I've never read the book. Thanks to ripplevox's offer to catch the sneaks for its screen adaptation, I felt compelled to get a copy of the book soon.

 

We all know that screen adaptations can go either way. Condensing more than ten thousand words into a complete 2-3 hour long cinematic experience is no easy task. Just look at two hallmark book adaptations in recent years: "Lord of the Rings" trilogy managed to capture the essence of the tale while enriching it with breathtaking images, mind-blowing cinematics and spell-binding music, teasing, pleasing and teasing audiences of all ages. "The Golden Compass" by contrast massacred the intricacies of Pullman's work despite having a famous cast and great animation, leaving the audience wondering why they paid to watch it in the first place.

 

"Kite Runner" deals with many worldly issues: discrimination, humiliation, heavy price of war, among others. But most importantly, it is about the almost poetic story of a story-teller growing up and finding his place in the world; about how he reconnected with his past,and through a life-changing struggle was able to take the right step forward into the future; and through his self-discovery, we as the audience discover a little bit of ourselves too.