Amir

"The winter of 1975 was when the events that would shape the rest of my life took place."

"I could take a thousand guesses and never come close to the truth."

"I looked at the twin towers standing in the smoky haze and thought of Hassan."

"He was still my brother."

"I stuffed the money under Hassan's pillow."

"I kept Baba's watch. I still wear it."

"I would always be haunted by the look on Hassan's face."

"Maybe Hassan was right. Maybe if we went there, if we found a way."

"Ordinary things in life change you."

"I was going to be sick."

"His name is Sohrab. He's my half-brother."

"I am sorry for what I've done."

"Would people forgive me for a life spent fleeing?"

"We had both betrayed what we cherished most."

"In the end, I was a coward."

"Kabul was my home, and yet it felt like a foreign land."

"I never got my chance with Baba."

"Maybe I was meant to be alone all my life."

"I had a chance to help Hassan and I didn't."

"I thought of him the way I thought of mathematics or Latin."

"I wish I could go back and tell him everything."

"I wonder what Hassan's final thoughts were."

"Maybe some people are just meant to be alone."

"I wanted to be a good son again."

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frozen winter's day in 1975."

"I looked at the twin kites dancing in the sky and it looked like they were saying something."

"But I'd seen a lot of things turn to ashes and since then I've been more careful about who I trust."

"I was afraid of Assef and what he might do to me."

"I had one last chance to be good again."

"The winter of 1975 was a hard one."