Worth a Read - Rated 
Having watched the film, I was reluctant to read The Kite Runner when it was nominated in my last reading group. It was an average film, in my humble opinion; far too much crammed into the allotted time and yet still too long. Nontheless, the book had been bought for me as a present and I am never one to turn up my nose simply because "I just didn't fancy it". After all, you can miss some real gems this way.
Amir and Hassan are a young pair of scallywags in Afghanistan in the early 1970s. They have a seemingly unbreakable bond until one day Amir is faced with the opportunity to show his loyalty to Hassan in one bold, brave swoop. He fails miserably and as such the friendship breaks down. What follows is the break down of the country as the Russians invade and the power is passed into the trigger-happy hands of the Taliban. What also follows is the break down of the storyline, which suddenly goes from a beautiful in-depth study of friendship, parental love and romance to a plot-driven action thriller, complete with cunning disguises and unlikely coincidence.
With the invasion of the Russians, Amir and his father are granted asylum in America and so they flee. It is here that Amir meets his wife. They have a happy marriage, but one thing is missing: a child. One day, after years of not conceiving, Amir receives a phonecall and is offered the chance to atone for his cowardice of years ago. It seems Amir can still help Hassan, even if it involves plunging back into the lion's den that Afghanistan has become; even if it plunges the remainder of the book into a pit of bizarre twists of fate that all eventually curve back round and tie off neatly at the end of the book, in a way life just doesn't.
This is a lovely book of friendship; simple to read and gripping in equal measures. The first half of the book is full of atmospheric imagery: mouthwatering descriptions of lamb kebab, days spent treating kite string with powdered glass, bitterly cold winters, reading under the pomegranate tree. The characters are complex and beautifully written. It is the second half of the book that lets it down, when Hosseini appears to have had enough of the soppy stuff and decides to go down the action route to liven things up a bit. Except that it really doesn't. The delicacy of the bonds he creates in the first half are pushed aside to make way for twists in the plot; some of which you can spot a mile off, others which wouldn't even have crossed your mind, because no writer would make the rooky mistake of stooping to that level of total unrealism, would they?
Make no mistake, I enjoyed this book hugely. Especially the descriptions of Kabul in the 1970s; particularly fascinating as a subject I know next to nothing about. The characterisations are strong and the relationships between Amir and his "Baba" and Amir and Hassan are infinitely intricate. I would definitely recommend it for this alone, despite later setbacks. Definitely worth a trip to the library!
Amazing - Rated 
Probably the best book I have read in years. A book that will open your eyes so much you want to close them slightly. Heartbreaking at times. A definite must read.
Kite-fighting and friendship - Rated 
This film's story begins in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the 1970s. We meet two 12-year-old boys, Amir and Hassan. The two are close friends. But there's also tension in their friendship: Amir is the son of a well-to-do family; he is a Pashtun, the ruling class in the country at that time. Hassan is the son of the family's servant, and is a Hazara, a racial group looked down on by many Pashtuns. Though Hassan is Amir's friend, he never forgets he is also his loyal servant. A central theme in the movie is that of "kite-fighting", a popular sport in Afghanistan. In a big tournament, hundreds of kites can be in flight at the same time. Contestants coat the strings of their kites with broken glass; the object of the game is to cut the strings of other kites, with the last kite flying being declared the winner. As part of the game, boys run to pick up and keep each defeated kite. Hassan is not only Amir's dedicated supporter in the game - he is the most talented kite-runner in Kabul. The story moves on to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, during which Amir and his father flee to America. Following the expulsion of the Russians comes the tyrannical rule of the Taliban. By this time, Amir, now married and in his early twenties, has lost track of Hassan. Amir's uncle calls from Pakistan, begging Amir to return to Kabul. Amir reluctantly agrees, and from that point events gain momentum until the climax of the story. Unlike some other reviewers, I think the screenplay does a pretty good job of staying true to Khaled Hosseini's book. Of course, in a film lasting just over 2 hours, a lot of content has to be cut out, but I'd say the movie does manage to capture the main turning-points of the story, so that interest never flags. I'm usually not one to go much on special effects - but in this film, during the kite-fighting sequences, we often find ourselves ABOVE the kites, looking down on them as they wheel and swoop in the sky, with the houses and streets of Kabul way below them. This is a thrilling experience, made even more so by energetic swishing sounds as the warring kites zoom past (a bit like the swishing of the swords in a kung-fu movie). There's splendid acting from the whole cast, especially the two boy actors who play the young Amir and Hassan.
The Kite Runner - Rated
An amazing book, so beautifully written with heart wrenching moments. One of the best books I have ever read, very moving.
Stunning - Rated
There are only a few books that I have ever gone back to and read for a second time but The Kite Runner will be one of them. I couldn't disagree more with the reader who said it was badly written - I thought it was beautiful. It is told so simply but doesn't lose any of its impact because of this - I was in turn delighted, tearful and completely horror-stricken at some of the scenes that were described. I have already read his other book A Thousand Splendid Suns and was equally impressed by that. I think he is an amazing new writer and I certainly hope he will be bringing out more books. These two books have taught me more about the tragic Afghan situation than any number of news bulletins ever could.
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