The Kite Runner

Genre: Drama
By Paramount Vantage
Directed by Marc Forster
Runtime: 122 minutes
Starring Khalid Abdalla (Amir), Homayoun Ershadi (Baba), Zekeria Ebrahimi (Young Amir), Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada (Young Hassan), Atossa Leoni (Soraya), Shaun Toub (Rahim Kahn), Nabi Tanha (Ali), Qadir Farookh (General Taheri)


The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
There is a way to be good again

The Novel
The Kite Runner is a story about friendship, brotherhood, betrayal, guilt and redemption. Tracing the childhood of Amir and Hassan, two boys who grew up together forming a bond that only boys “who fed from the same breast” will have.

Despite their differences in social standing and life circumstances, Amir and Hassan do everything together – kite flying, watching reruns of Steve McQueen, reading, slinging shots and doing the things boys their age do. At the same time, the boys are innately aware of their master-servant relationship and never go beyond the unstated boundaries, as Hassan performs his duties as his servant. That is, until that fateful day when the fiercely loyal Hassan is betrayed by the one he calls friend.

Haunted by his own cowardice, Amir plots the departure of Hassan and embarks on a lifetime of guilt. Amidst the tumultuous political setting where the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Amir escaped to the land of freedom, America, with his father, Baba while Hassan and his father, Ali remained in their lands. The boys grew up leading separate lives, setting up their own families until a phone call from Baba’s old friend, Rahim Khan and confidante of Amir beckons Amir to go home where “there is a way to be good again.” Thus begins Amir’s journey of redemption and of finding himself.

The novel presents Afghanistan in the peaceful 70s before the invasion of the Soviet in 1979 to the oppressive rule of the Talibans in the late 90s. The novel’s title refers to the Afghan custom of kite fighting, where competitors coat their kite strings with glue and crushed glass to cut their rivals’ strings during competition. The kite runner is the one who runs the kite for the kite fighter when the opponent’s kite is felled, as a trophy to the winner. Alluding to the happier and carefree days before kite fighting was banned by the Talibans, the novel ends on an optimistic note where the child of the original kite runner flies a kite in the free skies of America.

Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel will draw you in to the world he remembered from his childhood. The world he was forced to abandon when forces beyond his control made him take on a new identity and grow roots in a foreign land he now calls home. This novel is loosely based on his own background and fond childhood memories of Afghanistan when it was still beautiful before the ravages of war left scars on it.

Even if you are not vaguely interested in politics and not be attuned to the political happenings in Afghanistan, the story between the two boys is enough for you to grab the book and start reading it today!


Background of the Book
First published in 2003, The Kite Runner has been climbing up the New York Times paperback bestseller list steadily. It is hardly an accident that The Kite Runner has remained on the same list for more than 120 weeks, selling more than four million copies in the United States and published in over 38 countries. The fascinating book has also been translated into Farsi, the local Afghanistan language, which is also spoken by the protagonists.

Accolades for The Kite Runner, the novel
- The San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
- The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life Award
- The Borders Original Voices Award (Fiction category)
- Named Best Book of 2003 by Entertainment Weekly
- An American Library Association Notable Book
- Selected by more than 30 cities and community reading programmes throughout the United States
- Adapted into a movie by Marc Forster


About Khaled Hosseini – the Author
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965, his family was granted political asylum in America and uprooted to San Jose, California with his family in 1980. He subsequently graduated from UC San Diego School of Medicine and is a practicising doctor and novelist. Khaled Hosseini has been a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, since 2006. He currently resides in northern California with his wife and two children, Haris and Farah.

The Movie
It would be unfair of me to judge the slightly over two hour movie by Marc Forster, having read the evocative and emotive Number 1 New York Times Bestseller. The Kite Runner was so moving, lyrical and heart-wrenching that it seems impossible to do justice to the novel through film. The sheer duration of the novel, a good 30 years, is a gargantuan job for any screenwriter and director to succinctly represent and portray faithfully.

The film was shot mainly in far-flung Xinjiang, China, as the political unrest in Afghanistan did not allow the film to be shot in war-torn Kabul. The crew comprised of more than 28 different nationalities and different languages were spoken on the set everyday. One can only imagine the immense effort in communication and logistics with such a vast array of crew and cast.

Every aspect of filmmaking was not left to chance and that includes the casting of the protagonists who are the soul of the film. The auditions spanned several continents, and eventually led the scouting crew to Kabul, where the children managed to retain the essence of Afghan children.

With the great popularity of the book, it was imperative for the filmmakers to tell the story through powerful and vivid visuals, rather than using a voiceover as narration. Worshippers of the book, like me, are expecting no less from the movie. The cinematic effect was stupendous what with the beautiful scenery, the kite fighting scenes and the war-torn streets of Afghanistan.

Having read the book prior to the movie, I must say that it somehow marred my movie experience since I knew how the plot will unfold. Also, I felt that the story was simply too rich to be condensed in a couple of hours. However, to be fair, the movie was well executed by Marc Forster and team. The stunning kite flying scenes may only be replicated in film and worth your ticket price. But judging from the strung-up emotions by the lady sitting beside me at the cinema theatre during selected pivotal scenes, and the constant movie discussions even before the show ended, I’m confident those who did not read the book before the movie will make it a priority after that.


For those of you who are keen to explore the Afghan world through the deft pennings of Khaled Hosseini, my advice is to watch the movie first, enjoy the visuals and then read the book for greater depth and relive the scenes. Get ready to burn the midnight oil and prepare tissues. You will be needing those for the 400 pages of gripping read.