Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Corinne Fowler (The University of Leicester)
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Published in 2003 and set mainly in 1970s Kabul,

The Kite Runner

is a major international bestseller which has been translated into 47 languages. [At the time of writing, the novel has been bought by over 15,000,000 people (BBC ‘World Book Club’, May 2008).] The novel’s critical reception provides clues on the many factors, both political and literary, that underscore the novel’s commercial success. Careful attention to novel’s social and political contexts, too, is an essential pre-requisite for understanding its cultural nuances and subtle plot details, including the historically resonant cemetery and the symbolically loaded pomegranate tree.

The story opens in San Francisco, where the Afghan-born protagonist, Amir, is happily married yet consumed by guilt. We learn, in

3540 words

Citation: Fowler, Corinne. "The Kite Runner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23019, accessed 28 March 2024.]

23019 The Kite Runner 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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