The Kite Runner

By: Khaled Hosseini

Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship and betrayal, and about the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But through the devastation, Khaled Hosseini offers hope for redemption.

©2003 Khaled Hosseini (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS. is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division. Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2004

"A beautiful novel...ranks among the best-written and most provocative stories of the year." (The Denver Post)
"Powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love." (The New York Times)

worth staying with

The first half of this story could have been about any whiny, privileged child trying to gain our empathy for having grown up in the shadow (you say "shadow", I say "great example") of a father of great character. Not new, not insightful.

BUT the second half takes off, as the narrator is thrust into a chance to redeem himself as a man, an Afghan, a muslim. The characters become much more intriguingly drawn and the world they traverse becomes palpable.

The skill of a reader is essential to my enjoyment of an audio book - a bad reader will make me abandon a good story. The author of the Kite Runner is an excellent reader of this tale. He speaks in an English that is clear even to my very provincial northern US ear, but with Afghan pronunciations that add musicality to the story and draw the listener fully into the author's world.

Well worth the reading.

My Goodness, What a Audiobook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are audiobooks and there are GREAT audiobooks. This is a GREAT audiobook!!! After hundereds of audiobooks, only Nelson Demille's "The Gold Coast" is in the same class. I resisted listening to The Kite Runner for a long time due to the fact I thought a setting based in Afganastan just wasn't my cup of tea. I could not have been more wrong. The plight of Amir and Hassan is a story I'll not soon forget. The book is very well written and the pronuciation by the author made the book feel even more alive. It was an emotional rollacoaster I loved and as the book ended I cried. All I can keep saying is "For You a Thousand Times Over".

Beautifully written and told

The Kite Runner is a compelling and moving story. An amazing debut novel that explores the depths of human loyalty and betrayal, sin and redemption. The audio book adds yet another dimension, as the author delivers his story with a strikingly beautiful reading, interspersed with names and phrases in his native Afghan tongue. Perhaps the best novel I've read!

A novel better heard than read

Rather than reading this well-written and touching story, I am glad I listened to it. The reading by the author, an unpolished narrator with slightly accented English, seemed to make this first person exploration of a man's agonized discovery of himself exquisitely real.

A rich, thoroughly engrossing verbal tapestry

This is one of the outstanding books I have heard in the past few years. Every so often an author of incredible talent comes along and weaves a story so engaging and so realistic that you feel a profound sense of regret when that tale is ended. This is such a book. I went through the unabridged version in 2 days because I could not step away from it. I laughed and even cried spontaneously at parts of the story. This was a phenomenal read that opened my eyes to a culture about which I had previously held only a superficial understanding. BRAVO to the author!!!

Powerful storytelling

Not a type of book I usually read/listen to, I bought this on a spur-of-the-moment whim. I have to say I was totally blown away by the power and beauty of this work. I loved hearing the story in the author's own voice as well which made it even more endearing and heart-rending. This book brought me to tears on a number of occasions and I would recommend it, without hesitation, to anyone who loves good books.

A mesmerizing tale

So incredibly melancholy...I had trouble pausing the story to go into work. The author guides you through his childhood and describes Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion. I normally don't care for so much background, but the author does a wonderful job. He interlaces the story well, too, with his descriptions of the background; he incorporates it so well that the background is a character itself.

This book made me think and made me mad and made me sad. I highly recommend this book; it will touch you.

Surprisingly captivating

I received a hard copy of this book for Christmas. I couldn't stay interested by reading in short bursts. The culture was too foreign, the details -- well, too much to remembr. Ahh, then I downloaded the audible copy and was completelly captivated. Narration by the author brought it to life. I understood his characters, understood their feelings and behavior and literally felt I understood the minds and hearts of the people of Afghanistan. Truly, I felt among them. What a wonderful experience for those of us who are 'earworms' more than 'bookworms".

Brilliant book

Absolutely breathtaking. It's a great thing Mr. Hosseini is doing for Afghanistan. The book brings the country to the world.

Good but Mature

Like another reviewer noted this books turning point is a somewhat graphic and incredibly emotional event. That I think this moment is what makes the book so great - we all have a moment in our life which changes us - for the narrator his changes our lives too. It is beautifully written novel that gives readers a look at a world most of us may never experience. It is truly a wonderful experience, although like our lives - it is slow in parts - but the story is worth it. Beautiful book, incredible characters, and a story that sticks with you. Hopefully we all can learn about ourselves as well as the lives of his characters.