I finally watched the movie after reading the book a few weeks ago. The story actually follows the book quite well, but it leaves out a massive amount of detail,  as you would expect. I felt like I was watching the Cliff Notes of the book.

If I had not read the book, I am not sure I would have been able to follow some of the fine points. The point where Ali and Hassan left Baba’s house was portrayed very lightly, even though it was pivotal to the story. Ali was glossed ever entirely. His character did not come through. The coming to the light of Hassan’s true identity was also too simple.

The fact that there were so many lies and deceptions, and the way Amir stopped the lying when correcting the general at the very end, did not come through in the movie.

However, I got some very good visuals to flesh out my mental images, of the kites,  the barren landscape of Afghanistan, the destruction the Russians, and then the Taliban, wielded over many years.

It was definitely a movie worth watching.