BOOK REVIEW: THE KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI (2003)

“There is a way to be good again,” Rahim Khan said to Amir in the The Kite Runner – the New York Times number-one seller for over 100 weeks.

The Kite Runner is a beautiful story about the friendship between two Muslim boys, Amir and Hassan, in Kabul in the 1970’s. Amir belonged to a prominent and wealthy family. Hassan, however, was from a despised ethnic and religious minority (a Shi’a Muslim from Hazara). He was a servant in Amir’s household.

After the Soviet invasion, Amir’s father took Amir to America and sought asylum. They were no longer wealthy and life as immigrants was hard. But eventually Amir finished college and became a successful writer.

The friendship between Amir and Hassan reached its peak when they won a kite tournament in Kabul. But ironically it was a tragic event on that very day that shattered their lives. This event haunted Amir throughout his life in America. Although he tried hard to escape from it, the memory of Hassan never left him.

This is why when Rahim Khan, a trusted family friend, contacted Amir in December 2001 from Pakistan, Amir found himself having to redeem his past failures. This took him back to Afghanistan and a dangerous journey that eventually led to the climax of the book. But it was not only his friendship with Hassan that gave him the courage to act. It was the confrontation with the horror of injustice and oppression that made him a new person.

The Kite Runner is a tale of friendship, betrayal and redemption. It is about human’s struggles with sin and family traditions. It is about personal and cultural honour and shame. It is “an old-fashioned kind of novel that really sweeps you away,” as one review says. It is a balanced “socio-political commentary with an emotionally powerful narrative,” says another.

As a Christian I find this book fascinating, because it gives me a glimpse of the Afghan and Muslim culture, despite the fact that it only portrays one version of it. As an immigrant in a Western country myself, I identify with some of Amir’s and his father’s struggles to live in two different cultures simultaneously. As a follower of Jesus in multicultural Australia I cannot but strongly recommend this book to all who seek to share Christ’s love in our pluralistic society.

But at a deeper level it is the honest evaluation of human, cultural and religious values in the book that challenges every Christian. Can Christians claim a higher moral ground than Amir and others in the book, who were caught up by their own failures and shortcomings? Do Christians not struggle with their sins and long for a “redemption” that can take away their guilt? Can we sincerely say that there is no trace of a superiority mindset within us, where racial and class distinctions lurk around the corner of our hearts and minds?

There is a distinction between Christianity and the faith of Amir. As Khan said, “There is a way to be good again.” Amir sought his “redemption” through what we may loosely call “works”. But Christians find redemption through faith in Christ alone.

It is true that Amir did “good works” to find his redemption. But do works play no role in the Christian faith? Do we Christians today ever ask whether we have turned Christ’s redemption into cheap grace? Do we seek forgiveness from those whom we have wronged? Do we see injustice and think that we have no obligation to act – because we reckon we are going to “heaven” regardless? These are the questions we should ask ourselves as we read the book.

The Kite Runner is a masterfully written novel that would touch every heart. And for the Christian reader one would find the sacrifice and loyalty of the “kite runner” most moving – a powerless, despised but faithful person who paid a high price to stand up for his friend in the face of betrayal and injustice. It is a story that sounds profoundly familiar in the gospel.

Reviewed by Siu Fung Wu