For the writers seminar my group and I chose the author Khaled Hosseini.
Interview
Welcome to our show! Introducing our special guest for the night Khaled Hosseini!
*Greetings*
- Were books a big part of your life growing up?
Yes, I can’t remember a time where I didn’t love books, and to get access to books was difficult. I had to spend my whole allowance on books because we didn’t have libraries.
2. How much daily reading do you do?
I read everyday, not just to improve my writing but because I am addicted. Although reading is fundamental to becoming a strong writer, I believe every writer and every novel has something to teach you.
Question: So tell me a little bit about your writing process
Answer: I like to write when my kids are at school and the house is quiet. I grab a cup of coffee and my computer and begin. I take brief breaks and try to write 2-3 pages per day. I have this rule that I need to have an idea for the next day in order to stop writing. I simply cannot go in blank the next day. Actually, the Kite Runner was written in the early mornings before work when I was a doctor.
Question: Have you ever had any low points in your career?
Answer: I think every author at one point or another has experienced disappointment and has been discouraged, but I saw this as all the more reason to stay positive, as my books in the beginning were unheard of. I remember 1 person out of 125 attended my book reading, which was one of my lowest points, but it made me appreciate where I am today as a recognized author of the top 10 best selling books.
Question: When you are writing do you have a plan for your characters or do the events unfold as you go?
Answer: I don’t go in with any particular plan the characters and the events all unfold as I am in the writing process.
Question: Where did the idea for The Kite Runner come from?
Answer: I have always wanted to write a story set in Afghanistan but I was never able to decide on the right story or time period. The story of Amir and Hassan was one that I developed over time.
Question: Have you had first hand experience in the tragedies Hassan and Amir faced?
Answer: No, I actually left Afghanistan for 27 years and when I got back I talked to many children and women in the streets of Kabul, and learned from their experiences what they faced turning the Taliban years.
Question: Was A Thousand Suns based off of any specific women you’ve talked to in Kabul?
Answer: No, it was based off the collective spirit of all the women I met in kabul, I used many of their experiences to create these characters.
Question: What advice would you give to our readers?
Answer: Well, like I always remind my readers: “We can only approximate the book we want to write.” Final product won’t capture the Initial inspiration ( it’s a concept everyone deals with and as an author it’s disappointing). When an idea comes to mind and once you write it down on paper the idea becomes distorted and lifeless to the spark that bounced around in your mind.
Your mind processes and filters the idea that sounded brilliant in your mind and once you’ve written it down and read it over your idea is diminished. You receive an approximation of what you were expecting. These approximations are limitations. Some of my books are approximations- it intended on something else, but composed a whole other idea. This is the beauty of it, I see the struggle as an art.
Interviewer : Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your journey through what inspired you to write your books.
Author: No, thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.
Typicality of the writer’s work:
In his novel. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini uses two literary devices throughout, which are: symbolism and imagery. He does this so that the reader has a better understanding of the characters by giving them deeper explanations of how much pain the characters are feeling on a day-to-day basis.
In his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s own life is reflected within the novel as he and the main character Amir both were aware of the Russian and Taliban invasions in Afghanistan; however, they are not directly affected by it as they both did not live in Afghanistan during the war times. His most used literary device within this novel would be flashbacks. He also uses a lot of cliffhangers near the middle or end of chapters to keep the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. He makes it very hard for the reader to put down the book.
Read a sample(s) or excerpts) of the writing:
Excerpt 1: The Kite Runner
“When we were children, Hassan and I used to climb the poplar trees in the driveway of my father’s house and annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror. We would sit across from each other on a pair of high branches, our naked feet dangling, our trouser pockets filled with dried mulberries and walnuts. We took turns with the mirror as we ate mulberries, pelted each other with them, giggling, laughing. I can still see Hassan up on that tree, sunlight flickering through the leaves on his almost perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose and slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire. I can still see his tiny low-set ears and that pointed stub of a chin, a meaty appendage that looked like it was added as a mere afterthought. And the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker’s instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless.”
The Kite Runner Summary:
The novel is about the life of two friends Amir & Hassan (the son of Amir’s father’s servant), and how their life takes drastics turns after secrets from the past begin to unfold about family, lies, betrayals in the setting of Afghanistan. The novel’s main focus is on the idea of children and the relationship they share with their parents as well on how strong a friendship bond can be and to what extent can one go for friendship. The novel surrounds around the themes of friendships, betrayals, guilt, and love.
Excerpt 2: A Thousand Splendid Suns
“THERE WAS A LOOKOUT, on the edge of the clearing, where Mariam liked to go. She sat there now, on dry, warm grass. Herat was visible from here, spread below her like a child’s board game: the Women’s Garden to the north of the city, Char-suq Bazaar and the ruins of Alexander the Great’s old citadel to the south. She could make out the minarets in the distance, like the dusty fingers of giants, and the streets that she imagined were milling with people, carts, mules. She saw swallows swooping and circling overhead. She was envious of these birds. They had been to Herat. They had flown over its mosques, its bazaars. Maybe they had landed on the walls of Jalil’s home, on the front steps of his cinema.”
“She picked up ten pebbles and arranged them vertically, in three columns. This was a game that she played privately from time to time when Nana wasn’t looking. She put four pebbles in the first column, for Khadija’s children, three for Afsoon’s, and three in the third column for Nargis’s children. Then she added a fourth column. A solitary, eleventh pebble.”
A Thousand Splendid Suns Summary:
The novel surrounds around the life of a young girl named Mariam who is defined as illegitimate by many. She lives with her mother a little outside of Afghanistan and her father who is a rich man with three wives does not live with the two however does comes to visit Mariam often. One day when Mariam is brought home she comes to find her mother has committed suicide, which leaves her father no choice but to take Mariam in. Her father soon marries her off to man who is a shoemaker named Rasheed, later Mariam’s life goes through many twists and turns because of her marriage and what sorrow it had brought into her life.
Choose one small excerpt of GREAT STYLE for EMULATION:
A Thousand Splendid Suns
“Miriam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Miriam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings.” page 329
The Kite Runner
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. Page 1
CONCLUSION
We were first introduced to Hosseini’s writing in ELA 20-1. Most of the in class novels we had studied were a bore and we thought maybe this would be another one of those novels we had no interest in but were forced to read. We were wrong. We all read his novel, The Kite Runner, and this was such a moving book. This was the first novel that I personally have ever read that has enlightened me about how war-time is like in third world countries. I never really understood how those who go through these types of experiences felt until reading this book. It opened my eyes and ever since then I’ve been into these types of novels (especially Hosseini’s). Not only that, but his writing techniques are so engaging. Throughout the novel, he used the literary device as mentioned before, flashbacks.
My Emulation
Mariam- A Thousands Splendid Suns:
My entire life I was asked to be better, whatever I did my gestures, my care was never good enough. I’ve been targeted, I was questioned, I wasn’t wanted. The times have gone forward, but the mentality has stayed the same. I think I am better than what I’ve been told I am. It took me a while to realize this, but I am better. My life is worth living, it always has been. I am important. Its sad my parents didn’t see that. He’s sad that they couldn’t see me grow.