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The Kite Runner cover art

The Kite Runner

Written by: Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
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Publisher's Summary

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man; Hassan, as the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But through the devastation, Khaled Hosseini offers hope for redemption.
©2003 Khaled Hosseini (P)2003 Simon and Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon and Schuster Audio Division, Simon and Schuster Inc.
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Genre Fiction
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What the critics say

  • Alex Award Winner, 2004

" "A beautiful novel...ranks among the best-written and most provocative stories of the year." (The Denver Post)
"Powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Kite Runner

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Profile Image for Chadeen Godfrey

Life is kite running.

I loved this book. It was read beautifully by the author. Listened in one day.The story was so moving I almost cried. Definately a must read!

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  • Overall
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Profile Image for Amin Honarmand

A visual masterpiece

This is a very touching story and it's so well written that it stuck with me for months. It felt like watching a movie.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User

Shortened version

Note to any teachers: the 12 hour version will be every word of the book while this one misses sentences here and there to make it shorter. This one would be better for casual listeners rather than those following along with the actual novel.

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3 people found this helpful