Khaled Hosseini
For me, story and character always come first and social circumstances second, although it is often difficult to separate the two. In my books, the social circumstances -war, poverty, exile, oppression, extremism, etc- are the background against which the characters’ lives unfold. But those events and those realities also impact who those characters are and how they behave. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, for instance, the Taliban rule of Afghanistan is the background, while the domestic drama taking place inside the house takes center stage. But the Taliban’s rule impacts Mariam and Laila’s lives and in many ways, their presence forces the women’s hands into certain decisions, some of the fateful. The key for me has always been to focus on the characters first, understand the extent to which those external social forces exert their influence in their lives and shape them as people, then go from there.
More Answered Questions
Saara
asked
Khaled Hosseini:
Hi, Mr. Hosseini! I am your biggest fan! I just wanted to know, did your words come naturally to you from the start or did you struggle when you weren't that experienced a writer? I ask this because being an amateur writer, I'm having a hard time impressing myself with what I've come up with till date. And if you did struggle at first, what did you do to remedy it?
Pepperpots
asked
Khaled Hosseini:
Dear Khaled Hosseini, I very much enjoyed your book, 'And The Mountains Echoed'. My favourite story was that of Nabi. Why did you choose to have the novel set of several decades and in many places? Was it because it allowed you to more easily explore themes rather than focus on a single story set in one particular time and place? Thank you.
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