The Kite Runner Review

When reading a novel, individuals have a variety of criteria that they would like to have met. These requirements may differ between age groups and even personalities. These differences can extend as far as an incoming freshman have one opinion and a graduating senior having a completely different view. Specifically, freshmen are coming directly from high school and they are not going to want to read another book along with all the other school work that has to be done.

The stereotype with a high school student is that they would only read a novel when they are forced to do so. There are your few exceptions to the rule that actually like to sit down and read a good book for fun, but their perceptions of what is a good read are the same. The first thing you automatically assume when your assigned to read a novel is that it is going to be long and boring even before you know anything about the book. When I was first assigned to read a book called The Kite Runner that was the very first thing that came to mind. I could not gather anything from the title and going to the bookstore and seeing a thick book proved my assumptions correct even more. Now going into this my attitude toward the novel was prejudged. I assumed that it was going to be another one of the “assigned novels” that I have read. Although after finishing the novel I came to realize that all my preconceived notions were false.

After reading a couple chapters I quickly realized that this novel might not be as boring as expected. As I continued to get farther into the book it became a very interesting story. One aspect that made it a great book was the fact that it followed the story of a family which most people can relate to. All the drama and problems that a family goes through can be seen throughout this novel. Most people do not like to talk about their problems, but it is known that all families have them. Baba is the typical father that’s wants the best for his son and he does everything he can for him while being a single parent. Amir, Baba’s son, respects his father and shows admiration towards him. He continually tries to gain his father’s respect, but fails many times. He has a best friend named Hassan that is also his servant. Their relationship is somewhat ordinary, but they do experience some things that are not particular to our culture and way of living. You will follow these characters’ lives in Afghanistan and America and experience everything they do.

Another great feature that this book includes is that it is like a soap opera or TV series. With TV shows they have you wanting to watch the next episode when the previous one is over. The Kite Runner employs this same technique through most of the novel, but definitely more towards the end. While reading it, I felt myself not wanting to put the book down because I wanted to find out what