The Kite Runner

By Khaled Hosseini

This is the debut novel of Khalid Hosseini, a Californian doctor who immigrated to the US as a child, together with his Afghani parents. It is apparently the first ever Afghan novel to be written in English. It is definitely one of the best novels I have read so far this year.

A wonderful and unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between Amir, a wealthy boy who enjoys a life of privilege, and the son, Hassan, of his father's servant, living in Afghanistan in the 1960s. The story takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present, which gives an interesting insight into the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years.

Amir lives in constant want of his father's attention, feeling that he is a failure in his father's eyes. Hassan, on the other hand, seems to be able to do no wrong. Striving to be the son his father always wanted, Amir places the fate of his relationship with his father on the outcome of a kite running tournament, a popular challenge in which participants must cut down the kites of others with their own kite. In the end Amir wins the tournament. However, it does not take long before a tragedy occurs with his friend Hassan in a back alley on the very streets where the boys once played. This moment marks a turning point in Amir's life, one whose memory he seeks to bury by moving to America.

In America Amir realizes his dream of becoming a writer and marries for love, but the memory of that fateful day in the alley will prove too strong to forget. After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. For Amir time has come to right the wrongs that began that day and continued in the days, months and years that followed.

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott

The four March-sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, live in a small house together with their mother and maid, Hannah. Their dad is a clergyman and is away doing his bit for the war effort in the American Civil War. The family is poor but respected. Their next door neighbour is wealthy Mr Lawrence and his orphaned grandson, Laurie, who is soon befriended by the March sisters.

The book sees the sisters and Laurie get into all sorts of difficulties which they generally triumph over. Meg falls in love with Laurie’s tutor, John Brooke. Laurie on the other hand is secretly in love with Jo. Near the end of the story Beth gets very sick, something that brings the family closer.

Not the most exciting story, I am afraid to say. I was a little disappointed with the story especially since I have heard so much about this book, being one the great classics. Maybe my expectations were just too high.