The Challenge Factory discussion

Publication date: May 29, 2003
Literary Awards: Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction (2003), Humo's Gouden Bladwijzer (2008), Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (2004), ALA Alex Award (2004), Puddly Award for Fiction (2006), Lincoln Award Nominee (2006), Prix des libraires du Québec for Lauréats hors Québec (2006), LovelyBooks Leserpreis Nominee for Allgemeine Literatur (2009)

Synopsis
1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

I finished this yesterday. My review:

I give this book 3.5 stars. It was a painful tale of Afghan and its inhabitants in the late 1970's, when first the soviets and then the Taliban took control of the country. The story is told primarily through the lives of the two boys Amir and Hassan. There are a couple of plot parallels in the story that I felt were a bit heavy handed and unnecessary. Symbolism that drives through you like a truck. I did like the ending of the book. It left you uncertain yet hopeful, just the way life is.