Reading Order
Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner Reading Order
Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003) is the first of Hosseini's three novels, followed by A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) and And the Mountains Echoed (2013). The novels are independent — they share no characters — but all three are set in Afghanistan and deal with the history of violence and exile that began with the Soviet invasion in 1979 and continued through the Taliban period. The Kite Runner follows Amir, the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, and his boyhood friendship with Hassan, a Hazara servant boy, and the devastating moment of betrayal that defines the rest of Amir's life.
Where to start
The Kite Runner
Complete Kite Runner Book List
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The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini·2003·Can be read as a standalone — Amir and his betrayal of Hassan, a friendship across class and ethnic lines in 1970s Kabul, and the return to Taliban Afghanistan decades later - Buy
A Thousand Splendid Suns
OptionalKhaled Hosseini·2007·Entirely independent — two Afghan women across decades, from the Soviet era through the Taliban to the US invasion; often considered Hosseini's finest novel - Buy
And the Mountains Echoed
OptionalKhaled Hosseini·2013·Entirely independent — a larger family saga across multiple generations and countries, beginning with a brother and sister separated in 1950s Afghanistan
Kite Runner — Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read The Kite Runner before A Thousand Splendid Suns?
No — A Thousand Splendid Suns is entirely independent of The Kite Runner. They are set in the same historical Afghanistan but with completely different characters. Many readers consider A Thousand Splendid Suns the superior novel; either can be read first.
Is The Kite Runner based on a true story?
The Kite Runner is fiction. Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul in 1965 and came to the United States with his family in 1980, when he was fifteen, after his father received asylum due to the Soviet invasion. His childhood experience of Kabul, the class structure of Afghan society, and the specific history of his country all inform the novel, but the characters and events are invented.
What is the betrayal in The Kite Runner?
The betrayal — which the novel announces early and then takes most of its first half to arrive at — occurs when twelve-year-old Amir witnesses Hassan being sexually assaulted by an older boy and chooses to do nothing rather than intervene. This choice, and the guilt it generates, drives the entire novel. The rest of the book is about what Amir does and fails to do with that guilt.
Is The Kite Runner appropriate for all readers?
The Kite Runner contains a scene of sexual violence against a child, extensive violence related to the Taliban period, and difficult material about ethnicity and class in Afghan society. The sexual violence scene is not described in explicit detail but is clearly depicted. The novel is adult fiction and is often taught in high school and university courses.
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