I would like to start off this blog post by giving you a brief summary of the first few chapters of
The Kite Runner to illustrate Khaled Hosseni's primary style and focus of writing. Hosseni chooses the setting of Wazir Akbar Khan in Kabul, Afghanistan, this instantly highlighting the importance of religion and race in the novel. The story starts off with the narrator, Amir, explaining how he came to be the man he has come to be. Amir then describes his situation with his friend Hassan. In
The Kite Runner, Amir and his family are Pashtuns but their servants, Hassan and his father, Ali, are Hazaras. The main problem arises from a social norm: Hazaras and Pashtuns are not supposed to be friends. The novel gyrates around how the small difference between the 2 boys shapes their relationship in a society where race and religion are distinguishing factors. The focus of my blog-post this week will be about the author, Khaled Hosseni, in order to understand what impact Hosseni's personal life had on his personal development and the events detailed in
The Kite Runner.
The oldest of five children, Khaled Hosseni, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965 and live there for 5 years until Hosseini's father was posted to Afghanistan's embassy in Tehran, Iran. During the few years the family lived there the monarchy was overthrown and the Hossenis soon found them selves packing up to go to Paris, France where Hosseni's father was assigned. While they were there the Soviet invasion on Afghanistan began in 1979, meaning that moving back to Afghanistan was out of the question. The family then applied and received political asylum in the United States where they lived in San Jose, California. Khaled was 15 years old and knew poor English, but after working hard, he was able to get his undergrad in biology from Santa Clara University and his Doctor of Medicine from UCLA. Hosseni then married and settled in Mountain View, California where he works for Kaiser Permanente. Aside from being a doctor Hosseni dedicates his time and money to the organization he has founded named
The Khaled Hosseni Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists the people of Afghanistan.
During his medical studies Hosseni wrote many short stories about his time in Kabul before the country was consumed by war and oppression. In 2001, with the encouragement of his wife and father-in-law, Hosseni began to compile his short stories into a novel. With the defeat of the Taliban Hosseni found a stronger urge to tell his story, and so in 2003 he got his book published.
The Kite Runner was his debut novel and one of 3 in a series about the impact of society and culture on him home country of Afghanistan.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is the second book he published in 2007 followed by his recent release of his third book titled
And the Mountains Echoed in 2013. His books have topped the New York Times Bestsellers lists with their powerful stories, the likes of which the world of literature has never seen.
The following link is a CBS interview with Khaled Hosseni regarding his inspiration for the novels he has written along with how he gives back to the Afghan community:
During his medical studies Hosseni wrote many short stories about his time in Kabul before the country was consumed by war and oppression. In 2001, with the encouragement of his wife and father-in-law, Hosseni began to compile his short stories into a novel. With the defeat of the Taliban Hosseni found a stronger urge to tell his story, and so in 2003 he got his book published. The Kite Runner was his debut novel and one of 3 in a series about the impact of society and culture on him home country of Afghanistan. A Thousand Splendid Suns is the second book he published in 2007 followed by his recent release of his third book titled And the Mountains Echoed in 2013. His books have topped the New York Times Bestsellers lists with their powerful stories, the likes of which the world of literature has never seen.
I found it interesting to read about Mr. Hosseni. What you have told of his life story seems quite intriguing. I bet his books will be too.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained the book thoroughly. This book series seems to be very intriguing. I would like to read this book sometime soon because it really seems to shows how the author's perspective was during this crisis. Good Job.
ReplyDeleteAs Suhas said, the thorough and complete summary of the book/series (?) really allowed you to gain a clear understanding of the personal significance of the author's story. Everything you said helps to directly support what message the author was going for, and that's something that you do very well in your writing.
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