The Kite Runner

Do you know what a kite runner is?  A person who chases after the kites that have had their string cut and is free flying through the sky.

I guess I need to do some reading up on kites in general.  I'm from the kind of family that we used to get kites as gifts on Easter morning and after church services we'd pack a picnic lunch and head out to the salt flats to fly our new kites.  They were usually diamond shaped, brightly colored plastic deals with long spools of string to let loose and send our kites high.  It was fun but mostly the focus was on getting your kite up and keeping it there.

I do not quite understand this competitive kite flying.  Where the goal is to cut others' strings and be the last kite in the air.  Or the practice of chasing after the loose kites and keeping them as souvenirs.  I assume it's like finding a stray golf ball just outside the golf course fence or catching a foul ball at a baseball game.

All kite flying aside, The Kite Runner was a fabulous book.  Written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003.  It details the friendship of Amir and Hassan, two boys from different sides of the Afghanistan tracks.  It's set during the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy to the Russians, the fleeing of refugees to America, and the rise of the Taliban to power.
It's also the tale of Amir's struggles between honor and saving his own skin and how he comes to terms with the demons that haunt him at night to be good again.

I loved the book so much I'm afraid to watch the movie.  What if it's not as good? 
Has anyone watched the movie?  What do you recommend?