The Kite Runner: 21 Great Bloomsbury Reads for the 21st Century

by Khaled Hosseini | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0747590036 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Sobergirl of Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on 9/5/2007
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
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11 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Sobergirl from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Kite Runner of Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan boy with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's closest friend even though the loyal 11-year-old with "a face like a Chinese doll" was the son of Amir's father's servant and a member of Afghanistan's despised Hazara minority. But in 1975, on the day of Kabul's annual kite-fighting tournament, something unspeakable happened between the two boys.

Narrated by Amir, a 40-year-old novelist living in California, The Kite Runner tells the gripping story of a boyhood friendship destroyed by jealousy, fear, and the kind of ruthless evil that transcends mere politics. Running parallel to this personal narrative of loss and redemption is the story of modern Afghanistan and of Amir's equally guilt-ridden relationship with the war-torn city of his birth. The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner begins in the final days of King Zahir Shah's 40-year reign and traces the country's fall from a secluded oasis to a tank-strewn battlefield controlled by the Russians and then the trigger-happy Taliban. When Amir returns to Kabul to rescue Hassan's orphaned child, the personal and the political get tangled together in a plot that is as suspenseful as it is taut with feeling.

The son of an Afghan diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980, Hosseini combines the unflinching realism of a war correspondent with the satisfying emotional pull of master storytellers such as Rohinton Mistry. Like the kite that is its central image, the story line of this mesmerizing first novel occasionally dips and seems almost to dive to the ground. But Hosseini ultimately keeps everything airborne until his heartrending conclusion in an American picnic park. --Lisa Alward, Amazon.ca --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Journal Entry 2 by Sobergirl from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Thursday, September 20, 2007
This copy will now continue an intl bookray (the original ray stalled)
I will NOT revive this bookray again! Once is enough for me.

Guidelines:
PM me to join!
You must be willing to mail internationally to join (surface/economy mail more than fine!)
Make a JE when you receive the book
Read it within a month
PM the next person on the list for their address
Make a JE saying what you thought of the book
Send the book along


The participants are:

Klaradyn, South Africa
RalieghDog, USA
Quinsmomma, USA
Loribee, UK
meexia,Singapore
menita, USA
ealasaidmae, USA

Journal Entry 3 by Sobergirl from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Thursday, September 20, 2007
Travelling to klaradyn

Journal Entry 4 by klaradyn from Praha, Praha Czech Republic on Wednesday, October 3, 2007
This arrived today. Thanks for reviving the ray and sending this, sobergirl. Let's hope this copy keeps moving!

Journal Entry 5 by klaradyn from Praha, Praha Czech Republic on Tuesday, November 20, 2007
This was a really amazing reading experience, and I enjoyed it even more than A Thousand Splendid Suns. I can't expand on the summary in the first journal entry without maybe giving something away, but I'll say this: in my opinion, Hosseini is a talented writer who creates beautiful prose.

Thanks again for sharing, Sobergirl! Sent the book to RalieghDog this morning, using surface mail.

Journal Entry 6 by RalieghDog from Scottsdale, Arizona USA on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
So thrilled the book arrived today. I was beginning to worry about it and think I was the book ray/ring kiss of death or something. Klaradyn you must be the most delicate reader ever. This book is like brand new condition. I will do my best to keep it so pristine. Will try and get it read and on it's way ASAP. Hope it goes all the way this time sobergirl.

Journal Entry 7 by RalieghDog from Scottsdale, Arizona USA on Saturday, January 26, 2008
Thanks Sobergirl for sharing this book and for reviving the ring. At the age of almost forty and an avid book lover since before I could even read words, I can honestly say this was the most profound reading expereince I have had to date in my lifetime. This book is so staggeringly beautiful there really are not adequate words to describe it. Everytime I opened the book I knew my heart would be broken again but with every heartbreak the book doles out there is redemption and hope. The prose is simple and elegant and the story will keep you turing the pages as fast as the most suspensful thriller. This book made me mourn for Afghanistan and feel deeply for its people presented her with such honor, beauty and purity. A book I must now get for my personal collection and one I will insisit everyone I know read. It was an honor and a great privilege to share in this expereince with the BCers before and after me and may the book travel safely so others can share in its beauty.

I Pmed the next person yesterday and am anxiously awaiting an addy so the book can continue on its journey.

Journal Entry 8 by RalieghDog from Scottsdale, Arizona USA on Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Mailed to Quinsmomma today. postal conf 030700200000948462814.

Journal Entry 9 by Quinsmomma from Vineland, New Jersey USA on Saturday, February 16, 2008
This came in the mail yesterday, and I haven't put it down yet. I'm almost half way finished already!!

Journal Entry 10 by Quinsmomma from Vineland, New Jersey USA on Monday, May 5, 2008
Couldn't put it down!! I didn't get any sleep at all until it was finished.

This book has now been sent along to Meexia. Sorry it took so long (went on honeymoon and forgot to mail it).

Journal Entry 11 by meexia on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Arrived yesterday. Thanks everyone! It's about time for me to read this book, since everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) has read it :)

Journal Entry 12 by meexia on Wednesday, May 28, 2008
menita asked to be skipped, so book was sent to ealasaidmae today by surface mail.

REVIEW

Great start. I was already teary on the first dozen of pages or so. Although after going further, I found myself sometimes on the brink of worry that the book would be too soap-opera like. It just seemed to be at the tip of being sad in a nice heartbreaking way, or cliche and cheesy. It could easily go one way or the other. But at the end though, I think I would give the book a break and forget about being too critical. I enjoyed it. It’s nice. It’s nice story about unfamiliar culture, family saga, in a land far far away. And it’s sad. It’s sad because you grow attached to the characters and care for them. When calamity happens, you feel for them.

I especially found the relationships between the men (and boys) in the story interesting. Father and son, master and servant, family, friends, brothers.. There’s certain intimacy that I thought doesn’t really exist among a lot of other cultures. They also seemed to be more comfortable at crying and showing affections between males. (and some people go to sickening extreme…)

Complete review on my site

Journal Entry 13 by ealasaidmae from New Orleans, Louisiana USA on Thursday, June 12, 2008
It's here!

Journal Entry 14 by ealasaidmae from New Orleans, Louisiana USA on Sunday, August 3, 2008
I'm finally through! Thank you, Sobergirl, for letting me take my time to read it. I started a while ago but it upset me and I had to take it in small chunks. It took me a long time to overcome my loathing for Amir - have you ever been immediately struck by such an intense dislike for a character that it's difficult even to read about him? That was even before he'd done anything really awful! I persevered, and I'm glad I did. It is a very good book. Though I think "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is actually better. As meexia said, this book has its soap opera moments. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is more...stately. More refined, maybe. I can hardly wait to see what Hosseini will give us next.

Journal Entry 15 by ealasaidmae at St. Albans, West Virginia USA on Saturday, October 25, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (10/27/2008 UTC) at St. Albans, West Virginia USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is travelling to ETMadrid in the UK, who requested it as part of the Library Sale RABCK. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you can get your ring going again!

Journal Entry 16 by ETMadrid from Rotherhithe, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, November 3, 2008
Thank you SO much ealasaidmae for so generously sending me this, despite me not strictly having won your RABCK draw! This is the bookring that I'm signed up to that has got stuck, and which once I've read I'll be bringing back to life (although I've not yet heard back from nawoo82).

Anyway, once I've finished the next couple of books I've got lined up, it'll be my next read and should then head off to other fellow bookring participants. I look forward to it. Thanks too for the postcard of the Appalachian sunset whose colours match so well the cover of the book :)

Journal Entry 17 by ETMadrid from Rotherhithe, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, November 28, 2008
I've just finished this and I didn't weep as much as the book I read before it (thank goodness!), as that had been a true story (with a few similarities: Communism,civil war, though in a country and culture far removed), but this indeed was a truely moving story that manages not only to tell us about its characters but to tell us about the circumstance of war in all its awfulness.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to read it. I've not heard back from nawoo82 (that was true at time of writing but we later were in contact), but her bookring for this is one I was signed up to and has been stuck since February. So I'm reconstructing her list of participants in a somewhat modified order, and adding a couple of new ones:

sharonrocks (UK)
24-7-365Reader (UK)
Scruffykaz (UK)
Martin1960 (UK)
<-------the book is here!
hopi100 (US)

If you see that you won't be finished with the book within about 6 weeks, please be sure to show signs of life and let us know where you are with it.

Please journal your impressions of the book and do a release entry when you pass it on.

Journal Entry 18 by ETMadrid at -- Trains, Tube, Buses --, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, November 28, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (11/28/2008 UTC) at -- Trains, Tube, Buses --, Greater London United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to Nottingham.

Journal Entry 19 by sharonrocks on Saturday, November 29, 2008
Arrived safe and sound in a cold and foggy Nottingham. Thanks very much for sending it and also to ETMadrid for joining the two rings together. I am half way through 2 other books at the moment (always have 2 on the go!), Music and Silence and The Little Friend, so as soon as either one is finished, I'll start this one. Thanks again to all involved.
Sharon x

Journal Entry 20 by sharonrocks on Sunday, January 11, 2009
What an awesome book. One of the best things I've read in a long time. Thanks for sharing! Will try to get to the Post Office with it this week.
Thanks again. I want to read more on Afghanistan now.

Journal Entry 21 by sharonrocks at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Saturday, January 17, 2009

Released 15 yrs ago (1/17/2009 UTC) at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is now on its way to the next reader. Thanks again and sorry for having it for rather longer than I should - Christmas kind of got in the way (as it does!)

Journal Entry 22 by 24-7-365Reader on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Arrived on Monday 19th, I will get to this asap, thanks for sharing!

Journal Entry 23 by 24-7-365Reader on Sunday, March 1, 2009
I enjoyed this more than I first thought I would. It has only taken me a weekend to read. It wasn't quite as 'heavy' as I was expecting and much easier to read. I thought Amir was a huge coward on one hand, but on the other I felt a little sorry for him, that he had to go to such measures to win the accpetance and attention of his father, and maybe if he had known the truth sooner things would have been different, but then maybe he would have felt far more resentment towards Hassan. I did feel that I wanted some sort of reaction from Hassan to Amir's selfish, spiteful ways, but he had been raised to serve as had his father. The relationship between the two 'fathers' was a very differnent one to that of the 'sons' I think there was much more respect and loyalty from both sides. All in all a surprise read. Thanks for sharing

Journal Entry 24 by 24-7-365Reader on Thursday, March 12, 2009
Just to keep you updated, orange-platypus has asked to be skipped so I have sent a message to kirstykat, as soon as I have her address I will forward on.

Edited - Kirstykat has alsp asked to be skipped so I will contact the next peron on the list

Journal Entry 25 by 24-7-365Reader on Friday, March 27, 2009
Sent out to Scruffykaz today, happy reading :)

Journal Entry 26 by Scruffykaz from Rainham, Kent United Kingdom on Saturday, April 4, 2009
Picked up from the post office today. The box was too big to fit through my puny postbox!!!

Looking forward to reading. Looks like a really good book!

Journal Entry 27 by Scruffykaz from Rainham, Kent United Kingdom on Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I loved this book. What a fanstastic read!

I immediately engaged with the characters. I felt Amir's pain and was rooting for him all the way through the book, I felt Hassan's loyalty and goodness.

I didn't want this book to end. It was a story of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and putting things right. The ending wasn't too cliched and worked for me.

I definitely want to read more by Khaled Hossenini

Released 14 yrs ago (5/1/2009 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to the next person on the list. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Journal Entry 29 by wingMartin1960wing from Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Sunday, May 3, 2009
Recievied from Scruffykaz. Thank you. My wife is looking forward to reading this one.

Journal Entry 30 by wingMartin1960wing from Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Friday, June 26, 2009
Sue found this a fascinating and absorbing read. Have contacted BertieBassett to get it passed on. (sorry for the slightly longer than normal time taken to do this).

Journal Entry 31 by wingMartin1960wing from Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Monday, June 29, 2009
Have heard from BertieBassett who no longer wants this book so have PM'd AgdaAgulina to get the book moving again.

Journal Entry 32 by wingMartin1960wing from Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Friday, July 3, 2009
AgdaAgulina also does not want to take part. So am Pm'ing CollegeLady to try and get things moving. (the postage just seems to get higher all the time :-)).

Journal Entry 33 by ETMadrid from Rotherhithe, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, October 19, 2009
CollegeLady tells me that she's written to Martin1960 to say that she's had this book from her local library, and so no longer needs it. I've written to Hopi100...don't know if Martin1960 has also, and not yet heard back.

Addendum: Martin1960 you should now have Hopi100's address - she's next on the list.

Journal Entry 34 by wingMartin1960wing from Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Now I've finally been able to get back onto the net I can make a journal entry!! This book was posted on a couple of weeks ago to the USA. We are having postal strikes in the UK so it may hold things up.

A quick not to ETMadrid:
Thanks for all the nasty emails, don't worry I won't be partaking in any of your bookrings again. In fact I may consider giving bookcrossing up, until now all the bookcrossers I have met have been nice people.

Journal Entry 35 by ETMadrid from Rotherhithe, Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, November 5, 2009
Hello everyone. I'm delighted that this is moving again - thanks for posting it Martin1960, and sorry that I failed to get any new participants closer to home.

Martin1960 I'm quite shocked by your note to me and very sorry that you feel that way. I've a record of all our communication, that I've just re-read, and am relieved that I haven't found anything, that I at least consider, out of order in the contents. As for anything nasty, well, I'm rather saddened by this accusation. Your comment (the only thing I can find to fall into that category) however makes me feel I should do a quick re-cap, so here goes:

6th July: I wrote a PM offering help in finding new readers (knowing that a closer destination was preferred). Here's my first message: "If you'd like, I could post a message on the forum to see if there are any
other readers interested in Europe before it goes to the US... Let me know. Regards,"
27th July: PM asking for news and asking who he'd contacted and letting him know that I knew someone in London interested if the ray was to end there.
8th Sep: PM asking for an update (and ending "This is
my 3rd message and I also posted on the forum, still to no avail...") I'm sorry if you took this as rude.
29th Sep: PM hoping the holiday went well, asking for news.
30th Sep: I received a reply from Martin1960 saying he was trying to get an address and saying any help would be appreciated.
Same day: I replied asking who he'd been contacting, had he tried emailing (as per CollegeLady's bookshelf page), if he'd tried the next person and offering to look for new participants.
I gave up hoping for a reply on 6th Oct and decided to do it myself:
6th Oct I PMed CollegeLady.
14th Oct I PMed Martin1960 again asking for an update.
17th Oct I emailed (the PM not having worked) CollegeLady and received a reply on the same day saying she's read it already.
19th Oct I PMed Hopi100 and received a reply on the same day. I then PMed her address to Martin1960, and I did say that I'd got responses very quickly (yes, I was frustrated, but think I kept most of that to myself) and also confirming I'd tried to get other participants. I PMed Hopi100 to confirm and asked her to do the same.
27th Oct I PMed Hopi100 asking if she'd heard back. She agreed to try contacting him again and said she'd let me know if she had news. And that's the last of it until today's journal.

Blimey this is boring. I do apologise. I'd be delighted to delete all of this as soon as the previous note is deleted, as it would be a shame to blight the course of this book with such trivialities. I wrote 8 messages to Martin1960 and also sometimes posted in the forum thread about this bookring, in case my PMs were not getting through. I received one reply that was not very precise. I really don't mind how long the book stays in one place, nor is it the end of the world if it gets lost, after all it's only a book. But I was frustrated, I don't mind admitting, a)that I didn't get any replies b) that I ended up being the one to get the address needed and c) I'll say it again! that I didn't get any reply! A word at any stage about a problem getting onto the internet, if appropriate, would have been good - I certainly can understand that. Communication is the key, to this and most things in life. I'd even thought about offering to receive it here in London and forward it myself, if postage abroad was the problem, but for that, I'd have needed a little more news.

As to whether Martin1960 you continue to bookcross or not, I do hope that you will be able to get over this unfortunate misunderstanding and continue! Among other things, it might be worth having another look over the history of this book to see that there are many people to thank for this bookray's existence, and it is with a sense of gratitude to them that I was keen to get it to continue.

So there we go. Now you know. Unfortunately by doing this I've given more time to it than it merits, but I'm not prepared to let such a remark lie.



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