Review: The story follows a young boy growing up amid the modern changes in Afghanistan and forced to flee his home. The difficulty of becoming an American Citizen and learning to find success in this new world. Then returning to his native home after his childhood friend dies and the struggle to save his friend's child.
It is moving, haunting and enlightening. We see this young man grow up from a somewhat spoiled and privileged child, to having nothing and starting over in a foreign land and in the end returning to his home country to become a savior to one small child. What is there not to love? Yet, for me... I didn't.
I cannot put my finger on it. At first, I blamed my general distaste for drama stories. Life is hard enough, I don't need to read about others trials and tribulations. But I knew it was not that. I thought that perhaps it was the very serious content matter (he describes, in detail, the rape of a young man.) Yet I have read worse. I thought maybe my sensitivity to boys, having two myself, may have been a contributing factor. I don't know what it is, but I did not like this book.
Of course, one could argue that you are not supposed to like this book, given its very serious and horrible contents. Much like watching Lords of War. You aren't supposed to like the story. The goal is to learn from and grow from the story, not like it. And perhaps therein lies my problem. I found the back drop interesting enough. I knew enough about what was going on in Afghanistan and it was interesting to get more of a look into that history. But at the end of the day, I did not feel that I, as a reader, had grown. Am I saying you should not read it? No. The story has all the elements a story is supposed to have. It clearly spoke to millions. Just not me.
He is a goodwill Envoy for The United Nations Refugee Agency and has a foundation, the Khaled Houseini Foundation, that provides humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. He lives in Northern California.
Rating: *** Three out of five stars.
