J.G. Keely's Reviews > The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
by
by
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This is the sort of book White America reads to feel worldly. Just like the spate of Native American pop fiction in the late eighties, this is overwhelmingly colonized literature, in that it pretends to reveal some aspect of the 'other' culture, but on closer inspection (aside from the occasional tidbit) it is a thoroughly western story, firmly ensconced in the western tradition.
Even those tidbits Hosseini gives are of such a vague degree that to be impressed by them, one would have to have almost no knowledge of the history of Afghanistan, nor the cultural conflicts raging there between the Shia and Sunni Muslims, or how it formed a surrogate battleground for Russia and the United States in the Cold War, or for Colonial conflicts in the centuries before. Sadly, for all the daily news reports about Afghanistan, most people know very little of its history.
Hosseini's story is thickly foreshadowed and wraps up so neatly in the end that the reader will never have to worry about being surprised. Every convenient coincidence that could happen, does happen. He does attempt to bring some excitement to the story with dramatized violence, but that's hardly a replacement for a well-constructed plot. He is also fond of forcing tension by creating a small conflict between two characters and then having them agonize over it for years, despite the fact that it would be easy to fix and the characters have no reason to maintain the conflict. And since the conflict does not grow or change over time, everything is quickly reduced to petty and repetitive reactions.
He even creates a cliched 'white devil' character, a literal sociopath (and pedophile) as the symbol for the 'evils' of the Taliban. This creates an odd conflict in the narrative, since one of the main themes is that simple inequalities and pointless conflicts stem from Afghan tradition, itself. His indelicate inclusion of wealthy, beautiful, white power as the source of religious turmoil in the mid-east negates his assertion that the conflicts are caused by small-mindedness.
The fact that this character seems to have the depth of motivation of a Disney villain also means that he does not work as a representation of the fundamental causes of colonial inequality, which tend to be economic, not personal. The various mixed messages about the contributors to the ongoing Afghan conflict suggest that Hosseini does not have anything insightful to say about it.
Perhaps the worst part about this book is how much it caters to the ignorance of White America. It will allow naive readers to feel better about themselves for feeling sympathy with the larger mid-east conflict, but is also lets them retain a sense of superiority over the Muslims for their 'backwards, classicist, warlike' ways. In short, it supports the condescending, parental view that many Americans already have about the rest of the world. And it does all this without revealing any understanding of the vast and vital economic concerns which make the greater mid-east so vitally important to the future of the world.
It is unfortunate that nowhere amongst this book's artfully dramatized violence and alternative praising and demonizing of the West is there the underlying sense of why this conflict is happening, of what put it all into place, and of why it will continue to drag us all down. The point where it could turn sympathy into indignation or realization is simply absent.
There is a bad joke on the internet showing a map of the world with the mid-east replaced by a sea-filled crater with the comment 'problem solved'. What this map fails to represent is that there is a reason the West keeps meddling in the affairs of the mid-east, and that every time we do, it creates another conflict--because almost every group who we decry as terrorists now were originally trained and armed by the US and Western powers to serve our economic interests.
As long as we see extremists as faceless sociopaths, we can do nothing against them. We must recognize that normal people fall down these paths, and that everyone sees himself as being 'in the right'. Who is more right: the Westerner whose careless bomb kills a child, or the Muslim's that does?
The point shouldn't be to separate the 'good Muslims' from the 'bad Muslims', because people aren't fundamentally good or bad. They are fundamentally people. Almost without exception, they are looking out for their future, their children, and their communities. Calling someone 'evil' merely means you have ceased to try understanding their point of view, and decided instead to merely hate because it's easier to remain ignorant than to try to understand.
This book isn't particularly insightful or well-written, but that is in no way unusual in bestsellers. The problem is that Americans are going to use this book to justify their ignorance about the problems in the east. This book will make people feel better about themselves, instead of helping them to think better about the world.
For an actually insightful, touching view of the Afghan conflict, I would suggest avoiding this bit of naive melodrama and looking up Emmanuel Guibert's 'The Photographer'.
Even those tidbits Hosseini gives are of such a vague degree that to be impressed by them, one would have to have almost no knowledge of the history of Afghanistan, nor the cultural conflicts raging there between the Shia and Sunni Muslims, or how it formed a surrogate battleground for Russia and the United States in the Cold War, or for Colonial conflicts in the centuries before. Sadly, for all the daily news reports about Afghanistan, most people know very little of its history.
Hosseini's story is thickly foreshadowed and wraps up so neatly in the end that the reader will never have to worry about being surprised. Every convenient coincidence that could happen, does happen. He does attempt to bring some excitement to the story with dramatized violence, but that's hardly a replacement for a well-constructed plot. He is also fond of forcing tension by creating a small conflict between two characters and then having them agonize over it for years, despite the fact that it would be easy to fix and the characters have no reason to maintain the conflict. And since the conflict does not grow or change over time, everything is quickly reduced to petty and repetitive reactions.
He even creates a cliched 'white devil' character, a literal sociopath (and pedophile) as the symbol for the 'evils' of the Taliban. This creates an odd conflict in the narrative, since one of the main themes is that simple inequalities and pointless conflicts stem from Afghan tradition, itself. His indelicate inclusion of wealthy, beautiful, white power as the source of religious turmoil in the mid-east negates his assertion that the conflicts are caused by small-mindedness.
The fact that this character seems to have the depth of motivation of a Disney villain also means that he does not work as a representation of the fundamental causes of colonial inequality, which tend to be economic, not personal. The various mixed messages about the contributors to the ongoing Afghan conflict suggest that Hosseini does not have anything insightful to say about it.
Perhaps the worst part about this book is how much it caters to the ignorance of White America. It will allow naive readers to feel better about themselves for feeling sympathy with the larger mid-east conflict, but is also lets them retain a sense of superiority over the Muslims for their 'backwards, classicist, warlike' ways. In short, it supports the condescending, parental view that many Americans already have about the rest of the world. And it does all this without revealing any understanding of the vast and vital economic concerns which make the greater mid-east so vitally important to the future of the world.
It is unfortunate that nowhere amongst this book's artfully dramatized violence and alternative praising and demonizing of the West is there the underlying sense of why this conflict is happening, of what put it all into place, and of why it will continue to drag us all down. The point where it could turn sympathy into indignation or realization is simply absent.
There is a bad joke on the internet showing a map of the world with the mid-east replaced by a sea-filled crater with the comment 'problem solved'. What this map fails to represent is that there is a reason the West keeps meddling in the affairs of the mid-east, and that every time we do, it creates another conflict--because almost every group who we decry as terrorists now were originally trained and armed by the US and Western powers to serve our economic interests.
As long as we see extremists as faceless sociopaths, we can do nothing against them. We must recognize that normal people fall down these paths, and that everyone sees himself as being 'in the right'. Who is more right: the Westerner whose careless bomb kills a child, or the Muslim's that does?
The point shouldn't be to separate the 'good Muslims' from the 'bad Muslims', because people aren't fundamentally good or bad. They are fundamentally people. Almost without exception, they are looking out for their future, their children, and their communities. Calling someone 'evil' merely means you have ceased to try understanding their point of view, and decided instead to merely hate because it's easier to remain ignorant than to try to understand.
This book isn't particularly insightful or well-written, but that is in no way unusual in bestsellers. The problem is that Americans are going to use this book to justify their ignorance about the problems in the east. This book will make people feel better about themselves, instead of helping them to think better about the world.
For an actually insightful, touching view of the Afghan conflict, I would suggest avoiding this bit of naive melodrama and looking up Emmanuel Guibert's 'The Photographer'.
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Reading Progress
May 21, 2008
– Shelved
Started Reading
July 3, 2008
– Shelved as:
contemporary-fiction
July 3, 2008
–
Finished Reading
July 9, 2008
– Shelved as:
novel
June 9, 2009
– Shelved as:
reviewed
Comments Showing 101-150 of 193 (193 new)
![Barbara Williford](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1593709286p1/102385231.jpg)
![Rachel](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1334649191p1/8834920.jpg)
Everyone reads with bias, Helen. It's impossible not to. The key is whether a reader can acknowledge and name their bias. JG Keely does this pretty clearly. Can you?
![courtney puidk](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1488587027p1/60421194.jpg)
Yes this is fiction but look at the fiction out now, in 2020 - American Dirt is being heralded like it’s a true story when the reality is what’s happening in real life is far from the situation that’s depicted in that novel. Fiction that’s 100% fiction is a little different than fiction that plays at telling “true stories” from real countries.
![Robert Alsbury](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1360214350p1/13344489.jpg)
![Slavica](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1650616333p1/79959186.jpg)
![Slavica](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1650616333p1/79959186.jpg)
I have one question, do you have real life experience of Afganistan? Have you ever lived there? Did you see that people who commented and are from that part of the world didn't find anything offensive in this book? Have you ever experienced how fundamental Islamic countries treat women? Do you know anything about anything or you are writing imaginary doctoral thesis on the book which is, by the way, obviously fiction? How can you tell between bad guy and the good guy? I come from the country where every person is stereotyped as a bad guy. I'm very well used to not take sides and decide who's good or who's bad. The book is good and emotional and tragic and story is fictional. Nobody's that stupid not to understand that. Your discussions and discussions of J.G.Keely (although you seem like the same person to me) should take place somewhere else and with someone else. Leave people to enjoy the book and I'm sure they're smart enough not to go to Afganistan and wipe the bad guys from the book like the pest. They just want to spend some time reading a really good book.
![Ashley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1626102321p1/108975232.jpg)
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![Slavica](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1650616333p1/79959186.jpg)
You are really funny. Seriously, you should do a doctoral thesis based on your hatred towards this book and the author.
And as you can see in the comments, most people are very amused by your opinions. Like one of the comments said ''Instead of trying to over-interpret a book, maybe get a life?''
reply | flag *
![Sourabh](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
![Sara Mobarak](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1706556663p1/5378085.jpg)
![Shouvik](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
I will repeat it again. If you think Hosseini's books are supposed to give you the true reality of Afghanistan, you are the goddamn idiot. Hosseini is not at fault. The protagonist in The Kite Runner is a son of a filthy rich Afghan who lived his life in affluence before leaving Afghanistan. And it is not that the protagonist later becomes some great scholar and expert in Afghanistan's history. Of course, such a person's view would be biased. Again, please read a history book written by a proper historian.
Also, the article you have shared tries to show the Taliban in a good light. I would be very wary of reading such stupid biased articles.
![Shouvik](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
Fiction is not immune to bias. But are you? You look at articles maligning a person based on a single tweet and think they are speaking the truth. Please, again, get a life instead of writing useless paragraphs.
![Shouvik](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
Any art is subject to interpretation, and it depends more on the readers on how to interpret them. However, what you are doing is simply bringing up things that are not there in the book, and putting your own biased view on it. More laughable is the fact that you think you are being very knowledgeable. You also have not been able to provide a single counter-argument to the observation that when Khaled Hosseini has been himself involved in humanitarian work in Afghanistan for over a decade now, why will he want to spread stupid propaganda? Hosseini also doesn't have any political aspirations. If he wanted to, he could have joined politics by now. And mind you, propaganda is by definition political in nature. The only thing you did is provide an article that took a single misspoken tweet by the author (which he deleted later) and decided to malign the whole life-works of the author based on that tweet. What is seems to me that you don't understand logic or evidence either, or don't care about it as long as it conforms to your view-point. To prove any "hidden propaganda" you actually need to provide some other evidence, just your opinion or interpretation doesn't count. Maligning authors just because you didn't like their book is not okay.
![Shouvik](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
I still haven't gotten any evidence for your claims. Empty words are not enough, doesn't matter how many people support it.
And no, I don't have to believe that every propaganda is political in nature. But all your accusations against Hosseini are political in nature. And I don't have to believe every humanitarian work is benevolent. But I have to see some evidence for malevolence before maligning someone. Just because you have a hunch, it is not a good excuse.
"And maligning other reviewers just because you don't like their opinions is not okay." : unfortunately, this can't be your line of defense, as you seem like an expert in it. Personal attacks haven't been one way here.
![Virtue](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1580629851p1/109571152.jpg)
What the hell are you talking about? Why would I need excuses or defense? Who the hell are you to charge me here, you creep? Are you a prosecutor or just an Internet stalker threatening and trolling those who don't like this bad and manipulative book? I noticed that you had previously stalked other authors of negative reviews and even pressed them to change their reviews. You know that they had blocked you. Why are you doing that? Are you just some kind of a freak or someone with personal stakes in this book? What kind of book needs this type of nasty defenders like yourself?
![Shouvik](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
What you need is logic, which you don't have. Plus I didn't stalk anyone, and it is not my problem if someone can't take criticism of their own criticism of a book, and calls the person creep. Usually that happens when people have lost the debate and don't have any logic to support their own arguments, and need to make the opponent look bad to others. If you have anything to add about the book, continue. Don't resort to baseless personal attacks.
![Isabel Zabala-Salamanca](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
You know, this actually makes you look more racist. It’s like saying a white person knows more about the conflicts in Venezuela than a person who is actually from there. You may call yourself a harsh critic, but that doesn’t mean you can escape logic.
![Antonia Bawden](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1623410150p1/19704099.jpg)
![Chris Blocker](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1460411481p1/318724.jpg)
That may be why YOU read, but one book doesn't fit every reader. To be equally fair, not all readers read alike.
![Alice](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1631028894p1/129254343.jpg)
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![Aaron](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1675042385p1/83564727.jpg)
Amazing that you've written paragraph after paragraph after paragraph in this thread and yet have said very little containing any substance. Have you ever been to Afghanistan?
![shaz](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1619628071p1/73623055.jpg)
![Ellise](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1640758182p1/132215391.jpg)
![R S](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Alex Preston](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Yasmine Mwafaq](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1535646396p1/44413944.jpg)
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![Alyssa](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1701126144p1/127687984.jpg)
In the end, this is a fictitious tale that purposefully does not grapple with the deeper, core route of political and social issues in Afghanistan. The story is, above all, about Amir’s fictitious life.
I equally don’t think one needs to know an entire nation’s history to feel sympathy, or to WANT to understand their struggles. In this case, Hosseini has created a fictional and touching tale that is not made to demonstrate a fact, but to merely tell a tale of someone’s internal struggle with emotions such as guilt, powerlessness, and redemption. I don’t read this novel as historical fact and nor should anyone.
![bianca](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1672348298p1/138299537.jpg)
![Michael](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1596285818p1/119243944.jpg)
![Rachel](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1334649191p1/8834920.jpg)
Me? I thought author of the review made some important points about the kind of narrative that US readers found palatable immediately post 9/11. It's not surprising. It's a good story. I do think it's weird that it continues to be set on the curriculum for Australian English classes. The events in Afghanistan in the last couple of weeks are indisputably tragic and I wonder how The Kite Runner will look to the young Australian classes of 2022.
Though in all honesty , for the first 150 ish pages ( before Amir and his dad arrived in USA) I was enjoying the book but after that it became a chore