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TW for mention and slight description of male rape.

There's a reviewer here, Lyn, who says everything I have to say about this book and does so beautifully. Please check out that review.

It's a tale about redemption and love, loyalty, honour and betrayal, about fathers and sons and brothers, Afghanistan but it's also a tale about your roots and how deep they go, about your identity. Can going to another land really erase your past, mistakes? Is it that easy? Not, if you're a decent person and Amir is decent (not good, not virtuous, he's just humane) though it takes a while for him to find his way.

Amir will be hard to like for some but I appreciate that he has to work for redemption, that it's not waiting for him with open arms. there's been too much hurt. Plus, he who is without sin, is only allowed to cast the stone. I'm not without sin. Amir reminds me of that. My sin was wanting to fit in with people, be friends - except I didn't understand you don't get friends with money furtively taken from your brother. You don't sacrifice family for someone who may well not deserve it. I was a child then, I was punished then but only because I did admit it, but I'm glad I did. Amir never faces reality, he runs away from it. It's difficult to forgive him, but he doesn't forgive himself and the narrative doesn't really forgive him either. Instead, he learns. He grows. He matures and becomes more of father hinself.

I loved Hassan, the humility he portrayed, his strength and affection,

I appreciated Baba - he tried hard but perhaps it would have been nice to see more of his internal turmoil. Perhaps a story from his point of view? I think he's a character with a lot of hidden depth, but it was not his story, it was Amir's and perhaps through Amir we know a bit of Baba's story too. I do like the story of loyalty and love and betrayal. I love the stories of fathers and sons. In the end, the lessons Amir learns are also those of fatherhood. I cheer him on in efforts beyond the book, the harder, the better. And Sohrab is a smart boy.

I think Amir follows classic Aristotelian principles. The tragic hero must be neither a villain nor a virtuous man but a “character between these two extremes,…a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty". We pity those who are our and of noble intent but feelings of fear are awoken by those who are similar to us.

"For you, thousand times over " is a great refrain that returns in all the right moments It makes me think of Hassan's smile and of Amir's spoiled and cowardly attitude - but also of the reversal of his fortunes. It definitely holds the most power when it's used in the ending. It's one line that will definitely stay with me.

The novel is good, the ending is worthwhile, very balanced towards the whole story and hopeful - I love that. I hope for the best. I cheer Amir on. Those who were takers can become givers if they have something to fight for. And Amir does. I think he really grows by the end. I the way ending is hopeful is just right- it's hope for Sohrab to have a family and hope for Amir to have that too. Bound by a destiny that cannot be unravelled.

I think in the end the only villain is war, greed, mistaken beliefs of people like Assef - he's the real entitled, privileged swine. Not Amir, who struggles with being decent and has so much remorse that in the end, it makes him a very memorable character, thrust in whirls of impossible historical conflicts, of things he couldn't change, either. And while I could blame him for escaping, could blame him for betraying his friend, the characters in the book are nobler than I am - they forgive, they understand and it's thanks to them that Amir can grow and be their hope. Because he also cares, once he understands what he's lost but also what he has. And that what he has is worth fighting for. So very much. So I'm glad he doesn't give up and tries to reach out.

Coincidences in the novel may be too convenient at times, but they don't come as a surprise since they are foreshadowed and it's easy for me to forgive when the novel offers a story that appeals so strongly to my sentiments. I think the use of the first person narration is very effective in this novel too- it's the third one in a row I've read that uses it well. But it does it differently than the others . It makes me dislike the protagonist but then makes me think, if I have the right to judge him.

Amir, Hassan,Baba and Sohrab and the thread of destiny that binds them will stay with me


A more edited review:

"For you, a thousand times over" is an example of how phrases gain a different power and meaning when contexts changes . I loved it about this story. The phrase gained a lot of power in the ending. I loved the ending.

The book should have a TW for me for mention and slight description of male rape.

We follow the story of Amir from his well-provided childhood through historical turbulences,escape, life abroad and return. The first-person narration is very effective here too in that it makes me initially loathe Amir...but he's a very classic character in the sense that as a hero he makes me think of Aristotelian principle that the tragic hero must be neither a villain nor a virtuous man but a “character between these two extremes,…a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty". Plus, he's humane. They who ate without sins are welcome to throw stones but I know I'm not so instead I've tried to understand him and accept him.

He is surrounded by people who are loyal to him and who love him. I loved Hassan with his humility and strength and appreciated Baba. Amir makes mistakes and is hard on himself, he's very torn, perhaps just like Baba, his father. But in the end karma returns and Amir ultimately finds out he has things worth fighting for. I cheer him on in efforts beyond the book because the ending is wonderful. And he has grown considerably, slowly becoming a father himself. His is a journey of deliverance.

The coincidences in the novel may be too convenient but it's a novel that appeals to my sentiment, love the story of loyalty and bonds that go deep. Of fathers and sons (and it comes s full circle in a way) It's also a depiction of a culture with it's troubled conflicts, a modern day caste system that talks about bigotry and racism. I will buy this book for my shelves.
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