The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner is the story of a moral coward who finally redeems himself through an act of courage. As a moral coward, the narrator was believable though unappealing. The havoc he wreaks through his selfish inability to either act or react is heartbreaking. On the other hand, his ultimate act of courage, while redemptive, isn’t believable.
There’s nothing in the story to suggest that he’s learned any lesson or gotten braver. And so when he does something that’s brave to the point of foolhardiness, I can neither believe nor support his actions. There had to have been a smarter way to deal with the problem and it’s inconceivable that someone who has spent his whole life being so disgustingly cowardly and self-absorbed would take rash action without even considering the alternatives. Also, there was a huge coincidence thrown in. It was supposed to give meaning to the situation but it was cheap and unjustified.
Aside from the plot problems, the pacing was slow in spots, most noticeably at the beginning, before the big incident, and in the middle section between the incident and the act of courage. The beginning section was important for character development. Although it was draggy, it was rich and well written. The middle section was the real failure. It should have been used to set up the ending – to show a transition in the narrator and to warn about the impending coincidence – instead of to document a dull, mostly meaningless, life on hold.