Celebrating the recent release of "And the Mountains Echoes" in paperback, Khaled Hosseini made a public appearance with a conversation with Bill Goldstein yesterday at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square, New York City.
Hosseini joked that his "desk is a graveyard of dead novels". He tends to get very excited about an idea, and this lasts for a while, maybe until he reaches the 50 page mark, and then that's it. Once the excitement is gone, he knows it's not going anywhere, an not going to happen.
Hosseini joked that his "desk is a graveyard of dead novels". He tends to get very excited about an idea, and this lasts for a while, maybe until he reaches the 50 page mark, and then that's it. Once the excitement is gone, he knows it's not going anywhere, an not going to happen.
But sometimes, he said, those unfinished ideas find their way elsewhere, into the novels that he has managed to complete.
Most challenging aspect of a novel is to come to a satisfying and fitting end.
For "And the Mountains Echoed", Hosseini had originally gotten his inspiration indirectly from some news stories that he had read, about children being sold in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, because the families could not afford to take care of them.
And without fully realizing it, this would soon play a prominent role in what was to become his third book, as he kept being haunted by the image of father pulling horse carriage, with daughter inside, and a boy ten paces behind. Hosseini slowly explored this, and began to develop it.
For "And the Mountains Echoed", Hosseini had originally gotten his inspiration indirectly from some news stories that he had read, about children being sold in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, because the families could not afford to take care of them.
And without fully realizing it, this would soon play a prominent role in what was to become his third book, as he kept being haunted by the image of father pulling horse carriage, with daughter inside, and a boy ten paces behind. Hosseini slowly explored this, and began to develop it.
Same with the uncle, who was a limousine driver, and had gained a reputation by many other Afghans for driving such a fancy, American car. But Hosseini then began to ask himself, "Who is this guy?", and in exploring that, found a darker side within, where he was the one that was orchestrating these children being sold off.
Hosseini talked a bit about coming to America. His father had gotten a job in Paris, France, in 1976, two years before a communist takeover of the government in Afghanistan, and well before the Soviet invasion that precipitated the rapid deterioration and decline of the country.
He had already been fluent in Farsi and Pashtun, and had learned French while in France. So in coming to the United States, he learned his fourth language - English. It would become the language that he would become a noted writer in.
Hosseini laughingly reflected about how he knew not one word of English when the family first moved to the United States. His father had made the decision, and had brought nine people overall here. And suddenly, a few weeks after moving, Hosseini found himself sitting in a high school classroom, unable to speak the language. He basically did not have any friends, but began to spend time with 15 Cambodians. They could relate to one another because of somewhat similar situations as refugees in a foreign country, as both Afghanistan and Cambodia were going through hell during that time period.
Everything was bewildering. Not just to Khaled Hosseini, but to the whole family. When he saw teens in high school lettered jackets, it seemed like they came from another world. In a sense, they did. And then, he remembered laughingly, he was horrified one time to see a student with vampire fangs. He then turned around, and saw another student dressed as a cowboy. This, of course, was his introduction to Halloween. His family would get more acquainted with Halloween later that evening, when their family supper was interrupted by incessant knocking by trick or treaters. Unfamiliar with the tradition, they did not know how to respond, and the kids told them they wanted candy. Not having any available, the Hosseinis had to improvise, and gave them sugar cubes, which the kids rejected vehemently. So, it was decided by Hosseini's father that the best course of action would be to turn out all the lights, and for no one to make a sound until midnight. Still, trick or treaters came throughout the night, and were banging on the doors, saying that they knew the family was in there.
During his high school years, Hosseini described himself as mostly "background", one of those invisible people that "haunt" the high school hallways. But he excelled where he previously had failed, going from beginner's English in his freshman year, to "B" English in his sophomore year, to advanced English with honors students in his junior year. Finally, in his senior year, there was a specialty class for standout students in humanities, and Hosseini found himself there, reading novels like "A Separate Peace" and "Moby Dick". Pretty impressive accomplishment!
He talked about how for immigrants, even most routine tasks are enormously complicated and intimidating. Even something as mundane as getting a driver's license or social security card becomes an enormously challenging task.
Hosseini felt very much like an outsider in Afghanistan. And it was this feeling that he got the scene in "And the Mountains Echoed" with the two brothers who visited Afghanistan, with one pretending he was right at home, just another Afghani, while the other, more reserved brother recognizes that he is not really just one of the Afghanis returning home. The people that he sees all around him in Afghanistan lived through the communist takeover, then the Soviet invasion, and through the Mujahideen, through the destruction of all-out war, through the land mines, and through the Taliban and beyond. This gives the quieter brother a greater sense of humility, and it is something that Hosseini himself felt something of when he finally visited his old country in 2007.
Hosseini has his own charity, and has also done some goodwill ambassador work, and it is the sense that he, in a very real sense (although through no fault of his own) personally profited in a sense from all of the misfortune that hit Afghanistan, that he felt that he had no choice in the matter, he had to do these good works in order to give back something to Afghanistan.
During the question and answer session, Hosseini was asked about when he gains a perspective, and responded by saying that was a particularly challenging thing, since sometimes, a story works best in first person, and at other times, it works better in third person. And, he laughed, it might seem like all that you would have to do is change the "he" or "she" to "I" or "me", but it is not that simple. In fact, it almost becomes a whole other book.
Asked if he had majored in the humanities in college, Hosseini laughed this off, saying that humanities simply was not an option for a son of an immigrant family. There were three options, and all of them were fields in which he would be expected to make money. He was going to study to either be an engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor. He chose medical school, and he recalled how no one liked medical school, and how on his first real day as a physician, for a brief second, he was unable to suppress the thought that he had 35 years left of this, and that this might have been one huge, and hugely expensive, mistake. But, in time, as he grew more comfortable, he began to get to know his patients, and felt better about his chosen career. Although in time, of course, he became a published author.
Finally, Hosseini did the traditional booksigning, which went by surprisingly quickly!
Here are some pictures from the event:
Hosseini talked a bit about coming to America. His father had gotten a job in Paris, France, in 1976, two years before a communist takeover of the government in Afghanistan, and well before the Soviet invasion that precipitated the rapid deterioration and decline of the country.
He had already been fluent in Farsi and Pashtun, and had learned French while in France. So in coming to the United States, he learned his fourth language - English. It would become the language that he would become a noted writer in.
Hosseini laughingly reflected about how he knew not one word of English when the family first moved to the United States. His father had made the decision, and had brought nine people overall here. And suddenly, a few weeks after moving, Hosseini found himself sitting in a high school classroom, unable to speak the language. He basically did not have any friends, but began to spend time with 15 Cambodians. They could relate to one another because of somewhat similar situations as refugees in a foreign country, as both Afghanistan and Cambodia were going through hell during that time period.
Everything was bewildering. Not just to Khaled Hosseini, but to the whole family. When he saw teens in high school lettered jackets, it seemed like they came from another world. In a sense, they did. And then, he remembered laughingly, he was horrified one time to see a student with vampire fangs. He then turned around, and saw another student dressed as a cowboy. This, of course, was his introduction to Halloween. His family would get more acquainted with Halloween later that evening, when their family supper was interrupted by incessant knocking by trick or treaters. Unfamiliar with the tradition, they did not know how to respond, and the kids told them they wanted candy. Not having any available, the Hosseinis had to improvise, and gave them sugar cubes, which the kids rejected vehemently. So, it was decided by Hosseini's father that the best course of action would be to turn out all the lights, and for no one to make a sound until midnight. Still, trick or treaters came throughout the night, and were banging on the doors, saying that they knew the family was in there.
During his high school years, Hosseini described himself as mostly "background", one of those invisible people that "haunt" the high school hallways. But he excelled where he previously had failed, going from beginner's English in his freshman year, to "B" English in his sophomore year, to advanced English with honors students in his junior year. Finally, in his senior year, there was a specialty class for standout students in humanities, and Hosseini found himself there, reading novels like "A Separate Peace" and "Moby Dick". Pretty impressive accomplishment!
He talked about how for immigrants, even most routine tasks are enormously complicated and intimidating. Even something as mundane as getting a driver's license or social security card becomes an enormously challenging task.
Hosseini felt very much like an outsider in Afghanistan. And it was this feeling that he got the scene in "And the Mountains Echoed" with the two brothers who visited Afghanistan, with one pretending he was right at home, just another Afghani, while the other, more reserved brother recognizes that he is not really just one of the Afghanis returning home. The people that he sees all around him in Afghanistan lived through the communist takeover, then the Soviet invasion, and through the Mujahideen, through the destruction of all-out war, through the land mines, and through the Taliban and beyond. This gives the quieter brother a greater sense of humility, and it is something that Hosseini himself felt something of when he finally visited his old country in 2007.
Hosseini has his own charity, and has also done some goodwill ambassador work, and it is the sense that he, in a very real sense (although through no fault of his own) personally profited in a sense from all of the misfortune that hit Afghanistan, that he felt that he had no choice in the matter, he had to do these good works in order to give back something to Afghanistan.
During the question and answer session, Hosseini was asked about when he gains a perspective, and responded by saying that was a particularly challenging thing, since sometimes, a story works best in first person, and at other times, it works better in third person. And, he laughed, it might seem like all that you would have to do is change the "he" or "she" to "I" or "me", but it is not that simple. In fact, it almost becomes a whole other book.
Asked if he had majored in the humanities in college, Hosseini laughed this off, saying that humanities simply was not an option for a son of an immigrant family. There were three options, and all of them were fields in which he would be expected to make money. He was going to study to either be an engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor. He chose medical school, and he recalled how no one liked medical school, and how on his first real day as a physician, for a brief second, he was unable to suppress the thought that he had 35 years left of this, and that this might have been one huge, and hugely expensive, mistake. But, in time, as he grew more comfortable, he began to get to know his patients, and felt better about his chosen career. Although in time, of course, he became a published author.
Finally, Hosseini did the traditional booksigning, which went by surprisingly quickly!
Here are some pictures from the event:
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