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The Kite Runner cover art

The Kite Runner

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, while Hassan, 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 and betrayal, and about 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 & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS. is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division. Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic Reviews

  • 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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Vivid and emotive. Recommend

A very well written, vivid and emotive book. It offers a blunt and sad insight into the realities of life for one Afghani family amongst increasing terror and war in Kabul. The story is told through the eyes of Amir, a young boy who finally faces his own guilt from the past and seeks to honor his family. Excellent read.

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Enlightening and Sorrowful

A story the unfolds to reveal the horror of war , the bitterness of life's injustice and the sweetness of forgiveness

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Chapters don't match book chapters

It is impossible to follow this on for chapters in the novel. The chapters need to be remarked based on the actual chapters in the book.

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One of the best books out there

Loved it, I’ve read it before but hearing it read by the author was excellent

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Epic and heart wrenching

It was an emotional listen. It was beautifully narrated by the author, I loved that I was listening to it in the way he had intended. It was a fascinating and heartbreaking backdrop too, an incredible sweeping story.

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fantastic!!!

fantastic narrative of the culture with precise description of the emotions! I laughed and cried several times and I found myself lost in the story many times during listening.

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Profound, emotional, poignant.

What a story! I have not been so moved by a novel for a long, long time. An extraordinary insight into a culture and life that is so far from anything I have ever known or experienced. Beautifully written and authentically narrated.

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Most beautifully written. Haunting

A story so sad and full of love

A beautiful book about friendship, loss and trauma.

An addictive read. I couldn’t put it down it down

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Sad and Beautiful

What a wonderful, moving and profoundly sad story. Loved it from start to finish. Five stars all the way 👍

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A thousand times, yes

A powerful tale, read beautifully by the author - it had me in floods of tears & awakened a keen interest in Afghanistan, it’s people and customs. “For you, a thousand times, yes”. ⭐️ A thousand stars ⭐️

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