The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

I just finished reading Kite Runner..the story was so enthralling, that after a long time I completed a book in two days..as I child, I have finished reading Enid Blytons, esp. the Famous Fives' in 10 -12 hours, I read my favourite book of all times "Gone with the Wind" within three days, that too just before my Xth pre-boards....during my worklife, I donot remember finishing books within such short spans...may be I have lot of time in hand these days to do things that I have always loved to..:) But yeah, its not the speed with which one can finish a book, how much one can grasp the thought put behind a book, is more important.
Kite Runner is a painful, honest story about raw emotions. It is a story of love, loyalty, loss of innocence, betrayal, repentance, a story of Amir "Jan" and Hassan, story of Baba, Ali and Rahim Khan, story of Shorab, set at a backdrop of a politically turmoiled Afganisthan - the downfall of the king, the attack of the Soviets, and the Taliban effect.
I have not read much about the Middle-East region or Afganistan and Pakistan, except a very few like "Not Without My Daugther" or "My Feaudal Lord". Somehow, I cannot make myself read much on the sufferings of people during war, or the cruelty that fanatics can inflict on comman man. It always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and fills me with hatred, hence I keep myself away from stories scripted out of Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan.
A good friend of my brother, insisted that I should read it, and i am happy that I heeded to him. The book bares open one of the strongest relationships in the world – the relationship that is shared between two friends, one master the other a servant, one who is a legitimate child of Baba and other illegitimate, of two half brothers Amir and Hassan. The reader sails through a voyage of emotions...of disgust when Amir watches from behind a house Hassan being physically assaulted, of anger when Amir plots against Hassan of theft and compels him and Ali leave their house, of shame when Amir enjoys his success in the American world and Hassan struggles in Taliban Afganistan, of saddness when Shorab lies in the hospital and whispers "I am so kastha" I am so tired, of joy & triumph when Amir runs after the kite for Shorab under Fremont skies and utters " For you, a thousand times over"
I agree this book could have been better crafted, technical elements of style in literature may be missing, but it is not written with literary contibution in mind. It is a story told by a physcian, of human emotions, of Amir's contant struggle to triumph over his inability & cowardice.