Title: The Kite RunnerAuthor: Khaled Hosseini
Synopsis: A boy grows up in Kabul, Afghanistan, before the Soviet invasion of the late 1970s. The story has two parts--his life as a boy in Kabul, and his life as a man in the United States. The story centers around his friendship with the son of a family employee, betrayal, and redemption.
Challenges: In 2008, The Kite Runner made the American Library Association's top ten list for challenges that year. Parents who challenged the book complained of sexual content (a young boy is raped by older boys) and offensive language.
My Thoughts: The Kite Runner is an amazing piece of literature. It's not exactly for the faint-of-heart, but the overall story is of friendship, righting past wrongs, and coming to terms with the atrocities that occured in the main character's home country of Afghanistan. It's also an excellent look at the modern history of Afghanistan, and how Kabul went from being a somewhat cosmopolitan city to the warzone that it is today.
I wouldn't give this book to a freshman English class, but I see no reason that students with maturity can't read it on their own. It shouldn't be banned from a library outright (and one wonders if it's not banned simply out of Islamophobia in some cases).
If you haven't read this incredible book, do. Then watch the equally incredible movie and feel your mind open.
2 comments:
Another to add to the list!
This and his other novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, are both amazing.
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