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Tuesday, 28 November 2006 14:13 |
| | David Forbes |
Love, fear, guilt, evil and redemption are all universal and part of our birthright as human beings ÇƒÓ no matter what culture or part of the world in which we live.
Khaled Hosseiniës powerful novel "The Kite Runner" (Riverhead Books, 371 pages, $14) hammers that point home, with a gripping story, its rich view of Afghani culture and some of the most well-realized characters Iëve seen in a long time.
At the heart of the story is a bond between Amir, a privileged boy, and Hassan, his servant, growing up in Kabul in the 1970s, just before the country was plunged into violent political upheaval.
The two boys begin the novel as close friends, almost brothers. But cruelty, fear and the chaotic times they live in end up wrenching them far apart, leaving Amir guilt-stricken even as he and his father are forced to flee to America.
The
title refers to the kite duels that children would wage during the
Afghan winter, pitting kites with sharpened wire against each other
until just one remained in the sky. Prestige was also given to "kite
runners," who would chase down kites as they fell, keeping them as
trophies. Amir and Hassan had been very good at this, with Hassan one
of the best kite runners in Kabul. But the tragedy that begins to drive
them apart also occurs during a kite fighting tournament.
Decades later,
Amir has become a writer and a husband, when an old friend of the
family calls him from Pakistan. He has a shot at redemption for his
past actions, but it means he will have to go back to his homeland, now
suffering under the rule of the Taliban ÇƒÓ who famously banned kites as
un-Islamic, along with everything else. The journey will prove to be
both physically and spiritually harrowing.
 Amazingly
enough, this is Hosseiniës debut novel. The son of a diplomat, Hosseini
and his family fled Afghanistan for America with nothing save the
clothes on their backs in the late ǃÚ70s. Settling in California, he
became a physician, a profession which he still practices. Clearly,
many of the details in the novel are autobiographical, especially the
pre-war memories of Amirës boyhood and the experiences of the Afghan
immigrants thrust suddenly into poverty.
One of the most
genius features of the novel is that it truly brings the culture alive,
but in such a way that it helps to anchor the storyës human qualities.
While the codes of honor that bind and drive many of the charactersë
actions are from a world away, Hosseini writes so well that they do not
feel alien at all.
There is not a
shallow character in the bunch. From Amir himself to his swaggering and
stubborn father, Baba, to his eventual wife, Soraya, and the various
supporting characters, all of them have their depths and quirks. None
are wholly good, but their mistakes, even the horrible ones, make
sense, too. Hosseini does in his first novel what many writers never
master ÇƒÓ bringing characters to life with just a single episode or a
few words.
The depiction of
Afghanistan itself is also a particularly poignant revelation. As the
wars drag on ÇƒÓ and continue even today ÇƒÓ that country has become a
byword for barbaric strife. But Hosseini shows that this was not always
so, giving a glimpse of the thriving culture that dwelt there just
before all hell broke loose. Even then, he does not ignore its dark
side. There is some cruelty even in good times, much of it ominously
foreshadowing what will come later.
And kindness
even in cruel times. While Amirës trip back into Afghanistan is a
brutal odyssey made even more visceral by the authorës knack for prose
that hits the reader in the gut, there is mercy and humanity even in
the ruins, often from unexpected sources.
The culture he
shows is at once fragile and strong. The world that seemed so stable in
Amirës childhood crumbled away, but odd things, such as old jokes and
rules of hospitality, endure, even in desperate times or in another
country.
Thereës a lesson in that, especially in a nation where basic stability and civilization are often taken for granted.
The juxtaposing
of the two eras serves as a desolate metaphor for Amirës own struggle.
Not one for extravagant prose, Hosseini lets small details do his work.
An area Amir once remembers as smelling of lamb kabob now reeks of
diesel fuel. There is, after all, no electricity in Kabul anymore ÇƒÓ and
only the Taliban can afford to eat lamb.
The overall
effect is a novel that works on many levels. Its metaphors, story and
characters all tie together into one whole with one driving message ǃÓ
in the end, it is our actions that count, that tie us to others, that
show our true natures and save or damn us.
Redemption, while possible, does not come easily or quickly. It has a price, no matter what part of the world youëre from.
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