A Muslim writer in America
Khaled husseini
Khaled Hosseini is a Muslim citizen of the United States, where he has lived for the past 33 years. Khaled was born in Afghanistan in 1965 and came to the United States with his father in 1981 after his father was granted political asylum.
That was the period when the Soviets had organized a communist coup in Afghanistan and Khalid’s father could not return. I was working in Paris at the time. Khalid’s father, in any case, did not want to return to Afghanistan and took the easier option of seeking asylum in the United States. The US government, with its phobia of communism, easily granted Hosseini asylum.
In America
Perhaps if the setting had been 2013, Khalid’s father would not have obtained asylum so easily. The wheel has turned full and Muslims who may or may not have ties to terrorism are no longer welcome in the United States. It is a credit to Khaled Hosseini that he has integrated himself into American life. But all the time he has kept his Muslim trappings.
He began writing in the early 21st century and published his first novel ‘The Kite Runner’ in 2003. The novel was a huge success and topped the best-seller charts for more than 101 weeks. One of the reasons for the book’s success was its location, Afghanistan, which remains an enigma to most Americans. Hosseini has used the old saying “distance lends charm to the eye” to tempt American audiences with his books on Afghanistan as a setting.
And the mountain echoed
Khalid Hosseini has written another novel titled “And the Mountain Echoed” in 2013. This is his third novel and it again has Afghanistan as a backdrop. Afghanistan is the writer’s country of origin and it is natural that most of his writings highlight the culture and the clash of values of life in Afghanistan. Hosseini is not limited to Afghanistan, but covers a journey that takes the reader from Kabul to Paris and then to the United States. It is a very well written book and Hosseini presents a very plausible story.
The story begins in an Afghan village when a poor man named Saboor tells a story to justify his actions to his son, Abdullah. The implication of the story in real life is that Abdullah separated from his sister Pari, whom he loves very much. He realizes that his father, Saboor, plans to sell his sister to a wealthy Kabul couple. She leaves and that emptiness forever alters the lives of young children.
Pari remains in Abdullah’s mind as Hosseini covers a six-decade period from the 1950s to the 21st century. The characters move from small towns in Afghanistan to Paris and finally to the Greek island of Tinos.
Hosseini tells a parallel story of characters like Pari’s stepmother, Parwana, and her brother Nab. Hosseini writes beautifully and cannot be distinguished from his writing that he is not an American by birth. The only gift is his place in Afghanistan, which presents American readers with a beautiful story of human emotions.
Hosseini and Afghanistan
This novel is exquisite and readers will find information about Afghanistan wrapped in a charming tale. Hosseini highlights Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage and what life is like in Afghan villages. It is sad that the Taliban have started an insurrection and want to impose the Wahhabi form of Islam. This may well take Afghans into the sixth century if they win. Hosseini deserves credit for writing this novel that the general American population has liked.
Last word
Hosseini is a physician from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine in 1993. He practiced medicine for 10 years before venturing into writing with his book ‘The Kite Runners’. Later, he wrote ‘A thousand splendid suns’
Last word
Hosseini is a Goodwill Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and visited Afghanistan in 2007. He currently resides in Northern California with his wife Roya and their two children. But despite this, Hosseini is a man who will never return to Afghanistan.
Free wiki photos