The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini [0]
‘My top fiction book . . . marvellous’ Joanna Trollope, Books of the Year, Observer
‘Unforgettable … extraordinary … It is so powerful that for a long time after, everything I read seemed bland’ Isabel Allende
‘A gripping read and a haunting story of love, loss and betrayal.
Guaranteed to move even the hardest heart’ Independent
‘Shattering … devastating and inspiring’ Observer
‘The Kite Runner is told with simplicity and poise, it is a novel of great hidden intricacy and wisdom, like a timeless Eastern tale. It speaks the most harrowing truth about the power of evil, personal and political, and intoxicates, like a high-flying kite, with the power of hope’ Daily Telegraph
‘Stunning and heartbreaking in its quiet intensity … Hosseini’s writing is meticulous and evocative’ Guardian
‘A marvellous first novel . . . It’s an old-fashioned kind of novel that really sweeps you away’ San Francisco Chronicle
‘From the first lines of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini shows how an engaging novel begins – with simple, exquisite writing that compels the reader to turn the page. But Hosseini’s novel is more than just good writing, it is also a wonderfully conjured story that offers a glimpse into an Afghanistan most Americans have never seen and depicts a side of humanity rarely revealed … for the reader, the ride is exhilarating’ Star Tribune
‘The Kite Runnerr is powerful and involving’ Time Out
‘Stunning . . . It is rare that a book is at once so timely and of such high literary quality’ Publishers Weekly
‘Here is a real find: a striking debut . . . a passionate story of betrayal and redemption . . . a searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible’ Kirkus Reviews
‘What’s most conspicuous on almost every page of this debut is not language, but the shimmer of life. There is no display in Hosseini’s writing, only expression – a lesson for all budding novelists . . . Hosseini does tenderness and terror, California dream and Kabul nightmare with equal aplomb . . . A carefully built structure of ripping yarn and ethical parable’ Globe and Mail, Canada
‘Not only manages to enthrall the reader with its narrative but also gives an insight into a culture and mindset way beyond our own experience’ Dublin Evening Herald
‘A marvellous read, full of the exoticism of a strange land . . . beautifully written, in a limpid prose that, like all good writing, looks so simple on the page. This is one that I will reread, maybe more than once’ Irish Examiner
‘Balances socio-political commentary with an emotionally powerful narrative’ Ink
‘It’s a Shakespearean beginning to an epic tale that spans lives lived across two continents amid political upheavals, where dreams wilt before they bud and where a search for a child finally makes a coward into a man . . . rich and soul-searching . . . His world is a patchwork of the beautiful and the horrific, and the book a sharp, unforgettable taste of the trauma and tumult experienced by Afghanis as their country buckled’ Observer
‘A beautiful novel . . . it ranks among the best-written and most provocative stories of the year . . . The Kite Runner is a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart. His canvas might be a place and time Americans are only beginning to understand, but he paints his art on the page, where it is intimate and poignant’ Denver Post
‘His description of Amir’s relationship with Hassan is beautifully nuanced, and the moment of Amir’s ultimate betrayal is genuinely shocking. It is a passionate story’ Literary Review
‘Hosseini’s stunning debut is a gripping tale of love and loss, exile and homeland’ Big Issue
‘If you liked The God of Small Things, then you’ll love The Kite Runner ... it is fable-like and deals in picturesque absolutes . . . compelling’ Image
‘Combines the tones of memory and nostalgia with a desire to recreate a lost world . . . The Kite Runner is reminiscent of those classic European novellas of