7. the KITE RUNNER

Khaled Hosseini 2003

A dramatic story about the lives and friendship of Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As little boys, Hassan is Amir's kite runner. It is set in tumultuous Afghanistan.

"Hassan's face changed. Maybe not changed, not really, but suddenly I had the feeling I was looking at two faces, the one I knew, the one that was my first memory, and another, a second face, this one lurking just beneath the surface. I'd seen in happen before- it always shook me up a little."

"Children aren't coloring books or shuffling aroung the house like he's lost in some dream."

"Forgive? But theft was the one unforgivable sin, the common denominator of all sins. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. There is no act more wretched than stealing."

"Panic. You open your mouth. Open it so wide your jaws creak. You order your lungs to draw air, NOW, you need air, need it NOW. But your airways ignore you. They collapse, tighten, squeeze, and suddenly you're breathing through a drinking straw."

"But I knew I had to leave as soon as possible. I was afraid I'd change my mind. I was afraid I'd deliberate, ruminate, agonize, rationalize, and talk myself into not going."

"Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it."

"Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is...God help him."