The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini, 2003
★ 4.36 from 3.6m ratings on Goodreads
A boy in 1970s Kabul betrays the friend who would do anything for him, and spends the rest of his life learning whether a person can be good again. A slow-burning, lyrical voice carries grief and memory through friendship and war, letting longing and regret settle in.
Feels like grief, longing and hope. About memory, friendship and war.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you want an emotionally direct story about friendship, guilt, and a vividly drawn Kabul. Be aware that many readers find it devastating and some feel frustrated by the protagonist’s choices, so it can be a heavy, sometimes manipulative read.
Why read it
Read it for a clear-eyed look at guilt and repair, and for a sense of Afghanistan before and after war.
A page from the book
How far would someone go to make up for a wrong?
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. What readers say
Readers say the novel is deeply moving and often devastating, with many describing tears and a lasting emotional weight. Some also feel frustrated by the protagonist or manipulated by the story, even while finding the Afghan setting vivid.
Khaled Hosseini.Hosseini was born in Kabul in 1965, the son of a diplomat and a teacher; the family moved to the United States in 1980.
Books that feel like this
The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger, 1951
A prep-school dropout drifts through New York for a few days, allergic to phonies and desperate to protect someone younger.
More by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini, 2007
Two Afghan women, a generation apart, are thrown together by war and a violent marriage—and discover what loyalty can be built from ruin.
And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini, 2013
A father's impossible choice in a village fable opens into a novel about siblings, separation, and the long echo of one decision.
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is The Kite Runner for me?
- You may like it if you want an emotionally direct story about friendship, guilt, and a vividly drawn Kabul. Be aware that many readers find it devastating and some feel frustrated by the protagonist’s choices, so it can be a heavy, sometimes manipulative read.
- What is The Kite Runner like?
- A slow-burning, lyrical voice carries grief and memory through friendship and war, letting longing and regret settle in. Feels like grief, longing and hope. About memory, friendship and war.
- What should I read after The Kite Runner?
- If you liked The Kite Runner, try The Book Thief (Markus Zusak), The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck).
A taste of the feed
The voice that will carry you away is more polite than you'd expect.
I could introduce myself properly, but it’s not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.
The Book Thief · Markus Zusak
What it costs to keep believing in a piece of land you'll never own.
They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.
Of Mice and Men · John Steinbeck
To know someone so well that sight becomes optional.
I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.
The Song of Achilles · Madeline Miller
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed