Amir grows up in a privileged household, yearning for acceptance from his rather distant father. Hassan is about his age, but Hassan is a servant in his house, of the Hazara ethnic group, and Asian in appearance. This means that Amir, a Pashtan, can never really be his friend, even though they have common childhood experiences.
A major local sport is kite flying and each year there is a huge kite competition is attended by the entire community. Kite strings are covered with glue and glass and the idea is to cut the strings of competing kites. Some young boys are kite runners, which mean they chase the fallen kites. The most coveted kite of all is the last kite that is cut by the winner. Competition is fierce and the kite flyer's hands are always cut and bloody from the sharpened kite strings. But victory is something of a rite of passage and Amir is determined to win. His young servant and childhood companion, Hassan, in an act of love and loyalty, runs after the last fallen kite and becomes the victim of a cruel act of violence. Its aftermath changes their relationship forever.
Later, we share Amir's journey to America and the fear and terror of traveling in a oil truck to escape the Russian army. We see him grow up and watch his father struggle to adapt and learn how to make a living in the flea markets of California. The years pass and Amir falls in love and marries and we see how strong his identity is to the Afghan culture is in his new American homeland. And then, suddenly, in the summer of 2001, when he is in his late thirties, he is called back to Afghanistan and begins a dangerous adventure, which requires not only great physical courage. It is also a voyage of self discovery..
This book is a page turner and I couldn't put it down. I learned about Afghanistan, its people, and its rich traditions. But most of all I learned about one particular young man and how an act in the past can affect the present and how it is possible to right old wrongs.
