52 books in a year - Week four - The kite runner

This book was a recommendation from my friend, Janine in a wonderful box of books she sent to me. I am hoping to get through all of them very soon, but made this my first selection. While this was a book that I had often thought of reading, it was nice to have it placed in front of me to actually get me to read it.

The Kite Runner, first of all, was not at all what I had expected. While I knew the story would cover many tragedies of the Afghan people, I was not quite prepared for the detail and pure devastation that was discussed. I had to put this book down and pick it back up so many times just to allow myself to think through what was happening. The basic idea is the story of two boys growing up before the war, one privileged and one not. The story touches on tradition, family, and the struggles of being in a war torn country. The only disappointment was that the story ended, while beautifully, I needed to know more - the reader was left to believe the story just finished on a bright note, which, after what had just been experienced, wasn't all that bad.