The Kite Runner

by Javier de Obeso

The relationship we develop with our fathers has been the theme of a good many number of books. Since I am not a particularly good reader, when I stumbled across The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini I finally figured out why this is so. My relationship with my own father has not been an easy one. Men of my father's generation (specially Mexican men) never had it easy when it came to bonding with their offspring.
The book revolves around life in Afghanistan, a country not that different from our own. The author manages to introduce us into the fascinating culture of a country that has been torn asunder by war in the 20th and 21st centuries. Descriptions of the places, smells, and tastes of pre-war Kabul are some of the highlights of this novel.
It is, however, the account of Amir and his personal struggle that captivated me. I identified myself with this character immediately. I know what it feels like to try to live up to a parent's expectations, failing, and begging for approval. The story of Amir unfolds as a series of anecdotes that show us the remarkable character of the Afghan people in general and of Hassan and Baba in particular.
I keep going over the different scenes described in the novel and I am surprised at how the author's description of the main character's internal struggle mirrors many of my own quandaries. How treason, cowardice, and redemption manage to surface in the same person (albeit at different times, of course).I don't remember the last time a book moved me so. What I do know is that the image of a boy running after a blue kite will roam the corners of my mind for a long time; a harelipped boy shouting "for you, a thousand times over!"

Originally published in theochristopneumatology.blogspot.com