Review by Booklist Review
Among the growing ranks of graphic reworkings of contemporary novels, this one retains the flow of the much longer text version with particular elegance. Celoni and Andolfo's full-color artwork depicts scenes, actions, and character expressions in a manner that resists feeling truncated: this is not a collection of the tale's highlights but a careful weaving of word and image to give the story a new identity. In Hosseini's deeply affecting story of the past as inescapable prologue to an idealistic man's adult life, moments such as Hassan's rape, the orphanage director trapped between his charges' hunger and a government official's corruption, and Sohrab's first smile in America are here executed with both passion and depth. This graphic novel should not be approached as a precis of the original but rather as an expansion. It matters little whether to read the original or this treatment first; one will invariably lead readers to the other in order to reexperience an important translation of life into art.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Seven years after the novel's publication and four years after the release of a motion picture, a faithful though streamlined graphic novel adaptation of Hosseini's bestseller appears. Amir was raised in privilege in Afghanistan, with Hassan, a member of the Hazara minority whose father is a servant in Amir's house, as his constant companion. Amir's jealousy over his father's affection for Hassan leads to a betrayal that breaks up the friendship. Hassan and his father move away, Amir and his father escape from Afghanistan during the Soviet war, and the tie seems broken forever. But 15 years later, Amir, now living in San Francisco, receives a call that sends him back to Afghanistan and straight into the heart of the darkest part of his history. The characters are strong-featured (though Hassan's cleft pallet, significant in the story, is all but invisible) and expressive, though murky coloring sometimes threatens to obscure linework. The art during Amir's recounting of his Afghan childhood is bathed in warm colors, contrasting well with the gray, muted colors of Afghanistan during Taliban rule. In a conflict that we now know has no easy solutions, a happy ending, while welcome, feels like nothing more than wishful thinking. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Unknowingly half-brothers, Afghani boys Amir and Hassan bond as friends and fly kites together. But Hassan is Hazara, and his father works as a servant to Amir's wealthy Pashtun family. Anti-Hazara prejudice and vicious hazing from older boys uncover another difference between them: Hassan is physically courageous, Amir a coward. And Amir's shame leads him to spurn his friend, with disastrous consequences. But relocated to California decades later, Amir has a chance to make amends. Set in a turbulent Afghanistan and the U.S. expat community, the original novel sold millions of copies worldwide and made the American Library Association's list of most challenged books. Celoni and Andolfo are Italian artists; Celoni has done work for Disney. Verdict This beautiful and accessible adaptation with fleshed-out characters should bring Hosseini's compelling story of families and friendship in a torn-apart country to a wider and younger audience. With violence and sexual content more implied than explicit, for teens and up, depending on the library. Also being published in Arabic.-Martha Cornog, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
