Khaled Hosseini- The Magical Story Weaver

Introduction

Khaled Hosseini doesn’t need any introduction now. All the bookworms out there must be already familiar with his name. Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician. He is one of the goodwill ambassadors for the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. Khaled’s stories are majorly based on the Afghan war. He has woven stories around fictional characters from the land of war. His stories take us nearer to the lives of people affected by wars and trust me when you’re reading his novels it’s impossible to neglect the humanity & support that war refugees need. I myself never gave it a thought until I read his novels and I was so touched and ashamed of how we as humans are failing to show empathy and love to each other.

Here’s a short review of some of his phenomenal creations that gave us a strong glimpse of life as a war refugee.

1. The Kite Runner

Khaled debuted as a novelist with the Kite Runner; it spent 101 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. The kite runner is a story of two Afghan boys, childhood friends separated by the calamities of war, and the conflicting paths their lives take. Amir and Hassan are best friends, more like brothers but the war takes them in a situation where one of them had to betray the other for his own good. It’s a heartbreaking yet beautiful story of love, betrayal and an attempt of redemption.

The Kite Runner had me thrilled and moved, both at the same time. Do read this novel for an absolute confounding experience.

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns

“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
Through this book, Khaled has brought into light the hardships of women in war-struck Afghanistan. The book has two main characters, namely Mariam & Laila. They are battling their own struggles in order to survive in male dominating society and making forced choices to avoid society’s judgments. Their story will make you cry, yes it’s that emotional and that is the power of Khaled Hosseini’s words. You can visualize every incident as it takes place and can feel the pain of each character. The enduring power of characters’ spirit is, all at once, beautiful, inspiring, and heartbreaking. And, even in a time of war, love and friendship ultimately survive.

3. And the Mountains Echoed

This is the third novel by Khaled Hosseini which was published in the year 2013. After winning the hearts of people with his two previous novels, Khaled takes up yet another story to woo the readers. This time he brings up the bond of siblings set up across the mountains of Afghanistan. The story starts with how a father has to give up one of his beloved children and separate two siblings. The upcoming series of events is not only a tug-of-love between them, but Khaled has also woven the events in much dramatic manner and readers will love how the story unfolds.

Khaled has also taken up a different style of writing, and while you read the book you will go back and forth in the time. Although you might find it difficult to recognize the Protagonist in the story as in each chapter there are many characters but the essence of the story can be well understood.

Khaled has of course published only three novels so far, but the impact he has left on the mind of readers make him one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Recently he published a short and illustrated book, The Sea Prayer. It is in the form of a letter from a father to his beloved son. Khaled was deeply taken aback by the photograph of young Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on the beach in Turkey in September 2015. He has paid tribute to thousands of families who have perished at sea fleeing war and persecution.

Hope his contribution to the cause doesn’t go in vain and it inspires the world to come forward against the wars that are swallowing lives of innocent people. “War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.”

Pic Credits: India Today, Amazon