My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would...
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And the Mountains Echoed (Riverhead), Khaled Hosseini's new novel, is a story about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives around the globe, the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each new page. Hosseini will be joined in conversation by Maria Wulff, president of the World Affairs Council of Oregon. Please note: Tickets for this event, $38.95, include admission and a copy of And the Mountains Echoed, and are available at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts box office, all TicketsWest outlets,, online at PCPA.com, or by phone at 800.273.1530. Books will be distributed at the event.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons — their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvases of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject — the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.
Review:
"Hosseini's book is more than a typical coming-of-age story. Rather it is about personal salvation, betrayal, and redemption." Albuquerque Journal
Review:
"Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"Brilliant...both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives." Publishers Weekly, starred review
Review:
"A wonderful work.... This is one of those unforgettable stories that stay with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear redemption.... It is so powerful that for a long time everything I read after seemed bland." Isabel Allende
Review:
"In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence — forces that continue to threaten them even today." New York Times
Review:
"A haunting morality tale." USA Today
Review:
"His passionate story of betrayal and redemption is framed by Afghanistan's tragic recent past.... Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"Like Gone with the Wind, this extraordinary first novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history." People
Review:
"To many Western readers, [Afghanistan's] can be an exhausting and bewildering history. But Hosseini extrudes it into an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us." Washington Post
Review:
"A beautiful novel...a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart...one of the most lyrical, moving and unexpected novels of the year." Denver Post
Review:
"By page seven...I was sold, and hoped only that the book would continue to hold me in the same embrace. And embrace it does — or better said, encompass. Hosseini does tenderness and terror, California dream and Kabul nightmare with equal aplomb." The Globe and Mail
Review:
"[A] passionate story about guilt, honour and forgiveness, enlivened both by its capacity to offer a valuable insider's view into a country much in the news, and by its wisdom about how life is all about the choices we make." Literary Review
Synopsis:
Privileged young narrator Amir comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy in Afghanistan, then must endure revolution, invasion and a country's long struggle to triumph over violent forces.
Synopsis:
The New York Times bestseller and international classic loved by millions of readers.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.
Khaled Hosseini was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, the son of a diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980. He now lives in Northern California, and is a physician. The Kite Runner is his first novel.
Waney, December 29, 2012 (view all comments by Waney)
I saw this book as one man's journey toward redemption against a background of a troubled heritage. I sometimes recall doing things as a child that now makes me wonder about myself, and while I like to think I've become a better human being, I sometimes shudder at the savage, thoughtless child that was once under this skin. For the personal perspective alone, I think this book is a worthwhile, if sometimes uncomfortable, read. If you let it, it may make you a better person.
girlymeyers, September 16, 2011 (view all comments by girlymeyers)
This book is one that describes childhood fun and dreams with shame and disloyalty. Then, later of regret and trying to make amends to a long lost friend. It will make you cry, laugh and keep you turning each page. I throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a magnificent read.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
bookgirl94, March 14, 2011 (view all comments by bookgirl94)
This book was amazing. People had told me how good it was and I had put off reading it, but I'm so glad that I read it. It was powerful and wonderfully written.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (7 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)
"Review"
by Albuquerque Journal,
"Hosseini's book is more than a typical coming-of-age story. Rather it is about personal salvation, betrayal, and redemption."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible."
"Review"
by Publishers Weekly, starred review,
"Brilliant...both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives."
"Review"
by Isabel Allende,
"A wonderful work.... This is one of those unforgettable stories that stay with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear redemption.... It is so powerful that for a long time everything I read after seemed bland."
"Review"
by New York Times,
"In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence — forces that continue to threaten them even today."
"Review"
by USA Today,
"A haunting morality tale."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"His passionate story of betrayal and redemption is framed by Afghanistan's tragic recent past.... Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible."
"Review"
by People,
"Like Gone with the Wind, this extraordinary first novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history."
"Review"
by Washington Post,
"To many Western readers, [Afghanistan's] can be an exhausting and bewildering history. But Hosseini extrudes it into an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us."
"Review"
by Denver Post,
"A beautiful novel...a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart...one of the most lyrical, moving and unexpected novels of the year."
"Review"
by The Globe and Mail,
"By page seven...I was sold, and hoped only that the book would continue to hold me in the same embrace. And embrace it does — or better said, encompass. Hosseini does tenderness and terror, California dream and Kabul nightmare with equal aplomb."
"Review"
by Literary Review,
"[A] passionate story about guilt, honour and forgiveness, enlivened both by its capacity to offer a valuable insider's view into a country much in the news, and by its wisdom about how life is all about the choices we make."
"Synopsis"
by Libri,
Privileged young narrator Amir comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy in Afghanistan, then must endure revolution, invasion and a country's long struggle to triumph over violent forces.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
The New York Times bestseller and international classic loved by millions of readers.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.
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