The Kite Runner

"Yes, this is his debut novel. I think this is one of the most beautifully written books. It’s one of my favourites. It is so poignant. It follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship for ever. It is a very powerful story with some really haunting images but, of course, it is focusing on Afghanistan in the 1970s rather than 2001 like the previous book. The Bookseller is talking about post-Taliban and The Kite Runner is looking at the portrait of Afghanistan pre-Taliban, and also when the war happens and the Taliban kicks in. So it spreads across a couple of decades. It’s the story of friendship, betrayal and one man’s journey to try and redeem himself. Well, it shows that Afghanistan is not just dominated by the Taliban take on Islam because it is showing the country in the 1970s when people had a much more moderate view. And I find that very interesting because it is not how we see Afghanistan now, so it is really showing a different side to it. But that also applies to Islam – how you can have different shades of Islam."