The Kite Runner (novel)

The story is on behalf of Amir, a boy from Kabul , a Pashtun nationality (the national majority in Afghanistan ). He lived with his father Baba, a wealthy man, and his mother died during childbirth. Since childhood, Amir thought that his father did not love him, could not forgive him the involuntary guilt in the death of his wife. From an early age, a friend in Amir’s games was Hassan, the son of a servant of his father, a Hazara (one of the national minorities of Afghanistan, who were often treated as “second-rate” people). However, Amir’s father treated Hassan very warmly, made expensive gifts for him, and Amir was often jealous of his friend for his own father. Hassan was completely devoted to Amir, considered him his best friend, stood up for him in fights and forgive him for teasing, for example, over his illiteracy.

In 1975, in Kabul, as usual, there was a massive competition for the launch of kites, one of the favorite annual events among the people. The winner was the one whose snake longest remains in the air, "cutting off" the rest of the fishing line, and who will pick up the last one fallen. Amir decided that winning in a competition would help him get his father back. He and Hassan won the first victory, their snake remained in the air the longest, but it was necessary to find the snake that fell last. Hassan had a talent to predict where the snakes would fall, and he ran to catch him. Seeing that for some reason he wasn’t returning for a long time, Amir ran to look for him and saw how his old enemy, the young man Assef, distinguished by nationalist views and a tendency toward sadism, and a couple of his buddies mocks Hassan. Out of fear, Amir did not intervene even when Asef raped Hassan. Amir did not tell the grown-ups what had happened, nor Hassan that he saw (whether Hassan saw him, he did not know). Feeling guilty before Hassan, Amir decided to end their relationship, although he tried to return the old friendship.

To do this, Amir conceived meanness: he took the watch and the money given to him for his birthday, and threw it at Hasan. He understood what had happened, but he nevertheless took the blame for himself — his devotion to Amir had withstood this test. Although Baba forgave Hassan and begged his father Ali to stay in his house, he nevertheless went with his son to another city. In the same year, the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan. To escape the war, Baba and his son emigrated to the United States . There, Baba, working at a gas station and reselling things, was able to give his son a normal education. Time went by. Amir fell in love with an emigre girl and married her, but they had no children

Years have passed. Amir's father died of cancer, and he became a writer.

In 2001, an old friend of his father before the death of Amir opened a family secret. It turned out that Hassan and Amir were father brothers, but they were hiding it from both boys. It also turned out that Hassan knew about the betrayal of Amir, but he forgave him and considered him a friend until the end of his life. Unfortunately, Hassan died with his wife during ethnic cleansing during the Taliban rule, but his little son Sohrab survived, and was sent to an orphanage. And now Baba’s friend offered Amir to atone for the blame before Hassan: save, take the boy out of the country. Amir agreed.

Arriving in Afghanistan, Amir saw with horror what his homeland had become - once sunny and beautiful, but now bombarded land. He sought out an orphanage , where they had sent Hassan’s son, but it turned out that the boy was no longer there, he was taken, like many other children, by some Taliban, a lover of bacha-bazi ; the director of the orphanage could not refuse the pervert. Amir has found this Taliban. It turned out to be the same Assef: Sohrab really was with him as a regular sex toy. Assef recognized Amir and cruelly beat him mocking him. Fortunately, thanks to Sohrab's courage, both of them managed to escape.

It turned out that taking a child out of Afghanistan to the USA is very difficult. Sohrab agreed to any option other than an orphanage. Amir promised him, but he almost broke his promise that was the last straw for Sohrab: the experience of violence and Amir’s readiness to break the word prompted the boy to attempt suicide. He survived, but withdrawn into himself. Amir took Sohrab to the USA, he and his wife adopted him, surrounded him with care, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not return to normal life ... And then one day Amir, having seen the seller of kites, bought one for Sohrab. When Amir launched the snake, Sohrab smiled at him for the first time. Completing the story, the author leaves the readers hope for the best ...

• Amir ( eng. Amir ) - a boy from a wealthy Afghan family. From early childhood, he was fond of writing stories, all his life he wanted to become a writer, disregarding the more common interests of boys, to the dismay of his father. By religion Sunni , but almost no practitioner. Differs uncertainty, reaching to cowardice.
• Baba ( eng. Baba ) - Amir's father. Raised also in the Sunni tradition, by ideology tended rather to “soft” atheism , while respecting ancient traditions. After the death of his wife, he entered into an intimate relationship with the wife of his servant Ali, from this connection Hassan was born. This episode of life was a turning point for Baba, he considered it a grave sin, requiring atonement, and all his later life he tried, as he could, to help other people. Notable for courage and independence.
• Hassan ( eng. Hassan ) - the son of a servant, half-brother and milk brother Amir. All his life he was fervently devoted to Amir, despite the fact that he had repeatedly betrayed him. Shiite religion.

In the author's afterword, Hosseini mentioned some autobiographical motifs in the novel: he, like the main character, lived in Kabul and at an early age emigrated with his family to the United States. At the same time, the writer, like his hero, also came many years later to his homeland - but after writing the novel.

In the novel “ Shahnameh ” is mentioned more than once: Hassan loved the stories from this book, he even named his son after one of the characters - Suhrab .

Roman won the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize in 2004 ( English Exclusive Books Boeke Prize ) ^[1]

In 2005, the novel ranked third in the list of US bestsellers . ^[2] In 2009, The Millions magazine published lists of the best books of the millennium , and the novel was included in the twenty best books in a reader's vote (it was not included in the expert list of the best ones). ^[3]

• In 2007, Marc Forster based the novel on the same film .

• The Official Website of Khaled Hosseini (Eng.)
• Interview with the author about The Kite Runner in the radio program BBC World Book Club (English)
• Kite Runner is a reading group favorite for second year running on Guardian News (English).
• Y. Volodarsky “For a wide range” (inaccessible link) - “Weekly 2000”, No. 8 (547) February 25 - March 3, 2011