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A review by mayana
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I do not entirely regret reading this book. I did learn a few things about Afghanistan from it, although its portrayal of the country is lazy and oversimplified. And it sometimes succeeded at producing emotion in my cold, cold heart; at the time of reading, the ending's hopefulness was quite wholesome.
But over all, I don't like it. At the time of reading, I wrote a long, anger-filled thread on Mastodon, attempting to explain why that is so. This review is mostly that rant, only slightly edited to ... ahem, remove excessive cursing. There is still some there, however; the book is very much not PG13, so I don't see a need to be, either.
Additionally, be warned that, because it is difficult for me to explain what disappointed me in this book without examples from its plot, this review will have uncovered spoilers. Since The Kite Runner was released in 2003, I don't think this will be a problem for most. So let's start!
The protagonist -- Amir -- is very unlikable. Now, that is not always a bad thing. Characters do not always have to be likable; humans are imperfect, after all. But it is incredibly hard to see him as the poor, misunderstood boy he believes himself to be, or perhaps, it could be argued, the author thinks of him as.
I could understand if he was just a coward; panicking, freezing, and not jumping to Hassan's aid. We all believe we would do the right thing in such a situation, but when gripped by fear, instinct can often outweigh morality. I could even understand him not wanting to talk to Hassan about this; of course he would be ashamed.
But what he did was not just cowardice. It was a level of victim blaming that, in my opinion, not even him being young can excuse. Hassan got raped while (far too) loyally defending a gift for Amir. A stupid kite that Amir wanted for winning his dad's approval, but actually no longer needed, since he'd already won the tournament. And what did Amir do? Proceed to completely ignore Hassan -- ignoring, as you know, being far worse than yelling and insults. Never telling him why. Because what would he say? "Oh, I'm being terrible to you because you dared to get raped"? And then he decided to break a life-long friendship between his father and Ali and make the servants jobless, just so he didn't have to deal with his guilt.
That is not something one can get redemption for just by rescuing a child and getting beaten up while doing so, especially since he had to be forced to do that in the first place.
But at least he is a complex character. As is his father. That's great! Hassan, meanwhile...
You know that Happiness in Slavery trope? Yes, that is Hassan. True, he is a servant. But he is loyal and obedient to an unrealistic degree. Even the stupidest puppy would eventually stop coming back if the owner kicked it often enough. Hassan does not. He tolerates Amir's mental abuse, patiently stands there to get pelted by fruits, claims to have the watch to help out Amir in getting rid of him ... and then, twenty years later, still wants to be Hassan's friend.
And this with a fair helping of the Magical Negro trope, or Magical Hazara in this case. Kind. Completely honest. Full of wisdom. Perfect in every single way, too good for this sinful Earth. He is just there to be a nice little well-behaved servant. Because, oh dear, if he has even a single human flaw, then maybe some terrible people couldn't feel bad for him when he got freaking raped!
Representation should not be done with flat characters.
Speaking of flat characters, let's look at the antagonists.
The author attempts to make the issue seem more complex by mentioning, several times, that the Taliban were praised when they first arrived. But besides that, this seems to be a feel-good book for westerners, telling us it's OK for those assholes to suffer, because they are all irredeemably evil. All political complications are neatly glossed over by having them be lead by Assef.
Assef, the open and unashamed racist who wants all Hazaras to die. Assef, who is really into Hitler (yes, Hitler). Assef, who first rapes a boy while still being a teenager himself, and then continues that trend into adulthood, taking children from the orphanage to sexually abuse them.
The only queer character in the story. Nazi bisexual pedophile. Lovely.
Why the hell does Khaled Hosseini have such a thing for boys getting raped as a plot device anyway? Protagonist needs to be guilty about something? Let's rape his best friend! A minor villain needs to be "redeemed"? Rape him, too! Protagonist needs to be redeemed in the reader's eyes through rescuing a suffering child? Third times the charm! Yes, male rape is unfortunately a thing. It is awful, far more common than commonly believed, and the victims deserve representation in media that doesn't make it into a joke. But not like this!
And that is about the time when I ran out of steam. Realizing, as one does, that I had spent too much energy on a (then) seventeen-years-old book, and that, doubtlessly, all of my points had already been made. After very brief research, I can confirm that yes, they have been, and far better at that. If you are for some reason still reading, please go find those other reviews instead.
But over all, I don't like it. At the time of reading, I wrote a long, anger-filled thread on Mastodon, attempting to explain why that is so. This review is mostly that rant, only slightly edited to ... ahem, remove excessive cursing. There is still some there, however; the book is very much not PG13, so I don't see a need to be, either.
Additionally, be warned that, because it is difficult for me to explain what disappointed me in this book without examples from its plot, this review will have uncovered spoilers. Since The Kite Runner was released in 2003, I don't think this will be a problem for most. So let's start!
The protagonist -- Amir -- is very unlikable. Now, that is not always a bad thing. Characters do not always have to be likable; humans are imperfect, after all. But it is incredibly hard to see him as the poor, misunderstood boy he believes himself to be, or perhaps, it could be argued, the author thinks of him as.
I could understand if he was just a coward; panicking, freezing, and not jumping to Hassan's aid. We all believe we would do the right thing in such a situation, but when gripped by fear, instinct can often outweigh morality. I could even understand him not wanting to talk to Hassan about this; of course he would be ashamed.
But what he did was not just cowardice. It was a level of victim blaming that, in my opinion, not even him being young can excuse. Hassan got raped while (far too) loyally defending a gift for Amir. A stupid kite that Amir wanted for winning his dad's approval, but actually no longer needed, since he'd already won the tournament. And what did Amir do? Proceed to completely ignore Hassan -- ignoring, as you know, being far worse than yelling and insults. Never telling him why. Because what would he say? "Oh, I'm being terrible to you because you dared to get raped"? And then he decided to break a life-long friendship between his father and Ali and make the servants jobless, just so he didn't have to deal with his guilt.
That is not something one can get redemption for just by rescuing a child and getting beaten up while doing so, especially since he had to be forced to do that in the first place.
But at least he is a complex character. As is his father. That's great! Hassan, meanwhile...
You know that Happiness in Slavery trope? Yes, that is Hassan. True, he is a servant. But he is loyal and obedient to an unrealistic degree. Even the stupidest puppy would eventually stop coming back if the owner kicked it often enough. Hassan does not. He tolerates Amir's mental abuse, patiently stands there to get pelted by fruits, claims to have the watch to help out Amir in getting rid of him ... and then, twenty years later, still wants to be Hassan's friend.
And this with a fair helping of the Magical Negro trope, or Magical Hazara in this case. Kind. Completely honest. Full of wisdom. Perfect in every single way, too good for this sinful Earth. He is just there to be a nice little well-behaved servant. Because, oh dear, if he has even a single human flaw, then maybe some terrible people couldn't feel bad for him when he got freaking raped!
Representation should not be done with flat characters.
Speaking of flat characters, let's look at the antagonists.
The author attempts to make the issue seem more complex by mentioning, several times, that the Taliban were praised when they first arrived. But besides that, this seems to be a feel-good book for westerners, telling us it's OK for those assholes to suffer, because they are all irredeemably evil. All political complications are neatly glossed over by having them be lead by Assef.
Assef, the open and unashamed racist who wants all Hazaras to die. Assef, who is really into Hitler (yes, Hitler). Assef, who first rapes a boy while still being a teenager himself, and then continues that trend into adulthood, taking children from the orphanage to sexually abuse them.
The only queer character in the story. Nazi bisexual pedophile. Lovely.
Why the hell does Khaled Hosseini have such a thing for boys getting raped as a plot device anyway? Protagonist needs to be guilty about something? Let's rape his best friend! A minor villain needs to be "redeemed"? Rape him, too! Protagonist needs to be redeemed in the reader's eyes through rescuing a suffering child? Third times the charm! Yes, male rape is unfortunately a thing. It is awful, far more common than commonly believed, and the victims deserve representation in media that doesn't make it into a joke. But not like this!
And that is about the time when I ran out of steam. Realizing, as one does, that I had spent too much energy on a (then) seventeen-years-old book, and that, doubtlessly, all of my points had already been made. After very brief research, I can confirm that yes, they have been, and far better at that. If you are for some reason still reading, please go find those other reviews instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Medical trauma
Minor: Biphobia