Khaled Hosseini has a gift, one which made me seriously considering writing my own book one day, the quality of which I obviously cannot guarantee now considering how beautifully he writes. He weaves tales of the old Afghanistan in such ways that you feel you're there,  smelling the smells young Amir does, battling kites and chasing them through the streets. Something which, I'm sure, all of us here in India have memories of. 

The Kite Runner, perhaps his best work, is the story of a young boy from a powerful caste and a rich family, and his friendship with one who is not so fortunate. But that's just the forefront of the story, a device Hosseini uses to tell the story of a dying Afghanistan, at the brink of war with itself, religious extremism and regression. This story is the story of people being torn apart by forces that make the choices for them, a factor that is magnified tenfold in his next book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. But that is a story for another time. 

Now a major motion picture, The Kite Runner's pacing is like melting butter in a frying pan: smooth, mellow, delicious even at points. Hosseini, who himself grew up in the old Afghanistan, put his heart and soul into writing a tale of boyhood in a country that no longer exists. Perhaps the reason why The Kite Runner is such a moving and often heart wrenching story is that it is Hosseini's love letter to what the country used to be. 

I've always believed that a story's weakest link are its characters. People think writing a good story is just limited to how the story is structured, and not how its characters deal with the story or the events that are happening around them, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I picked up the book for the firs time and experienced caste struggles in Afghanistan and the crumbling of the old monarchy through the eyes of a child. The gift that we spoke of is Hosseini's way with words when he's describing how Amir reacts to the events and the world around him. It's almost a poem, a moving poem that will leave you with tears in your eyes. 

On the surface, the book is a simple story between two friends overcoming societal and religious differences and growing up together as equals. In the background, it is a dark tale of how changing political landscapes can often time throw your life out of gear, even if you never expected your life to be affected by politics or societal norms.  Nothing exists outside of society, and society deals with politics, after all. 

Amir and Hassan are characters that you will fondly remember for a long time, maybe even pass them on to the next generation as time rolls by. It's a slice of life of the old Afghanistan, complete with its smells and society, its people and leaders, written by a man who yearns to return to a peaceful country one day, and fondly remembers the bygone years of the country. 

If only I could write a book as he can. 

Click here to buy The Kite Runner!