Thus, he was frequently questioned about the extent of the autobiographical aspects of the book. Like Amir, the protagonist of the novel, Hosseini was born in Afghanistan and left the country as a youth, not returning until 2003. For example, he did not decide to make Amir and Hassan brothers until after he had "doodled it". He later divulged that he frequently came up with pieces of the plot by drawing pictures of it. The latter was unintentional Hosseini developed an interest in the theme while in the process of writing. Īs with Hosseini's subsequent novels, The Kite Runner covers a multigenerational period and focuses on the relationship between parents and their children.
His editor, Cindy Spiegel, "helped him rework the last third of his manuscript", something she describes as relatively common for a first novel. According to Hosseini, the narrative became "much darker" than he originally intended. He rediscovered the manuscript in his garage in March 2001 and began to expand it to novel format at the suggestion of a friend. Hosseini submitted copies to Esquire and The New Yorker, both of which rejected it. He was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul. The news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. In 1999, Hosseini learned through a news report that the Taliban had banned kite flying in Afghanistan, a restriction he found particularly cruel. Khaled Hosseini lived and worked as a medical internist at Kaiser Hospital in Mountain View, California for several years before publishing The Kite Runner. The novel is also available in a multi-CD audiobook read by the author. A number of adaptations were created following publication, including a 2007 film of the same name, several stage performances, and a graphic novel. Reviews were generally positive, though parts of the plot drew significant controversy in Afghanistan. It appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years, with over seven million copies sold in the United States. The Kite Runner became a bestseller after being printed in paperback and was popularized in book clubs. The latter half of the book centers on Amir's attempts to atone for this transgression by rescuing Hassan's son two decades later. Themes of guilt and redemption feature prominently in the novel, with a pivotal scene depicting an act of sexual assault inflicted upon Amir's friend Hassan, which Amir fails to prevent, and which ends their friendship. Hosseini has commented that he considers The Kite Runner to be a father-son relationship story, emphasizing the familial aspects of the narrative, an element that he continued to use in his later works. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul. The Kite Runner is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini.
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