Update

There is something pulling, riveting even, about the kite runner, so much so that I keep returning to immerse in its literary river.

Perhaps it is its brief but impressionable narration of romance. For once in a day - albeit only before bed - the cacophonies of social media and banal talk of everyday life are tuned out, and the only people in the room are the people in the room. Guy meets girl and despite his inexperience, inadequacy and social pressure - Afghan society - Amir and Soraya managed to find each other.

Perhaps it is the way family relationships are written out: the struggling father and son for approval and affirmation: the complex situation of having a half brother: and the way new family members are embraced into new lives together. Fussy parents, determined children, interested khastegaris - suitors - all paint a picture of how we interact with people weaving in and out of our lives.

Perhaps it is the serendipitous way Fate makes fools out of everybody. The wise is shown to be foolish, while the gullible is shown to be contended and happy. The good became corrupted and the corrupted found a way to put things right, a way to be good again.

Or may be it is its undying friendship theme, expressed in Hassan's kite-running battle cry: for you a thousand times over.

I don't really know. I just keep returning to its pages, its stories reminding me of my own.

When the reading begins, the world becomes a much better place, and tomorrow looks like Kabul in the old days.