite, so Assef exacts his revenge, assaulting and raping him. Amir witnesses the rape but is too scared to help him. Amir reacts indifferently because he feels ashamed. He forces Hassan to leave so that he would not feel so guilty of the daily reminder of his cowardice and betrayal. Five years later, the Russians invade Afghanistan; Amir and Baba escape to America. There is not as good as in Pakistan, but they are more like father and son. Amir finishes college, becomes a writer as his own wishes, gets married with Soraya and they cannot have children. Amir embarks on a successful career as a novelist when he receives a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying from an illness. Amir goes back to Pakistan and knows about Hassan is his real brother and he has died and left a son who is in danger in Pakistan. After all the struggling, the pain of being cheated by his father and the guilty of betrayal his brother, Amir decides to take risk of being back in the war to find Hassan’s son, his own nephew Sohrab, back. The man who takes the boy away and takes Hassan’s life away is his childhood nemesis, Assef. Amir tries his best to get the boy out and almost dies for it. After lots of troubles, Amir finally takes the boy with him back to the USA. But so many pains the boy has suffered, he is emotionally damaged and refuses to speak or even glance at others. In the end Sohrab only shows a lopsided smile, but Amir takes to it with all his heart as he runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over."
My understanding:
The Kite Runner has many themes such as betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, love, social class, ethnic tensions and the cruel of war. Through the whole novel, I smiled and cried, cheered and anguished. I enjoyed the joyful and painful of all the up and down. Of all those themes, one impressed me most—love is always the best way to redemption. The protagonist Amir is a coward at first, that’s what his father has said “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything.” Whenever he meets with problems, his fellow Hassan will always stand up for him and keeps the word “For you, a thousand times over.” On the contrary, Amir has no courage to stand up for him even has no courage to admit they are friends, in that he feels guilty, but he is such a coward that he not only betrays their friendship but also abandons him in the most cruel way. He takes the guilty along through all those years and does not have a minute to feel relieved. After the suffering, he wants a way to be better again. In the end, he tries his best even risks his life to save Hassan’s son, and makes every effort to save the boy’s spirit. At that time he takes responsibility for the boy, he finishes a redemption that is full of tears and blood. Our life may not be as dramatic and complicated as Amir’s, but we still have something in common. Sometimes we are coward as Amir, we cannot stand up for our friends even our family members in that we are afraid of hurting ourselves; Sometimes we hurt our lovers for self –protection reasons. We feel so guilty for our betrayal and so ashamed that we want to avoid meeting them, but we know escapism is not the right choice, we won’t feel better until we turn back and face our mistakes. Amir tells us only love can get our courage back, only love can release us and finally get redemption.
About The Kite Runner
《the Kite Runner》热门书评
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为你,千千万万遍!——再读《追风筝的人》
9有用 0无用 夏日飞雪Sara 2011-07-14
“为你,千千万万遍。”再次看完了《追风筝的人》,不得不感慨卡勒德.胡赛尼温暖细腻的笔触。这句话,在我心里久久回荡,于我们每一个人而言,尘世间艰难的旅途中,是否有人能够像哈桑对阿米尔那样“千千万万遍”,挺身而出不曾有一句怨言。“哈桑曾经深爱过我,以前无人那样待我,日后也永远不会有。”阿米尔明晰,当鱼尾...
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善良与天堂同在
6有用 1无用 Luna 2010-03-01
每天地铁上翻几页,偶尔不敢抬眼只是怕别人看到眼里噙满的眼泪。哭哭笑笑地,好不容易看完了。 首先说,这本书写得非常漂亮。我没读过译本,不敢作比较,但是原版确实值得一看。语言很不错,难度适中,情节也不老套。 ...
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A thousand times over
4有用 0无用 FranLeeeeo 2014-04-24
ps: After quitting English for a whole year , I decided to picked it up and finish this book review in English . It's a little hard to describe my...
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Hope
2有用 0无用 monomania 2010-09-13
If a book is both gripping and thought-provoking,then i think it's a good book even though it is a best-seller.The Kite Runner is such a book,while it...
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A fair story on friendship and atonement
2有用 0无用 哈哈哈哈 2010-07-07
Reading is not hard, but encountering a book depends on luck.Although this book gave me few affections or thoughts, I still appreciate the opportunity...
书名: the Kite Runner
作者: Khaled Hosseini
出版社: Bloomsbury
出版年: 2007
页数: 324
定价: £7.99
装帧: paperback
ISBN: 9780747594888