Jackie Gill's Reviews > The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
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![1159664](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p2/1159664.jpg)
** spoiler alert **
I must admit that although I had heard plenty of people mention The Kite Runner, I hadn’t actually paid much attention to what was said about it other than, “It was wonderful!”
So, a few days ago and several years after the book came out, I heard a couple of people discussing the “wonderful” book I decided to read it.
The first day, I read about a third of the novel (Hassan is raped, Amir feels bad, well sort of, he feels bad that Hassan is raped yes, but even worse because Hassan’s rape makes him feel bad and, of course, this means he needs to act badly and do bad things, and make more bad stuff happen to Hassan who is not bad at all.) And, I will admit that this portion of the book had me reading as quickly as I could. I flipped from one page to the next, skimmed over the plethora of annoyances, oops, I mean I skimmed over the Farsi vocab sprinkled evenly throughout to, of course, add authenticity and give it that multicultural feel that is sure to make every publisher drool over a manuscript, and I was even forgiving of the somewhat poor writing. Yes, on day one, I liked The Kite Runner. I was into The Kite Runner. And when I decided to continue my read the next day – I had high hopes!
The second day, I read to the point where Amir gets a phone call from a man he has not seen in years, abandons his “perfect life” in America (well, almost perfect, there is the infertility and the gap that his wife’s uterus is forming between them, but their sex life is still good – sometimes… WHAT!? Never mind…) so, anyway, Amir hops on a plane to Afghanistan which is being ruled by the Taliban, yet he enters without issue, and follows the yellow brick road and lands at OZ where it turns out that the man behind the glasses is not John Lennon at all – he is Assef – his childhood nemesis, pedophile, and just plain evil guy (and you know he is evil cause he likes Hitler – although he has never heard of ethic cleansing). So, Amir walks right into the Taliban compound and asks to see the wizard, I mean their leader, and is allowed to do so (actually it was more difficult for Dorothy to get in to see the wizard, she should have taken Amir with her) and when he gets in, we find out that Hassan’s son is made to dress like a monkey - GET IT A MONKEY – ya know like the monkey that Amir and Hassan would go see (too bad it wasn’t a flying monkey) – and provide entertainment for the Taliban, and provide sexual services for Assef – the same guy who had sex with Hassan and, now the obviously simple minded reader that Hosseini wrote for, says, “that is so weird the way that all happened, wow, I can't believe the way this is all coming together, this is sooooooo fascinating!” Oh, and for the thinking reader with any literary competence who MAY think that this is too much of a coincidence, don’t be so critical; this issue was already addressed when Amir ran into a beggar who happened to have taught with (and remembered doing so) Amir’s mother. We, the readers, are clearly TOLD that coincidence is VERY common in Afghanistan. Therefore, if the rest of the story seems too contrived, don’t worry, it is realistic for Afghanistan. So, don’t question it, cause he is the expert on Afghanistan and you (the reader) are not, therefore, just accept that this completely ridiculous, unrealistic, obviously contrived series of events, are very realistic in Afghanistan!
My third day of reading, I completed the book and instead of placing my hand over my heart, smiling, and thinking about how wonderful the book was, how beautiful the story was, and how it all came so nicely together in the end (apparently the reaction of the masses), I was mad. I was mad because there are so many people out there who think a book this ridiculous and obvious is brilliant. I was mad because this is precisely what is wrong with some multicultural literature and what gives multicultural literature a bad name. There are many pieces out there that are (actually) beautifully written, provide valuable insight into other cultures, and entertain the reader (i.e. Reading Lolita in Tehran), however, it does nothing for multicultural literature to publish pieces that are poorly written and filled with cliché. I can forgive (to a certain extent) poorer writing when the story is written as a true account and when the purpose of the novel is to re-tell actual events. However, when an author decides he is going to write a piece of fiction, his style, diction, and plotline come into question. The final portion of the novel continues throwing out one cliché after another, and throws out one ridiculous coincidence after another. Just the fact that a good portion of the middle of the book was dedicated to pounding it into the readers head that Amir and Soraya could not have children and did not want to adopt, well, that is unless the bloodline is known, is enough to clue the reader in that they will adopt Sohrab waaaay before Amir even knows that he will adopt Sohrab. What a coincidence that Hassan just happened to be his half brother, happened to have a son, and the son happened to have been taken by Assef. And it was even more convenient that, even from the grave, once again, Hassan could save Amir. He could provide him with a son and the opportunity to finally fight the big bully who STILL carried his brass knuckles. And more convenient yet, the fact that Sohrab always carried that slingshot (And in case we forgot that he always carried it, Amir remembered for us, as if Hosseini wants to say: see readers how clever I am, I set it up that Sohrab always had the slingshot, and now later in the story, it comes back out. See how clever I am readers, everything in my story has a purpose and is connected). However, what Hosseini needed to do is explain how a kid who has been taken from an orphanage, made to dress and entertain like a monkey, lives with the Taliban, and is a sex slave for the Big Bad Assef, still managed to keep his slingshot – the very weapon used against Assef in the past, and the very weapon that Assef has an issue with! Just how dumb must a reader be to believe that the freakin Taliban NEVER NOTICED!? So, okay, Sohrab saves Amir, they escape and the Taliban does nothing, and then another freaking coincidence – Amir will end up with a scar. And in case the reader does not deduce that Amir will have a scar from his busted lip, the doctor points it out and confirms it. Yes, reader, a scar like Hassan’s – get it? It’s connected – get it?
Truth be told, there are so many unbelievable incidents and ridiculous coincidences presented to us in this book that it would take pages to go through them all because they were present from beginning to end: The young Russian soldier who doesn’t shoot Baba and the older Russian soldier who apologizes for him and talks about the young soldiers – YEAH RIGHT! The fact that Amir is an author who is published right away and cranks out novel after novel with great success – YEAH RIGHT! Baba dies of lung cancer and then Rahim Khan seems to have to same issue – does Hosseini think all people who die of natural causes die of lung issues? Raymond Andrews who has a bad attitude because his kid committed suicide, and then the receptionist actually tells Amir that this happened – the way this came out seemed completely fake and contrived because – IT WOULDN’T HAPPEN! Then, of course, Sohrab tries to kill himself, so now we know why Andrews kid had to commit suicide – we needed one more obvious instance of foreshadowing. It is also a little odd how often Amir throws out how he knows about medicine because he is a writer – WHAT? I didn’t know I needed to seek out an author when I was sick. And so on and so on…
But one final point that I would like to make is that as soon as Amir picked up a kite it seemed that, much like Jesus, his hands began to bleed; therefore, I am left to wonder: why didn’t Amir know about the invent of gloves? Perhaps that is the biggest tragedy of it all.
By the way, I am still giving the novel two stars because there is an interesting story in there, and the glimpse into Afghanistan is valuable. It is just that the author did such a poor job of presenting the story that it actually detracts from the positive aspects of the book and makes the validity of his glimpse into Afghanistan quite questionable. Therefore, my two stars are for the possibilities that could have been if it had been written by a talented author.
So, a few days ago and several years after the book came out, I heard a couple of people discussing the “wonderful” book I decided to read it.
The first day, I read about a third of the novel (Hassan is raped, Amir feels bad, well sort of, he feels bad that Hassan is raped yes, but even worse because Hassan’s rape makes him feel bad and, of course, this means he needs to act badly and do bad things, and make more bad stuff happen to Hassan who is not bad at all.) And, I will admit that this portion of the book had me reading as quickly as I could. I flipped from one page to the next, skimmed over the plethora of annoyances, oops, I mean I skimmed over the Farsi vocab sprinkled evenly throughout to, of course, add authenticity and give it that multicultural feel that is sure to make every publisher drool over a manuscript, and I was even forgiving of the somewhat poor writing. Yes, on day one, I liked The Kite Runner. I was into The Kite Runner. And when I decided to continue my read the next day – I had high hopes!
The second day, I read to the point where Amir gets a phone call from a man he has not seen in years, abandons his “perfect life” in America (well, almost perfect, there is the infertility and the gap that his wife’s uterus is forming between them, but their sex life is still good – sometimes… WHAT!? Never mind…) so, anyway, Amir hops on a plane to Afghanistan which is being ruled by the Taliban, yet he enters without issue, and follows the yellow brick road and lands at OZ where it turns out that the man behind the glasses is not John Lennon at all – he is Assef – his childhood nemesis, pedophile, and just plain evil guy (and you know he is evil cause he likes Hitler – although he has never heard of ethic cleansing). So, Amir walks right into the Taliban compound and asks to see the wizard, I mean their leader, and is allowed to do so (actually it was more difficult for Dorothy to get in to see the wizard, she should have taken Amir with her) and when he gets in, we find out that Hassan’s son is made to dress like a monkey - GET IT A MONKEY – ya know like the monkey that Amir and Hassan would go see (too bad it wasn’t a flying monkey) – and provide entertainment for the Taliban, and provide sexual services for Assef – the same guy who had sex with Hassan and, now the obviously simple minded reader that Hosseini wrote for, says, “that is so weird the way that all happened, wow, I can't believe the way this is all coming together, this is sooooooo fascinating!” Oh, and for the thinking reader with any literary competence who MAY think that this is too much of a coincidence, don’t be so critical; this issue was already addressed when Amir ran into a beggar who happened to have taught with (and remembered doing so) Amir’s mother. We, the readers, are clearly TOLD that coincidence is VERY common in Afghanistan. Therefore, if the rest of the story seems too contrived, don’t worry, it is realistic for Afghanistan. So, don’t question it, cause he is the expert on Afghanistan and you (the reader) are not, therefore, just accept that this completely ridiculous, unrealistic, obviously contrived series of events, are very realistic in Afghanistan!
My third day of reading, I completed the book and instead of placing my hand over my heart, smiling, and thinking about how wonderful the book was, how beautiful the story was, and how it all came so nicely together in the end (apparently the reaction of the masses), I was mad. I was mad because there are so many people out there who think a book this ridiculous and obvious is brilliant. I was mad because this is precisely what is wrong with some multicultural literature and what gives multicultural literature a bad name. There are many pieces out there that are (actually) beautifully written, provide valuable insight into other cultures, and entertain the reader (i.e. Reading Lolita in Tehran), however, it does nothing for multicultural literature to publish pieces that are poorly written and filled with cliché. I can forgive (to a certain extent) poorer writing when the story is written as a true account and when the purpose of the novel is to re-tell actual events. However, when an author decides he is going to write a piece of fiction, his style, diction, and plotline come into question. The final portion of the novel continues throwing out one cliché after another, and throws out one ridiculous coincidence after another. Just the fact that a good portion of the middle of the book was dedicated to pounding it into the readers head that Amir and Soraya could not have children and did not want to adopt, well, that is unless the bloodline is known, is enough to clue the reader in that they will adopt Sohrab waaaay before Amir even knows that he will adopt Sohrab. What a coincidence that Hassan just happened to be his half brother, happened to have a son, and the son happened to have been taken by Assef. And it was even more convenient that, even from the grave, once again, Hassan could save Amir. He could provide him with a son and the opportunity to finally fight the big bully who STILL carried his brass knuckles. And more convenient yet, the fact that Sohrab always carried that slingshot (And in case we forgot that he always carried it, Amir remembered for us, as if Hosseini wants to say: see readers how clever I am, I set it up that Sohrab always had the slingshot, and now later in the story, it comes back out. See how clever I am readers, everything in my story has a purpose and is connected). However, what Hosseini needed to do is explain how a kid who has been taken from an orphanage, made to dress and entertain like a monkey, lives with the Taliban, and is a sex slave for the Big Bad Assef, still managed to keep his slingshot – the very weapon used against Assef in the past, and the very weapon that Assef has an issue with! Just how dumb must a reader be to believe that the freakin Taliban NEVER NOTICED!? So, okay, Sohrab saves Amir, they escape and the Taliban does nothing, and then another freaking coincidence – Amir will end up with a scar. And in case the reader does not deduce that Amir will have a scar from his busted lip, the doctor points it out and confirms it. Yes, reader, a scar like Hassan’s – get it? It’s connected – get it?
Truth be told, there are so many unbelievable incidents and ridiculous coincidences presented to us in this book that it would take pages to go through them all because they were present from beginning to end: The young Russian soldier who doesn’t shoot Baba and the older Russian soldier who apologizes for him and talks about the young soldiers – YEAH RIGHT! The fact that Amir is an author who is published right away and cranks out novel after novel with great success – YEAH RIGHT! Baba dies of lung cancer and then Rahim Khan seems to have to same issue – does Hosseini think all people who die of natural causes die of lung issues? Raymond Andrews who has a bad attitude because his kid committed suicide, and then the receptionist actually tells Amir that this happened – the way this came out seemed completely fake and contrived because – IT WOULDN’T HAPPEN! Then, of course, Sohrab tries to kill himself, so now we know why Andrews kid had to commit suicide – we needed one more obvious instance of foreshadowing. It is also a little odd how often Amir throws out how he knows about medicine because he is a writer – WHAT? I didn’t know I needed to seek out an author when I was sick. And so on and so on…
But one final point that I would like to make is that as soon as Amir picked up a kite it seemed that, much like Jesus, his hands began to bleed; therefore, I am left to wonder: why didn’t Amir know about the invent of gloves? Perhaps that is the biggest tragedy of it all.
By the way, I am still giving the novel two stars because there is an interesting story in there, and the glimpse into Afghanistan is valuable. It is just that the author did such a poor job of presenting the story that it actually detracts from the positive aspects of the book and makes the validity of his glimpse into Afghanistan quite questionable. Therefore, my two stars are for the possibilities that could have been if it had been written by a talented author.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
May 1, 2008
–
Finished Reading
May 13, 2008
– Shelved
June 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
so-bad-i-must-warn-others
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by
Jef.
(last edited May 21, 2008 04:25PM)
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
May 21, 2008 04:25PM
![Jef.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1211053783p1/1169377.jpg)
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![La Petite Américaine](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1218985191p1/59329.jpg)
Ugh, SO GLAD I borrowed a copy instead of spending my hard-earned, super-taxed Euros to buy it.
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
![Megan](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1672976956p1/1209804.jpg)
Are you a "simple person" or is that your way of thinking you're higher than other people? (no offence, I'm just wondering.) And don't the "coincidential" moments of the book make it what it is? For example, without Amir meeting Assef again near the end and getting beat by him for Sohrab, Amir would never have thought free of what he did to Hassan.
![Christine Hair](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1641063294p1/67133.jpg)
He just "happens" to run into his mother's old teaching buddy. The Taliban just "happens" to be run by his old arch-nemesis Assef. (I, like you, laughed that someone who loves Hitler and gives Assef a Hilter BOOK wouldn't know what ethnic cleansing is)
From the first 1/4 of the book it had so much potential... and then it just fell apart. I came to goodreads glad I"m not the only one who felt that way.
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
![La Petite Américaine](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1218985191p1/59329.jpg)
Months have passed, and I still passionately hate this book. Why can't people pick up Reading Lolita in Tehran or Prisoner of Tehran if they want real literature and insight into the Middle East? No, instead, it's stupid people who need to feel their stomachs churn and then have a good cry (one reviewer called books like The Kite Runner "tear-jerker porn") and move on ... without having to use too many big words. UGH.
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
![La Petite Américaine](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1218985191p1/59329.jpg)
![Stefan](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1618331723p1/851219.jpg)
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
1. I "get" sarcasm
2. Simple people do not "get" sarcasm
![Neil](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
You obviously have such exquisite taste in literature, I for one can't wait to read your published novel, (when it's finished), it will be a classic I'm sure.
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
![Ready Reader](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
The book wasn't such a torment for me to read. It's a nice read and I recommend reading it to anyone looking for a book to read in these summer days.
Regards
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
![Ready Reader](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
I'm joking, don't take that so seriously.
I've received an email from the site noticing me that someone has posted in the thread, so I've added my thought on this.
I liked your review actually, it's thorough and I could agree on many parts of it, but in general, I think you were pretty harsh in your critics. I liked a book, and I didn't feel that the plot is so corny a story as you did, but there's a room for any opinion, it's a literature finally not math :)
Your answer made me take a look (a quick though,I don't have time at the moment for more reading)at your other reviews and books you've read. Two brief observation, I hope you won't mind.
"Crime and punishment" is a masterpiece of world's literature and I really love that book.I've read many other Dostoeyvski's books and along with "Idiot" and "The insulted and the injured", that's my favourite book. Three stars is not much for this book in my opinion.
"Moby Dick" was the book I tried to read. One of the rare books I couldn't finish.I had had great expectation about this book when I started with reading and I was dissapointed to say at least.My hope that the book gets better lasted until I read less than a half of a book and I stopped there. I never knew what happened with Captain Ahab in the end. I learned a lot about the whale species though, and that fact would make me give the book a half of a star if I wrote a review of the book myself.
Sorry for writing in length here Jackie, I tried to make it as short as I could :)
I liked your review in fact, and although I do not entirely share your opinion, after reading the review I didn't have any doubt that it was written by a well-read person, and someone who is knowledgeable of fiction literature.
P.S I'm still learning english and I apologize for the grammatical slips I possibly made writing this comment
Best regards
![Minhazul Hoque](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Lisette](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1545945632p1/2595679.jpg)
![Natalie](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Pete](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1330722419p1/8008240.jpg)
![Perlis J.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Adam Gottbetter](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1379499177p1/24045466.jpg)
![Suzanne Perada](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
Unfortunately, most of America didn't share this response, and here is one truly unfortunate consequence. I currently tutor an extremely intelligent young woman who is taking a 12th grade advanced placement English class. You guessed it - she was assigned KITE RUNNER! It's just such a waste of her and other students' precious time.
I am sharing your review with this student, as I know she will enjoy your humor and observations. Thanks for your literacy!
![Lilly Viol](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1357590443p1/16199794.jpg)
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
Thank you! I haven't checked back on here in quite some time. I am happy to see that people are still reading my review. This book is still required reading in most high schools.
![Virtuella](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Rinko](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1618623992p1/121498285.jpg)
Wasn’t going to bother commenting since this is so old, but a quick glance at your profile shows that you’re just as aggressively condescending as ever. Something not being your cup of tea is fine, you don’t have to like every popular book, but your subjective opinion doesn’t make you smarter than the rest of the world.
Hopefully this gives you the vain thrill that you seek, since it’s pretty obvious this review bashing someone else’s extremely successful work is the most read thing you’ll ever write.
![Jackie Gill](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1538064566p1/1159664.jpg)
Really, you shouldn’t have bothered to comment. All you’ve managed to do is come off bitter and pathetic. Unlike you who took a keen interest in me, I’m not interested in you at all. I do suspect you are a certain troll who tries follow me around. Grow up!