Q3-Q4 outside reading blog #4

Khaled Hosseini’s true holly wood story:

            Hosseini was born in Afghanistan in 1965. He was the oldest of 5 children. His father was a diplomat and his mother was a Farsi professor. He grew up in a pretty modern part of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. As a child he spent time kite flying, watching Indian films, reading, and writing stories. In his experience living in the modern part of Kabul, women and men were more or less equal. Also during his time in Kabul he was influenced by many Afghan stories.

            When Hosseini was still young, his family moved to Tehran, Iran where his father would be stationed. In Iran Hossienies eyes were to be opened wider into his countries problems. One of the families servants the cook was a Hazara, a badly mistreated minority ethnic group in Afghanistan. Because he was a Hazara he had never learned to read or write. After a year Hosseini had taught the man to read and write and had discovered the terrible discrimination that is rampant across Afghanistan.

                    When the Hosseinies left Iran they then went to Paris, after the monarchy ended and the republic was created. However the republic was short lived because when communists tried to take the state by force which eventually resulted in a soviet invasion and occupation. Because of the soviets the Hosseinies applied for political asylum and came to America.    

            The family lived in San Jose where Hosseini’s father got off welfare and became a driving instructor. Hosseini learned English and fueled his love of reading with many American works like John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath . He wanted to succed in the America so he became a doctor. When the US began their intervention in Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban Hosseini now a full doctor decided to start working on what would become The Kite Runner. Because Hosseini was a full time doctor the book initially got very litte publicity but as word spread by word of mouth, the book went on the New York Times bestsellar list.

            Hosseini’s life seems to be one the mold to the basic plot points. Although he is not Amir and they both had very different lives the timing of events is similar both lived in the same part of Kabul, both did not mistreat Hazara’s, both liked the same things growing up, both went to America because of the soviet invasion, both lived in the bay area (or near it) and both married and had successful carreers in America. These simularities are very interesting to consider when looking at plot. 

Works Cited

"Khaled Hosseini Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .