(1/13/2004)
I am so grateful for Asad Koraganie's evaluation of "The Kite Runner." I just finished reading the novel, and while I enjoyed it immensely and was very moved by it, yet I felt there was a lot missing, especially in the characterizations. For example, I never got to see Hassan, the Hazara boy, as a whole person; I never felt that I understood the story from his perspective. As a literary work, the book would have been so much fuller if Hassan had been allowed to tell his story. I very much felt that there was a strong autobiographical element to the story, which may account for why the viewpoint never got beyond that of the rich, privileged Pashtun. But Amir as a character felt very real, and his sense of shame and guilt very true to that kind of person. And Hassan's son also was very real -- so real that I want Hosseini to write another novel in about 10 or 15 years so we can find out what becomes of the son in his new country. And probably that will depend on what becomes of his new country and his old one in those 10 or 15 years!