"[Hosseinis'] personal experiences with Afghanistan's Hazara people, led to the writing of his first novel, The Kite Runner. One Hazara man, named Hossein Khan, worked for the Hosseinis when they were living in Iran. When Hosseini was in third grade, he taught Khan to read and write. Although his relationship with Hossein Khan was brief and rather formal, Hosseini's fond memories of this relationship served as an inspiration for the relationship between Hassan and Amir in The Kite Runner." (Wikipedia)
I think part of the reason why this book seemed so real was because I have never read a fiction novel so illustrative of a country's condition and lifestyle. Hossein showed us through a young boys' eyes (Amir and Sohrab) that not only are older people can be affected by wars, but also the younger generation. Both Amir and Sohrab were just young boys who lived in an unfortunate time.
Through flashbacks and narration, we see how Amir's maturity and view of the world was enormously affected because of the war in Afghanistan. The way he should treat Hassan mattered to him because of the difference in their social classes. The war also had forced him and his father to move to America where they had to adjust to the new culture, while he suffers his guilt. With each struggle that Amir had to face, I felt like I was with him. This is a sign that a novel appears realistic because readers like me, are incorporating our lives to the characters because we feel like it is happening or could happen to us in the real life.
Sohrab, on the other hand, has been through alot much more than Amir and his father (Hassan). At a young age, he have already witnessed the most painful events that a child should not face: he witnessed his parents being killed by the Taliban, he was placed into an orphanage where he was sold a sex slave, and he almost got slaughtered if only Amir didn't save him on time. I find it so heartbreaking to see a 10 year old consecutively face all of these tragic events in life. This is why it did not surprised me when I read that Sohrab attempted suicide after he heard that there was a problem in his adoption process; because I knew that Sohrab was just trying/hoping to begin a fresh start with Amir, yet now that there is a possibility that he'll be sent to the orphanage again, it seemed to him that the horrible experiences are repeatably coming back to him and thus there's no point in living.
To wrap it up, I think that Hosseini did a great job in deciding and displaying the right genre for his novel. If the Kite Runner was plainly written as a historical fiction novel with no touch of any realism to it, most people would not feel the same effect that the author wants to give. Through writing a realistic fictional novel, Amir forces us to see that Aghans are just like everyone else – humans who can experience both pain and happiness depending on the current circumstances they live in. In Amir and Sohrab's case, the author shows us how brutal a war can be especially for the growing children.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAdCyCWT_d3WB93fyc5qx6CivKwMHxltJvaE1m59J1WxeyCgS3W9zjLDqnp7V-S5fnS_Ch0Erbq8vcjatR0YN8GpJ08LGpdOtjejaEc8p_QzgYfUAOfgEFVbAxwjf88wfZKUM1dmRUoDS/s1600/Realistic+Fiction.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Hosseini
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