This is the first novel by Khaled Hosseini. A rage all over the world, it didnt take long to become a number one best seller. This is a story about friendship, heartbreak, success and failure and everything in between. It about love, hope, secret, lies, truth, bravery, gumption, cowardice and most of all about redemption. The story is set in Afghanistan before the Soviet Invasion. The book revolves around Amir and a dark secret he carries through his childhood and adult life. The story is also about Hassan, Amir''s best friend and his servant''s son. Amir tries to compete Hassan for his baba(dad)'' s love. Hassan is everything that Amir is not. Athletic to his dreamer, brave to his meek, strong to his weak. Amir''s dad shares his love and wealth equally with Amir and Hassan. The fact that Hassan is a servant''s son, never deterres him. This bothers Amir and he never really understands his Baba''s fondness for Hassan. The country of Afghanistan is another character in the book. Its transformation from a beautiful, peaceful country to a battered, barren wasteland is portrayed beautifully. Amir is ridden with guilt and remorse when he fails to fulfill his end of friendship.
Amir and his baba move to the states when Russia invades Afghanistan where Amir grows up to become a successful writer and the pride of his baba. Hassan stays back in in Afghanistan, to take care of Amir''s house and keep it ready whenever they decide to come back to Afghanistan. The highlight of the book is the wonderful play of emotions. One can actually feel everything that Amir is going through. His cowardice, his guilt, his remorse, his justifications. Everything seems natural. Since each one of us has a dark secret that we carry in our hearts which we hope no one ever comes to know of , its easy to identify with Amir. Its a beautiful book, extremely well written. On a scale of five, I would rate it five on five. The debutant writer has done complete justice to all his characters and the emotional upheavels that each goes through. A must read.To read more reviews please visithttp://www.shvoong.com/writers/azizsaya/