Khaled Hosseini
(‘The Kite Runner’) is a best-selling Afghan-American author.
They say that you should write about what you know.
Khaled Hosseini certainly has me believing in a world that
is both horrifying and exquisite. There
is human suffering on an unimaginable scale, tempered by compassion, and
friendships forged in the most hostile environments. Characters are beautifully drawn, so that we walk in their
footsteps, travelling with them along paths that offer hope in the midst of war
and oppression. Mariam and Laila, women
of their time, are skilfully brought together, their sufferings shared and made
tolerable by a mutual empathy that allows these women to bear with integrity
and stoicism the lives they have had no part in choosing.
We learn about an Afghanistan wracked with brutal
traditions, aggressive regimes and a divided people, not through dry
documentary, but via the experiences of the characters we have come to care
deeply about. We are shown the vastness
of the land, its ancient monuments and close communities, its mountains and
deserts. Khaled Hosseini is a true
master of the written word and, as we find out in the author’s final notes at
the end of the book, a man of principle, who takes an active interest in the
future of his country.
Click here to view Bev Spicer's books (UK)
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I must read one of his books. I must! Sounds totally riveting, Bev.
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