Book lovers all over the world are well aware of such a writer as Khaled Hosseini. In 2008, he became one of the best authors in the whole world, ahead of Coelho and Rowling! His books are distributed in millions of copies, they are translated into various languages. We invite you to meet this amazing person! Photos of Khaled Hosseini, his life story, quotes from books - all this awaits you in this material.
Writer Biography
The man who is called the most famous of the writing Afghans was born in Kabul. It happened in 1965. Khaled was the eldest of five children in the family of a wealthy Afghan diplomat. The mother of the future writer taught history and Farsi in a Kabul school, where only girls studied. 11 years after the birth of Khaled, the family moved to Paris - the thing is that my father got a post at the Afghan embassy. The Hosseini family was supposed to return home in 1980, but this was not destined to happen: a coup took place in the country, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. Of course, the family of the future writer received political asylum in the United States of America. For life, the diplomat and his family chose San Jose, California.
Hosseini studied medicine at the University of Santa Clara, and he did the same at the University of California. He did not work long in his specialty, and then, as follows from the biography of Khaled Hosseini, a sharp turn took place in his life: he unexpectedly began to write novels that introduced Western readers to eastern civilization, history and culture of Afghanistan. Today, the writer is engaged in humanitarian activities, seeks to help Afghans, especially children. Hosseini lives in Northern California with his wife and two children. The author himself says: he writes in order to make the world a better place.
Sensational debut
The first book of Khaled Hosseini, the novel Runner in the Wind, gained unprecedented popularity. For a full 105 weeks, she held a leading position in the rating of The New York Times. The rights to the novel were acquired by 53 countries of the world, the total circulation of “Running for the Wind” amounted to more than ten million copies. In 2005, the jury of the literary prize "World Witness" awarded Khaled the title of laureate. The writer himself knows very well why people react so sharply to his novel:
It seems to me that the fact is that in this story there is a very strong emotional core. These topics - guilt, friendship, forgiveness, loss, atonement, the desire to seem better - these are not Afghan topics, but universal, common to all people, regardless of their ethnic, cultural or religious background.
Today we have prepared for you an overview of the works of Khaled Hosseini with quotes, descriptions and reviews!
"Running after the wind"
Dad told me that you can’t do harm to anyone, even bad people. Suddenly they simply do not know how otherwise. And then, the worst person can one day get better.
The debut book of the writer Khaled Hosseini is an incredibly soulful story from which you can learn about fidelity and friendship, atonement and betrayal. This novel can rightly be called gentle, sentimental and even somewhat ironic. It resembles a picturesque canvas created by a great artist: you can just look at it endlessly!
Events unfold in pre-war Kabul. The calendar is 1970. Kabul looks just magical, shimmers with stunning shades of azure and gold. Two weather boys live in this city. One is Hassan, the other is Amir. One belongs to the local aristocracy, the second to the hated minority. The father of one - a person with physical disabilities, causes pity, the father of the second - an incredibly handsome and important man. Amir and Hassan are like a handsome man and a cripple, a prince and a beggar, a lord and a servant. However, in the world it is impossible to find two closer people than these boys. Once, when the Kabul idyll ends, and terrible storms come to replace it, these boys will be scattered in different directions. Of course, everyone will have their own story, their own life tragedy, but they, as in childhood, will be bound by incredibly tight ties.
Reader Reviews
The huge plus of this book is that readers penetrate the heart and remain in memory for a long time. The minus is that after it all the rest of the literature may seem fresh and too superficial. This novel is unsettling. You may feel a desire to rethink your behavior, your life. And you do not just look at the monstrous fate of Afghanistan, but feel it, visit inside. And of course, start to value your own peace and well-being. Readers and critics point out that sharp turns may be too unexpected. The writer does not prepare you for the upcoming events, without any preface, he confronts the fact. Critics say this is an incredibly valuable talent: to be able to show how exactly an evil fate without warning can break into people's lives.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns"
Mariam will always be there. It is in freshly painted walls, in planted trees, in blankets, under which the children are warm, in books, pencils. In children's laughter. She is in the verses that Aziza memorizes, and in the prayers she has long memorized. She is in Leila’s heart, and her soul shines with a thousand suns.
In 2007, Khaled Hosseini released a new book called The Thousand Shining Suns. What is she talking about? About the great feeling called love. The fact that even the secret, forbidden, hidden from the eyes of strangers, she always waits in the wings!
The protagonists of the novel are two women who were victims of the upheaval that destroyed almost idyllic Afghanistan. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman. From childhood, she knew what misfortune was, she always felt her own doom. In turn, Leila is a beloved daughter in a large friendly family, a girl who dreams of a beautiful and incredibly interesting life. It would seem that the meeting of these two women is simply impossible, they have nothing in common, they live in different, completely non-touching worlds. Everything changes when a war begins in a country. Now Mariam and Leila are bound by strong bonds, while they themselves can not answer the question of who they are to each other - friends, enemies, sisters? One thing is clear: they simply can’t survive alone, medieval despotism and cruelty are so strong that literally flooded the houses and streets of the city, which used to be a paradise island.
Khaled Hosseini will talk about how two women go through suffering, catch particles of joy, dream of happiness and try to break through to it. Critics say, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is an incredibly strong, lyrical, and dramatic story that will surely make the reader’s heart contract, either in pain or joy.
Book Reviews
Reviews of "A Thousand Shining Suns" can be completely different. However, both critics and readers note: a modern person revels in suffering, which, in general, is unworthy of experience. However, there is another world in which, relatively recently, in 2001, the Taliban blew up the Bamyan Buddha statues. It's about Afghanistan. And in this world there is a special regime that is terrible for women: they cannot study, work, and leave their home without a man. Every misconduct is punishable by death. And in this world there was a war. Cruel, incredibly scary. Against the backdrop of all this devastation, death, mud, Khaled Hosseini shows the story of two ordinary women, which allows you to believe, in spite of everything, to believe in happiness, in a world where you can raise children without fear of beatings, bullying, threats. This story will not have the kind of happy end we are used to. The book is incredibly heavy. However, the author does not revel in chernukha at all, but simply weaves a red string of hope, faith in simple human happiness into gloomy weekdays.
"And the echo flies through the mountains"
Beauty is a colossal, invaluable gift, and it is presented randomly, thoughtlessly.
Cowardice and devotion, the destiny of life and the inevitability of retribution, the power of actions and words - the story of Khaled Hosseini “And the echo flies through the mountains” is woven from all this.
The beginning of the events described in this book falls on 1952. Endless desert, starry night, a father and his two children - a son and daughter. On the way to Kabul, the family decided to spend the night in the mountains. A father tells his children an old Afghan parable. The little girl Pari (the Fey is called in Farsi) and her brother Abdullah with bated breath listen to the story of a boy who was kidnapped by a terrible dev. The next morning they will continue their journey to Kabul and their destinies will miss. Most native people will part, perhaps forever. Five generations, several countries and many cities will be involved in this amazingly touching parable of life. You will see everything: birth and death, love and betrayal, war and hope.
Reviews
Readers who have made a lasting impression on Hosseini's previous books say that this writer has an original feature: he always comes up with a huge number of trials for his characters. They also note that there are several storylines, the author often goes from one to another. It reads "And the echo flies through the mountains" easily and quickly, but the impressions penetrate the heart and remain in it for a long time.