The Kite Runner is also about redemption, forgiveness, and the sometimes fraught relationship not only between friends, but also between fathers and sons - Amir's need for his father's approval is another recurring motif in the novel. But when Amir betrays Hassan following a crucial contest, it ends their friendship, and Amir only gets the chance to make things right decades later. Pivotally, Hassan acts as Amir's kite runner during kite-flying competitions (a kite runner picks up the fallen, defeated kites). But, as the boys are the same age, they grow up together and become close friends. Amir's family is wealthy while Hassan's family is poor - Hassan's family works for Amir's as servants. The Kite Runner begins in Afghanistan and tells the tale of two boys: Amir and Hassan. Below, read more about the novel, and how it became an Oscar-nominated film and a play that's been produced worldwide.

The Kite Runner is currently running at the Hayes Theater. As the story got adapted from a novel into a book and play, some storytelling elements changed, but this context still informs the compelling journey of Amir, who takes a dangerous trip back to his home country long after becoming a refugee. He sets his story against the backdrop of 20th-century Afghan history, when the country was on the brink of war. Hosseini, himself an Afghan American writer, pulls from his own experiences moving from country to country. The story, though fully original, pulls from many sources of inspiration. It is about the deep friendship between two friends, Amir and Hassan, which is torn apart and then put back together after many years.

It spans two countries, Afghanistan and the United States, and two decades. Khaled Hosseini's moving, expansive novel The Kite Runner has been adapted into a play and is currently running on Broadway.

The kite book