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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The book, that is.

overall rating: 95%, very good
book rereadable: 65%, the likely side of maybe
author rereadable: 90%, very likely
recommendation: Literary and modern mainstream fiction readers, read it. Sci-fi-only crowd, you probably won't like it.

The most remarkable fact is that this was Hosseini's first novel. It was very well written, structured, and told. Aristotle's unities, inasmuch as they should be adhered to in a novel and not a short story, were in effect. There was very little superfluous anything in this-- and that which was not absolutely essential to the plot added very much to setting or character. Hosseini showed particular mastery of setting and scenery. His portrayal of the peaceful days of Amir's childhood in Kabul is wonderful; the flea markets in Fremont are vividly painted as well.

Characters and their development in this book were excellent. I have only one complaint: Assef is evil, we know that from his various actions. Yet he also admires Hitler, and later, gives the bio of Hitler to Amir for a birthday present. Now without any further indicators that Hitler is important to the character, the setting, or the plot, mentioning him in this way really was overkill to me. It stuck out like someone Godwinning up in an argument about health care. Now I know that Assef's affinity for Hitler both presages his and Amir's eventual confrontation and foreshadows the fate of the country's complete fall to the Taliban; but it did so as a sledgehammer would kill a fly. To clarify, this was the only beef I had with any of the characters-- but it was strong enough to break suspension of disbelief, so I need to mention it.

In a way, the only other complaint I have is related to that: predictability. You know the final, brutal encounter between Amir and Assef is coming. And you also know that some resolution of Amir's guilt is tied in with it. I don't think that it had to be so... and maybe this is the curse of following the unities, that any character or thread significant enough to be introduced must be resolved within the story, so that leaves you free to guess... and unless you're as devious a storycrafter as JK Rowling, that leaves the options as to how things will work out fairly limited. I'll ponder on that more, but in this particular case, I think it didn't have to be so.

But once again, I have to emphasize that this is a vivid, moving, well-crafted book by all accounts. It is not subtle-- but it is a solid redemption tale built around memorable characters and settings. And a very good read.