One thought: Let me just say "Wow."
Starting off pretty lighthearted with the air of easy childhood, the voice of Amir immediately hits you as a striking feature. Told from an older Amir's perspective looking back, the tone is decidedly more mature, but it doesn't fail at all in conveying any of the emotions of his child self. Running to a hill after school to eat pomegranates, carve names in the tree, and reading stories to his illiterate servant/friend. It's the matter-of-fact way that it's presented that makes you take a double-take. The culture of Amir's Afghan world is wildly foreign, but Amir's voice makes you feel like you have lived there with him for your whole life even as you click through Google search results on qurma and the like.
Amir's character is a very human one. Set against his foil character morally exemplary servant/friend Hassan, many of Amir's own shortcomings come to light. Taking advantage of others because he can, failing to save his friend because of his own cowardice, and feeling guilt, deep, wrenching, devastating guilt. We've all had at least one of these experiences before, and Amir's experiences and decisions remind us of ourselves. He's the poster boy for spoiled, ungrateful kids, but we get to see his other sides too, when he's vulnerable and vying for affection from his father. He's a well rounded character whose very being seems to be jumping out of the pages to commune with you.
There are many scenes that are really powerful. In a particular scene Amir, suffering from guilt of leaving Hassan when Hassan really needed him, deliberately throws a pomegranate at Hassan and yells at the ever loyal Hassan to hit him back. Amir wants Hassan to show that he's capable of hurting people too, and Amir wants Hassan to punish him for being a coward, even when Hassan does not know why. But, Hassan just stands there and takes it, and when Amir is done, he does what Amir asks, he hits Amir back by smashing a pomegranate on his own forehead, "red dripping down his face like blood"(93). You can feel the anguish that Amir is going through, and Hassan's uncanny way of making every one of his actions meaningful really adds a strong note to the scene.
The Kite Runner really makes you feel. You go through not only Amir's emotions but also Hassan's through their turbulent relationship. It really is amazing.
My rating of the book so far: 10/10
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