My opinion about the "Kite Runner"

In my opinion this book contains one of the most dramatic stories that I have read. When I was reading the novel in one paragraph I was very happy and fascinated but in the next paragraph I was very sad or angry. This made that the story was very dramatic but amazing and funny.
In the other hand I consider that the book has an excellent rhythm because it contains a lot of information about the situation in Afghanistan. The novel describes and shows the sad events and the different problems in Afghanistan. With these events I could imagine how they lived and knew about their customs, traditions, culture, religion and ethnic groups.
In definitely “The kite runner” is a best seller which contains an amazing story of regret and redemption, friendship and family, and finally it transcends all boundaries to find a place in the heart of every reader.

This is the list of vocabulary

kite n. plaything consisting of a light frame covered with tissue paper; flown in wind at end of a string
orphanage n. a public institution for the care of orphans
slingshot n. a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones
boogeyman n. an imaginary monster used to frighten children
dead ringer n. a person who is almost identical to another
harelip n. a congenital cleft in the middle of the upper lip
betray vb. act treacherously towards (one's country) by aiding the enemy
Atrophy vb. A wasting away of the body or of an organ or pat, as from defective nutrition or nerve damage
Carcass n. The dead body of an animal, especially of a slaughtered animal after removal of the offal.
Vehement adj . Zealous; impassioned: a vehement defence "Intense"
Relentless adj .Unyielding, severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting
Trepidation n. Tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation
Rape vb. force (another person) to have sexual intercourse with him against their will.
Redemption n. a thing that saves someone from error or evil.
playmate n. a friend with whom a child plays
monarch n. a sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor.
loyal n. showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.
envelopes n. a flat paper container with a sealable flap, used to enclose a letter or document.
embassy n. the official residence or offices of an ambassador.
bury vb. put or hide underground.
mulberries n a small tree with dark red or white loganberry-like fruit. "Moras"
hills n. a naturally raised area of land, not as high or craggy as a mountain.
ache n. a continuous or prolonged dull pain
short cut n. an alternative route that is shorter than the one usually taken
spuose n. a husband or wife considered in relation to their partner
hips n. a projection of the pelvis and upper thigh bone on each side of the body.
gutter n. a shallow trough beneath the edge of a roof, or a channel at the side of a street, for carrying off rainwater. "Canalon"

Chapter 25 “In Afghanistan the most important was the end”

Amir began to pray  because Sohrab lost a lot of blood but the doctors realized many blood transfusions of red cells and the doctors can  fortunately save to Sohrab.
They traveled to California where Soraya, the wife of Amir, was waiting for them. A beautiful room was assigned for Sohrab but the insecurity which Sohrab felt was huge because he was raped and betrayed.
The Sohrab’s insecurity was a problem because since Sohrab arrived to California, he never had smiled but in one party, Amir and Sohrab saw kites flying and Amir invited to Sohrab to run one but he didn’t want. Amir told Sohrab the story about the final tournament of kites in Afghanistan in which Amir and the father of Sohrab won.

The book said that the Americans never said the end but in Afghanistan the most important was the end of the troubles. Finally the end in the novel is as Afghanistan, they ended with the troubles and they were happy running and cutting the kites.

Chapter 24 “Sohrab has problems”

Amir left the hospital and tried to get a American VISA and passport to Sohrab. They travel to the American embassy in Afghanistan for searching help, but when they arrived, the lawyer gave them bad news. The bad news was that the Sohrab’s parents were murdered and none stated the death of his parents when this occurred. Therefore, Amir couldn’t achieve the VISA because none could check that Sohrab doesn’t have parents.
For this situation, Sohrab was very sad and unhappy and the only opportunity that Sohrab has is to wait two years more in an orphanage but Amir called for his wife, Soraya, in California and he said all the events that they had had. Soraya gave to Amir another opportunity to get the VISA, this opportunity is through her father. When Amir received this news he was happy but when he went to give the news to Sohrab, he had an unexpected event. Sohrab was trying to commit suicide in the bathroom.

Chapter 23 “I found to Sohrab but now what I need to do with him?”

After the great battle between Amir and Asseft, the main character, Amir, was in the hospital because he could lose his life for many knocks in the body. He described in detail the difficult days in the hospital because he was in recovery for many days. When he was in the hospital, he read a letter that Rahim Khan sent before depart.

In the letter Rahim Khan said that he knew the true about the Hassan’s rape, which surprises to Amir because Amir all the time thought the only people that knew the true about the rape were Asseft, the friends of Asseft, Hassan and Amir, but now one person more knew the cruel story. Rahim in the letter mentioned that it was main reason for which he called to Hassan. Now Amir needs to search one place for Sohrab because in the orphanage the most of the children are raped.

Chapter 22 “The revenge”

Amir finally met with the Taliban man who had the son of Hassan. But the face of the Taliban man was very familiar. The Taliban was the first in recognized to Amir because he never forgets a face. This man was the worst enemy for Amir and Hassan. This man was Asseft the boy who raped to Hassan when they were children. Asseft was still doing damage but now with the son of Hassan, probably Asseft was the man who killed Hassan and Farzana.

This is the most important part of the book because Amir could revenge or die. Asseft was a leader of the Taliban regime and he decided confront to Amir, but he was a bad man and he decided to have Sohrab, the nephew of Amir, seeing the fight between Amir and Asseft.

They fight for much time and Asset once more was winning the fight. Amir was undefended but Sohrab always carry with him a slingshot as his father and Sorahab used it to hit in Asseft’s eye.

“My old Kabul doesn’t exist” Chapter 21

The owner of the orphanage said to Amir that the man who had his nephew was in the Stadium of Kabul. Farid and Amir were traveling to the Stadium but in the route Amir recognized the street of his house. He visited his house, but it was completely different. The Taliban regime had destroyed a large part of his house. When he arrived to his house, he was remembered all the experiences that he had had with Hassan, Baba, Ali and Rahim Khan.

Finally Amir and Farid arrived to the Stadium of Kabul. But an unexpected event happened into the Stadium. The Taliban regime was punishing the people that they considered like sinners. The situation in Kabul was completely different some years before. The old Kabul had disappeared because the entire city was controlled by the Taliban regime. When the sacrifice finished, Amir met with the Taliban, who had to Sohrab.

Chapter 20 “Where is Sohrab?”

Amir discovered the real situation in Kabul because the entire city was changed by the Taliban regime. He could have a trouble with a Taliban because he challenged him with the look but fortunately the man didn't do anything.
Amir searched to Sohrab in the orphanage of Kabul but the owner said that none boy had this name, however Amir knew that the owner was lying and Amir told him the entire story about his nephew. The owner understood the situation and finally he said the entire true about his nephew.

The owner perceived the desperation of Amir and tried to help him. The owner said him that Sohrab was with a Taliban and always this man visited the orphanage to take 1 or 2 children. The Taliban regime donated a good amount of money to the hundreds of children which lived in the orphanage, but in return the owner needed give to the regime Taliban the children that they need to rape or sell. Unfortunately Sohrab was one of these children.

Chapter 19 Amir searches to his nephew.

Amir was convinced by Rahim khan to search Sohrab. In spite of his pain, Amir decided to do his best effort to recover the son of his half-brother. This is the perfect opportunity to do the good things and give back all the facts that Hassan had done for Amir in their childhood.
Amir took a taxi, which was driven by Farid. The driver arrived to his house in Afghanistan. In this house, Amir lived the difficult situatuion that all the Hazaras had in Afghanistan.

The search was complicated because Sohrab was orphan and Amir only had a photograph where Farzana, Amir and Sohrab appeared which did the search more difficult. When they were searching in Kabul, Amir felt like a stranger because he had not visited Kabul for many years.
In my opinion these events can recover the bad things that Amir did to Hassan when he was a child. This is the opportunity that Amir was waiting.

Chap.18 “I never wished came back to Afghanistan”.

In this chapter, Amir knows the truth about his father and begins to remember all the phrases that Baba had mentioned about Hassan.  For example when Amir asked to Baba if he’d ever consider getting new servants and Baba said “This is his home and we’re his family”. Another example is when Amir was happy for his graduation and new car but Baba ruined his day with the comment: “I wish Hassan had been with us today”.

The disappointment that Amir had to his father was big, Amir considered to Baba like a theft, and he used his same words to define a thief. He remembered “When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth”. In effect, Baba was a thief because he had lied to Amir all his life.

The situation was very clear, Baba all the time had considered to Hassan like his son, but Amir never had seen this situation. 

Chapter 17 "Baba lied all the time"

The days for the Hassan’s family were happy, but the future for him completely changed because the Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, never waked up and died. On the other hand the Taliban regime killed to Hassan and Farzana because the Taliban regime said that they were stealing the house of Baba because the Hazaras couldn’t live in this beautiful house. Finally the baby of Hassan, Sohrab, was orphan.

Rhamin Khan gave some letters to Amir from Hassan; these letters had a summary of the Hassan’s life. The letters included a photograph in which appeared Hassan, Farzana and Sohrab. Amir read these letters but when he has finished it, Rhamin Khan said the truth about his call to him. The truth was that Ali was sterile and he couldn't have to Hassan. The question was: Who was the real father of Hassan? And the answer was “Baba” the father of Amir therefore Hassan and Amir were half-brothers. Baba had lied all his life.

Chapter 16 “The Hassan’s story”

The Amir’s friend, Rhamin Khan, tried to search Hassan and Ali in Hazarajat, when Rhamin finally found Hassan, Hassan introduced to his wife Farzana. She was a pregnant woman and they lived in a little house. Rhamin Khan asked about the life of Ali, buy they had bad news, Ali and one of his cousin were killed by a land mine outside of Bamiyan. Rahim asked to the couple if they could return to Kabul with him, but the couple at the begging said no, however they accepted the next day the morning.

Unfortunately, the Hassan’s wife, Farzana, gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, although 1 year after she was pregnant again. And one day, an unknown woman arrived to the house of Baba. This woman was Hassan’s mother. Hassan hated this moment but after some hours he forgave her. The days for the family of Hassan changed completely and were very happy. Farzana gave birth to a baby boy. This boy was Sohrab.

Chapter 15 “What is happening in Afghanistan”.

Amir arrives to Afghanistan, he went by taxi with Rahim Khan. He arrives to the address where was Rahim Khan. Amir began with a little description about his life in Fremont, California. He mentioned things such as the job, wife, Baba’s death and a few troubles in U.S.A.
However, Amir asked to Rahim about the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and Rahim said that the regimen was very worse. He thinks that at the beginning, the Taliban regimen could save Kabul of the Russian soldiers but it was worse because the Talibans don’t let them be humans.

In addition, Rahim Khan is still with life and he was living in the house of Baba because they sold the house to Rahim. But the house was very large and it was difficult to maintain. Nevertheless, Rahim tried to clean and maintain the house but he couldn’t do that. Finally Rahim try to find to Hassan and his father for helping him with his house and he found to Hassan.
In my opinion, this chapter is very interesting because Amir and Rahim describe the situation of Kabul between 1992 and 1996 when the Russian soldiers were changed by the Taliban regime. On the other hand they give us a little information about the Muslims.

Chapter 14 “Amir comes back to Afghanistan”

The general gave a cocker sapiniel to Soraya and Amir, his name was “Plato” because they thought in the adoption of a baby but it never happened because the General and Amir thought that an adoption was not an option when their blood has been maintained by many generations. The problem with the pregnancy increased between them because they wished a child, as consequence Amir was not well and he needs to change that.
On the other hand, Amir received a call from Rahim Khan. Rahim was very sick and Amir needed to come back to Afghanistan, because Rahim was the most important friend for Baba and also for Amir. His wife sometimes has listened about Rahim but she never met him.
A week later, Amir was sitting on a window seat aboard a Pakistani International Airlines flight. Finally he left his wife and now he goes to Kabul to see his friend Rahim Khan.

Chap. 13 “The wedding and an unexpected event”

Amir asked the Soraya’s hand in the house of the General Taheri. After that, the wedding was a success. This day was one of the happiest days for Amir and Soraya. The marriage included a lot of guests and family. Baba was very happy because, his only son was married. Altough Baba was sick, he was suffering cancer but this day for him was excellent.

Amir and Soraya lived with Baba because of his sick. Baba was taking medicine but one day he said that he doesn’t want medicine because he didn’t have pain. They closed the door and Baba never woke up.
Amir tells us how they bury to Baba. This event changed the life for Amir. When Baba died, Amir tries to have a son, Soraya and Amir were fertile but they couldn’t have a baby. The doctors called it “Unexplained Infertility”.

Chapter 12 “The Soraya’s hand”

All the days, Amir thinks in a woman. She is Soraya. Soraya is the daughter of the General Taheri. He is one of the most recognized generals in Afghanistan. But Amir in this moment have a trouble, his father have cancer. Although, one day, Amir said to Baba: “I want you to ask General Taheri for his daughter’s hand”. Finally the General Taheri accepted the request but Amir didn’t know the answer of Soraya.

Amir called to Soraya and asked if she accepted, but she had a condition. The condition was very simple. They needed to say if they had some secrets. Probably in this moment the future couple could say any hidden secret in their lives. Soraya had a little secret and she said it to Amir. But Amir never said his secret and never Soraya listened the story of the Hassan’s rape.

Chapter 11 “Fremont, California 1980s”

After the incidents in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba arrive to California. In this chapter Amir give us an introduction about how Baba and he lived in Fremont. Amir had his graduation from the high school at the age of twenty. This day for Amir was an excellent day, because he celebrated his achievement with his father in a bar of the city accompanied by beers, cigarettes, friends and strangers.

When the party finished, Baba gave a present to Amir, this was a beautiful car and Amir loved more this day but at the end of the party, a comment of Baba changed all the day completely. Baba said: “I wish Hassan had been with us today”. He hated this opinion because he was forgetting the previous life with his playmate Hassan.
In spite of this comment, the life of Amir was happy and one day he met Soraya probably his first love.

Letter for Khaled Hosseini.

I consider that the story is amazing because when I was reading the novel, all the time it has a great rhythm. I like that one paragraph you can be happy and in the next paragraph you can be very sad.
In the story the events that occur in Afghanistan show the different problems that lived this country. With these events I imagined how they lived and knew about his customs, traditions, culture, religion and ethnic groups.

Actually I don’t know what the end is but I think that the main character will continue with live but he will have a lot of problems related with concepts like the price of betrayal, the possibility of redemption and the influence of fathers over sons. 

Chapter 10 “Good bye Afghanistan”

This event takes place in March 1981, Amir and Baba left their lives in Kabul however they prefer to escape toward Pakistan because the situation in the district of Kabul was dangerous with the Russian soldiers.

They take a travel to Pakistan accompanied by 5 people but in this travel, they have a trouble with a particular soldier. One of the five people was a beautiful woman. The soldier previously mentioned tried to rape her, but Baba protected her, he confronted the Russian soldier and the solider shoot his gun, but the soldier was taking drugs and never shot to Baba. After that, another soldier offered apologies at the passengers.Finally Baba finished like a Hero for the other passengers.

This story serves to Amir for only one reason, he saw how his father protected the woman and he remembered and thought what he needed to do when the other boys raped to Hassan.

He must have protected Hassan but he couldn't protect him.

Chap. 9 Hassan and Ali said “Good bye”

After the party of Amir, he starts to open his presents, and he received a lot of things for example a Polaroid camera, a transistor, an elaborate electric train and several envelopes containing cash.
But these presents only serve for one purpose, when Ali and Hassan went out to shop the things for his home, Amir left the money and a watch in the house of Hassan. Amir set a trap for them and with this event Amir thought that his father would dismiss their servants.

Finally Baba speaks with Amir, Hassan and Ali, Amir knew that he was a guilty but when Baba asked to Hassan:"Did you steal the watch?", he lied and said: “I stole the watch and the money”.
Although, Baba forgives them, but Amir wasn’t satisfied because they had stolen in his house however it was a lie.
Hassan and Ali didn’t want to stay in this house for the rest of their lives because Amir knew the true, once more time he affected their lives and finally Hassan and Ali left the house of Baba.

Chapter 8 “The consequences of the betrayal”

Amir gave the blue kite to his father, but this victory for Hassan was a betrayal. The days between Amir and Hassan drastically changed because Amir didn’t want to see Hassan for nothing in the world. Amir passed the follow days doing homeworks in his room and he always rejects the invitations that Hassan sent him for going to read a book in the hill.

Amir felt guilt and he didn’t play with Hassan for the rest of his life. He has betrayed to his friend and he hasn’t made anything for help him.
In the Amir’s birthday, all the kids in the district had gone to the party, among them were Aseft and his friends, these boys were attended by Hassan. This moment was a trigger that influenced in Amir to take the worst decision in his life.
In conclusion, this chapter shows how Amir used Hassan for achieve his objective because in theory were friends but it was only a betrayal.

“Amir won the battle but lost a friend” Chap. 7

The next morning, Amir and Hassan run the kite. In the tournament up to 50 children run their kites but after a few hours the kite of Amir and Hassan compete versus a blue kite. If Amir win the tournament he would be a hero and his father would be proud of Amir for first time, because Baba always has resentment for the death of his wife.Finally they cut the blue kite and this is the trophy. 

Amir won the competition but an event unexpected happened. Hassan runs to search the blue kite while Amir is congratulated by the other friends, but Hassan doesn’t arrive and Amir goes to search him. When Amir find to Hassan, Hassan was fighting with Aseft and his two friends. Amir didn’t do anything and he only watched how the three guys rape to Hassan.

After the rape to Hassan, the life between Amir and he changed completely. Amir didn’t have the courage to fight and save his friend.

In conclusion, this chapter shows the main values of the novel such as loyalty, courage and friendship.

Chap.6 "How is the tournament?"

Every winter, districts in Kabul held a kite-fighting tournament. And if you were a boy living in Kabul, the day of tournament was undeniably the highlight of the cold season. Amir never slept the night before the tournament.

Amir gives the details of the tournament. The rules of the tournaments are very simple: they need to have a kite, they fight their kites versus Kabul's children, maintain the kite flying in the sky, cut the other kites and finally the last kite in the sky is the winner.

On the other hand, Amir explains how Hassan and he build their kites, they bought in the Bazaar the bamboo, glue, string and paper but sometimes Baba bought the kites with a shoe repairman, Saifo. He was also the city´s most famous kite maker but they prefer build their own kites.

Finally, Amir and Hassan relate the sensation that they had one previous day for the tournament. They describe this sensation such as a true battle, a war or a real fight.

Chapter 5 "An event changed Afghanistan forever."

The event mentioned in the previous chapter was a battle in Kabul with shootings, explosions and bombs. It was the start of new era which was described since the perspective of Amir.

The next morning, the monarchy was a thing of past, Daoud Khan had ended the reign. The same day, Amir and Hassan had a little discussion with Assef, the son of the Baba’s friend. In which they argued about the future of the Hazaras and Pashtuns. This discussion almost causes a fight between them.
In contrast, Amir gives us an introduction about how the constitutional monarchy was replaced by a Republic and how was the situation of Kabul in this moment. This change only affected the future of the Hazaras because this ethnic group is the poor class in Afghanistan.
In conclusion, this incident was the beginning of a big conflict in Afghanistan, which marked their lives forever.

"You and I are only playmates" Chapter 4.

Amir didn’t consider Hassan as his friend, but he said that they were only playmates, because Amir and his father were Pashtuns and Sunnies. On the other hand, Hassan and Ali were Hazaras and Shi’a. And nothing was ever going to change that.

Although, Amir and Hassan were good playmates and they enjoyed be together. For example, after the school, Amir read a lot of books for Hassan and they loved it because the stories always were amazing and fascinating.

Because of his creativity, Amir begins writing his first book. It was a little story which Amir read to Ali and Hassan but it was interrupted by an event that changed Afghanistan forever.

In my opinion, this chapter shows the main differences between two boys. However, these differences don’t have sense because in their childhood, they are living and playing together like friends.

Chapter 3 “Who is my father?”

The novel doesn't have the names of each chapter, but I will give a title to all the chapters. This chapter was named “Who is my father?” because all the episode, Amir is talking about his father. 

Baba builds an orphanage for children in Kabul because he became one of the richest merchants in this city. Amir sees Baba as the best father, but sometimes Baba only sees the world in black and white, for example, one day after the school they argue about a Mullah, a man who taught Amir in the school about Islam.

Amir was always learning things about Baba from other people, for instance, in the previous discussion, Baba said Amir: “There is no act more wretched than stealing”. The word steal was used referring to the assassin of the grandfather of Amir. In this discussion, we can deduce the great power that Baba had.

Finally, Amir listened a conversation of his father where he mentioned that Amir is not violent and probably he’ll never take over the business of Baba. Then, this could affect the growth of Amir, as consequence, this conversation causes an conflict with himself.

Relevant information about the second chapter.

In the second chapter, Amir remembers when he and his friend, Hassan, were children. They lived in the same house, although the owner of the house is the father of Amir. Hassan’s father is the servant and friend of the father of Amir (Baba). Moreover, he describes how the house of his father is. It is a beautiful and big house. The people in Kabul think that it is probably the prettiest house in the city.

Amir explains us all about his mother, Sanaubar, she hemorrhaged to death during his childbirth and his friend, Hassan, lost his less than a week after he was born.

On the other hand, Amir relates one history, where the soldiers disturb Amir and Hassan in the streets of Kabul when they went to the movie. It is a short history but the details show their difficult situation.

In the same chapter, he gives an introduction about the Hazaras and Pashtuns, after this, he shows the main differences between the two ethnic groups of Afghanistan.

In conclusion, this chapter gives the details of how was his life when he was living with his father and he exhibits the problems and advantages that he had when he was a child.

My first impression about "The kite runner"

Before I start reading the novel, I begin reading the recommendations of famous, news, journals and people. Most of them think that the book is an extraordinary novel which mentioned different concepts like the price of betrayal, the possibility of redemption and the influence of fathers over sons.

The title of the book apparently isn't related with the story. The novel is about Amir, a boy from Kabul Afghanistan, who describes the country and conflicts when Afghanistan’s monarchy fell through an invasion, this story is located between 1975 and 2001.

For the moment I only read the first and second chapters. In the first chapter Amir is located in December 2001, he has a short conversation with Rahim Khan who is a friend of Pakistan and for a moment he begins to remember some stories in the winter of 1975. He looked up and saw twin kites which remembered his family and friends. Probably for this moment the books was titled “The kite runner”.

Why did I choose the novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini?

The first thing I did was to find the list of best-selling books, because it contains the number of copies sold of each book and all the times these books are commonly read around the world. The list ensures that in most cases the books are interesting, amusing or with more content.

In the list, we have books such “A tale of two cities”, “The lord of the rings” and “The hobbit” but these books was published in 1859, 1954 and 1937 respectively. I was finding a recent book and I found “The Da Vinci Code (2003)” and “Angels and Demons (2000)” by Dan Brown. Dan Brown’s books are good choices but I read these books twice in English and Spanish.

I found “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini published in 2003 with 10 million of approximate sales and I chose this Novel because I don't read the book before and it would be interesting.

This is the link where I found the information about the list of best-selling books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books