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Title: Part travelogue, part propoganda
Review: Halfway through the Kite Runner, you realize that the book has metamorphasized from a memoir/paean to Afghanistan into bombastic political allegory. The book certainly fills a niche for those of us who are starving for knowledge about Afghani culture and daily life, and so I had the distinct sense that the book was rushed to market with clear marketing goals rather than given the time it needed to evolve into a solid work of literature.While Hosseini marvelously captures the culture and "feel" of pre-Taliban Afghanistan (whether he does so accurately I have no ability to judge), his characterization is too simplistic. Hassan, who in the allegory stands in for the Afghani people, is just saintly. The father is stern and proud. The villains evolve by becoming super-villains.After finishing this book, I realized I would have learned more by reading a true travelogue, without the necessity of wading through one-dimensional propoganda and clumsy political allegory.
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