The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan Doctor now settled in US is an interesting story.
It’s the saga of every person from this sub-continent now settled somewhere else, who still remembers those good old days of his childhood in his own country which is no longer the same as he remembers it. It has changed form ever. Everyone would like to walk down the memory lane and remember those nostalgic moments of bliss, of those wonder years when life was innocent, so safe, so serene, uncomplicated, predictable, well defined within the narrow confines, finely balanced within the drawn limits of tradition, dictums, social norms and religious dogma.
The canvass of the story stretches across Afghanistan, US and Pakistan, and spans a period of nearly 20 years.Husseini is not a scholarly writer like Amitav Ghosh, yet he is a good story teller. His depiction of the Afghan landscape is pretty good. He manages to build his characters reasonably well though there is scope for improvement. Of course the story and the twists and turns are quite interesting and touching. A few situations in the story are very poignant.
The story in brief;
Amir is a young boy who lost his mother right at birth and was nursed by a domestic servant of lower caste who also has a son of same age, Hassan. Amir’s’s father, Baba, is a well established businessman of Kabul who is known for his principles and respected for his charitable work and social service.
Amir grows up with Hassain the servant’s son who is always there like a shadow to protect and defend Amir . He is happy to fulfil each and every desire of Amir and both share a deep friendship.In a violent confrontation faced by Hassan with the local bullies, Amir finds himself a mute spectator and does not step in to help Hassan because of fear and cowardice. This guilt of betrayal makes Amir push himself away from Hassan whom he cannot face. Hassan makes it all the more unbearable with his silent stares which mock Amir further. Amir knows that Hassan knows. Amir compounds his guilt further by pinning a theft charge on Hassan, and gets him thrown out of the house.
Soon Russians invade Afghanistan and Amir with his father flee Afghanistan and seek asylum in the US where Amir grows up to become a writer and gets married. The betrayal of Hassan always gnaws and haunts Amir and he always yearns for those days of innocence and pure joy that he spent in the company of Hassan.
After a period of nearly 20 years, after Baba’s death, an old friend of Baba summons Amir to Peshawar and breaks shocking news which makes Amir go to Talibanised Afghanistan to seek redemption and atone for his sins. The coward Amir finally manages to redeem himself and fights a deadly battle to rescue someone very important, and in the process of catharsis rids himself of the long suppressed guilt. The vivid journey back to Kabul and the agony of seeing everything that Amir loved and cherished in his homeland destroyed, and changed beyond recognition is the highlight of the book.
It is surely a touching story that brings a few lumps to the throat. The story is an ideal subject for a film and I hear that a movie is being made on this. I surely am waiting for it eagerly.