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This chapter-by-chapter summary contains plot spoilers!
Navigate the Summary Parts: (Brought to you by jat impatientreader.com) We meet our protagonist, Amir, in San Francisco in December 2001. He is thinking about the past, and how in the summer of 2000 his friend Rahim Kahn called from Pakistan. He is also thinking about Hassan, his friend from Afghanistan when he was 12 years old. We then go into a flashback, and Amir remembers how he and Hassan used to bother the neighbors. His friend Hassan has a cleft lip. Hassan's father, Ali, is a servant to Amir's father Baba, who owns an expensive house in Kabul, Afghanistan. It turns out that both Amir and Ali are without their mothers. Amir's mother died in childbirth, while Ali's wife (and first cousin) Sanaubar left five days after Hassan was born. Hassan and Ali are Hazara, while Amir and his father are Pashtuns. Hazara are also Shi'a, while the Pashtuns are Sunni. Amir then thinks about his father Baba, who's a large, stern man who has become one of the most wealthy men in Kabul. He also thinks about the man who taught him about Islam, Mullah Khan, whose teachings don't hold much water in Baba's eyes, as Amir finds out. He also finds out that his father is not exactly pleased with him being more interested in subjects such as books rather than athletic pursuits. Characters Introduced: Amir (our protagonist) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. When we last left our characters, they were sitting watching a Buzkashi tournament, and Baba points out Henry Kissinger to Amir. However, an accident happens at the tournament, and Amir starts crying. He hears his father talking to Rahim later asking him how his son could have turned out so differently from him, and says he sometimes doubts that Amir is really his son. In the next chapter, Amir remembers growing up friends with Hassan, and how Baba and Ali did the same thing a generation earlier. There are memories of how he and Hassan used to go to western movies with John Wayne, and it wasn't until later that he realized they were dubbed and weren't speaking Farsi. He also remembers telling stories to Hassan, who's illiterate, and how sometimes he would speak words and tell Hassan that they meant something totally different from what they really meant. One time, he tells Hassan a made-up story, and when Hassan tells him it's good, Amir is inspired to go write his first short story. He takes it to Baba to read, but Baba wants nothing to do with it. However, Rahim takes it and later gives him praise and encouragement. Amir reads it to Baba, who loves it but points out an obvious flaw. Amir is just about to explain it to Hassan when gunfire and explosions rock the city. The monarchy has been deposed, and a republic is in power. Amir and Hassan get bored hearing about it and go on a walk when they are confronted by Assef and his friends, who delight in tormenting the neighborhood kids, especially Hassan since he is Hazara. Characters Introduced: Zahir Shar (in passing, he's just been deposed) |
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Noteworthy Links: Wonderquest - Science Q/A! The Connection - Tech blog! Author site - John the Eunuch Historical Mystery series, Cozy Mystery List for all your cozy mystery needs, Obsidian Bookshelf - reviews of gay-themed fiction. |
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