Becoming a Writer: Khaled Hosseini's Unique Journey, September 2013

The Kite Runner made him famous and changed his life. A Thousand Splendid Suns and his most recent book And the Mountains Echoed solidified his place among some of the most well-respected authors. In this one on one conversation, Hosseini tells us why he avoids Hollywood endings in his novels, how he often "takes things" from people for his writing and what advice he would offer aspiring novelists. Plus, learn about his childhood and writing inspirations. This is an in-depth, captivating interview that will have you laughing at the author's poignant stories. Plus, hear how he answers some of his biggest fans' questions.

[@nancyg.ahmadzai2546]

Read the book, watched the movie " The kite runner", fell in love with Afghanistan, met an Afghan man from Kabul on Facebook, married him two years later. I'm an American, but now consider myself more Afghan, love Afghanistan, love my Afghan husband, and I'm very happy with him, thanks for writing this wonderful book. Long live Afghanistan !!

[@lilyanna3009]

Oh , that is very powerful , best wishes to you!

[@AlessandraWoodward]

Beautiful ❤️💕

[@zephyrunicorn1]

Never knew a book could have such an effect on a person. All the best wishes to you. !!

[@Anijerang]

Reading this comment today and praying for Afghanistan.

[@jamiecarmelo2791]

Sorry to be off topic but does any of you know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost my login password. I appreciate any help you can give me.

[@SeagullB]

i found his novel next to my mother's bed after her death"a thousand suns"and i have read all his novels since.He is a shining light.a sensitive writer and a true humanitarian.

[@noriadanish7842]

I’m from Afghanistan and proud of such a writer. I wanna follow his footsteps ( a doctor and a writer)

[@hadisaafzaly9029]

Noria Danish You Go On. We Need You. I support you❤❤❤

[@noriadanish7842]

Hadisa Afzaly thank you. I really appreciate that❤️

[@bookkhan9533]

you do not need to be his photo copy to be both chose one at which you are the best.

[@razakhanladakhi1028]

U deserve true Author . U r passion is your profession Keep going on 😊

[@dileepop]

I will go to sleep trying to shake off the thought of a woman was reading Khaled's book in an airplane, sitting right next to him, totally clueless of who he is

[@natasha9995]

i know!! gosh i am so jealous! at least she would know now! i guess

[@mashalahmad4705]

Seriously??? Geez! she's lucky.

[@deadpirateroberts6462]

"Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly , stupidly".--- And the mountains echoed

[@afsonzamany3948]

He is one of the best author of the history

[@anuja3396]

His books are so sensitive and valuable. The fact that he doesn't plan his writing is wonderful

[@SajidKhan-sn7xd]

Such a pride for my country;Afghanistan! Love you houssaini saib. The RUNNER got me completely.

[@anuradhainamdar8967]

I read" The kite runner " and " The thousands splendid suns " earlier then read the " And the mountains echoed " in 2015.Today I am re-reading it with a more passionate approach and finding beauties, in it which I never marked before.Mr.Hossini does expresss the anguish felt by both the poor as well as the rich Afgans ,inspite of being in a medical profession he can write about sufferings among a refugee people who have been taken unawares by wars, first the Russian invasion in 1980 and then the civil wars and rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Apart from the political aspect the human portraiture is more poignant such figures like Masooma, her beauty, the jealousy she evokes in Parwana, then Mr. Wahdathi 's brain stroke, his paralysed condition, which leads to nervous breakdown in Nila ,adoption of Pari by the Wadhati's through Nabi, and the sadness Nabi experiences is touching. And when Nabi discovered the drawings of Mr Wadhati's about him then he understand the affection that Nila felt for him as well as the hidden love that Mr.Wadhati had for Nabi. Just as many British authors and authoress like M.M Kaye and Paul Scott, E.M Forster and Sir Rudyard Kipling have shown their love of Indian people and its landscape and through English language similarly Mr.Hossini shows the beauty of Afganistan's landscape such as mountains and Orchards, by a expression of colourful language. I am so blessed to have read at least some of his books.

[@maloureno3624]

My favourite writer from now on. Even listening to his answers made me cry just like it did while reading his ''And the mountains echoed''. Please, never stop writing. Our generation need writers of your kind. I am from Uzbekistan and I was able to feel for your characters in full, and I felt blessed by that. No novel has been able to turn me upside down so much but yours (And the Mountains echoed). Thank you for this masterpiece!

[@amriahomran7650]

he has been my favorite writer since i was in high school this was over 10 years ago. I always go back to his books because his connection with the characters are soo powerful and seems soo real that i always believe it to be true. I have always wanted to be a writer because of his books and how they bring awareness and the passion for reading.

[@arsalanalizai3771]

Im also from Afghanistan and Im feeling encouraged to become someone like a Dentist from Khaled's story. This man is an Inspiration, coming from the same country!

[@readwithelahe]

You can do it I’m sure ❤

[@smithavishwanath7218]

I've read all your novels. It was an eye-opener about Afghanistan. You are an inspiration. Thank you for this video. I'm going to have my first book published in a few days, and hearing this is a reality check.

[@readwithelahe]

Wow that’s amazing congrats

[@ImranSahir1]

Although I live in Pakistan, Afghan neighbor, but I did not learn as much from media and Afghan refugees as I learned from Hossieni's novels. He's an amazing author.

[@RajarshiBandopadhyay]

Its amazing how much all of us South Asians have in common culturally. There are so many expressions in the books in the native language that are translated below, but I never needed the translation. I could understand right away what they meant.

[@homahoseini5331]

Sending him so much love and gratitude 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😍😍😍😍I’m proud of him 💛💛💛💛He have made the Afghanistan proud ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Barnamala]

a real philanthrophist..admiration! respect :)

[@dazzlingmichael6855]

Khaled Hosseini is truly the pride of Afghanistan... through his novels, I develop empathy towards the people of Afghanistan esp the resilience of women there. through his sensible writings, it gives me lots of perceptions about true life & humanity... that life is not all about living all happy & luxurious life shown in social medias esp by celebrities but its more on emphatizing w/ the hardships, struggles, sacrifices of those unfortunate in life & wishing in our own little ways we could help them also... for me Khaled Hosseini is my best writer in this present times... even his choice of words are very descriptive that gives me a vivid picture of the place & the feelings of characters...

[@shameerks3831]

I am from india. I heard a lot of about him. Unfortunately even this time I couldn't read any book of you. As a man long to write in english, after lockdown I should buy it. 💚💚💚

[@KashifReads]

I love reading his books

[@fizaa2579]

What an amazing interview! Learned so much about this guy and I'm amazed by the fact that he doesn't plan his writing and that shows that he is a free writer.

[@gethappygetsuccess7136]

Loved the interview. Inspiring video. Thanks for sharing.

[@unclecarrot626]

MY MEMORIAL DAY CELEBRATION Thank you to Khaled Hosseini and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. Memorial Day 2021 all I could think about is how much we owe the good people of Afghanistan and how much I don't know as an American and Cold War soldier who resisted the Soviet Union and helped bring down the Berlin Wall; a goal I had even as a child. It was strange growing up knowing human civiliztion could be burned down by Global Thermo Nuclear War at any time. We survived that one and we have survived a deadly global pandemic. I have faith we are a cooperatrative species and while we are a problematic people we are not apocolyptic as evidenced by good people everywhere.

[@josephinejamin4618]

What a amazing author, I enjoyed the Kite Rider so much - once I started reading it I could not put it down. I can’t wait to read his other 2 books.

[@readwithelahe]

Same here!!!

[@anniehowell6266]

Khaled Hosseini is my favourite writer as he creates these amazing characters and pulls on my heartstrings but he never gives the reunions you want. you might say that's real life but I have had to come out with different endings to stop myself from grieving. its taken me a while to get over his books and they are still all with me now. In kite runner I so felt like Hassan should know that Amir cared so much and they should see each other happily again, in thousand splendid suns I so wanted Mariam to know that her father did care, did regret and gave her the snow white and seven dwarfs in rememberance. not that just Laila got it not knowing the significance, and in the mountains echoed i so needed Pari to know the meaning behind the feather, how close Abdullah and her were, that Abdullah pretty much brought her up and that nothing made either of them happier than being together and about the dog shuja and their father telling stories and their mother with pari's goodness in her. it seemed cruel that they never truly realised the truth. my one saving grace is that i believe in heaven so i say it'll b all right in the end. yes, i know its not real but when characters enter my heart they become real.

[@SeagullB]

a wonderful wise writer.

[@nandaaravind5950]

love his works!!! ♥ ♥

[@antonioscoppa2311]

Hosseini..the besr writer in the earth

[@bendangchang7737]

Lol

[@sohaibahmed226]

Dang surprised when he said he doesn't plan or anything he just sort of lets it happen.

[@carmensanchez6489]

COMETAS EN EL CIELO un libro que me hizo viajar aprender una cultura me conmovió su historia. 🇨🇱🤗

[@claudiadelrio6931]

Una historia estremecedora que es capaz de conmover, tan profundamente, aludiendo a una realidad que resulta tan lejana desde aquí, Chile.

[@adibkhowajazadah3539]

proud on you hossaini saheb!

[@carmensanchez6489]

Cometas en el Cielo, me gustó y aprendí de él libro. 🤗🌺

[@mynameis1880]

25 minutes..... well spent

[@olivia-zp8md]

A beautiful person ❤

[@AaaBbb-ok9ci]

A very handsome man, and a very handsome novel😙

[@FahimFazli]

Afghan born Hollywood actor goes to war: Story of 'warrior-actor' Fahim Fazli Actor and author Fahim Fazli visited ASU this week to speak to students, offer advice and show them no matter where they come from or what problems life throws at them, dreams can be achieved, which he writes about in his book "Fahim Speaks." Fazli has starred in more than 50 films, working with the likes of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Murray, Louis C.K. and Robert Downey Jr., but before his acting career, a struggle to get to America began in his childhood home. Child in a warzone In the 1970s, communists took over Afghanistan and reshaped Fazli's life. "In 1979, the communists came to my country and took over Afghanistan in 24 hours," he said. "I was 12 years old, and I didn't know about communism until after the first six months, they killed a million of us." The Soviet Union's invasion had an immediate impact on Fazli's family because his mother worked as a midwife in the Afghan government. "My mom, her name is Fahima, came home from work, and I saw tears in her eyes and she said, 'Fahim, we are leaving but you are not. Your dad wants to hold you and your brother,'" Fazli said. "I asked her what was wrong, and she said the communists will kill us if we don't leave in 24 hours. My dad was stubborn, and he said my brother and I were staying." This was the last time Fazli would see his mother and sisters for four long years. "We went into the house, and I looked at my dad and asked why we didn't go," Fazli said. "He said, 'Shut up and sit down.' He did it because he believed we would beat the Russians in a month or two, but it took us 10 years." After Fazli's mother left, he had to return to school the next day but lost interest in his studies in the seventh grade. "I skipped school, and I saw the tanks passing by everywhere, so I made a flier, a propaganda flier was given to us by the CIA who was helping us defeat the communists," Fazli said. "I would get up at two o'clockin the morning, hiding from my dad and run through the city handing out fliers to put the fears onto the Russians." After spreading fliers given to him by operatives working for the CIA, Fazli and his friends tried to find other ways to defeat the communists. "I would play double agent and go to their base to trade American T-shirts or Kent cigarettes for guns," he said. "They were so into American logos because they had never seen them before. I would trade them and then sell the guns to the freedom fighters who were connected to Pakistan and they were connected to CIA." With the money from the gun sales, Fazli and his friends would buy kites and playing "double agent" made him want to one day become an actor, but before this dream as a child could come true a longer struggle was about to take place. "One day, my principal called my dad and told him they had to send me to a communist camp in Siberia and my dad made a decision that it wouldn't be a good idea for his son to go to Siberia to get brainwashed by the communists," Fazli said. Coming to America One morning, soon after the phone call from the principal, Fazli's father woke him up at 5 a.m. and told him they were leaving. "Me and my brother got in a jingle truck with my dad driving toward Pakistan and halfway there we stopped at a checkpoint and my cousin was there, a communist, so I put my head down and he eventually let us go through," Fazli said. "We then walked seven days and seven nights through the mountains hiding from the helicopters flying over. We finally arrived in Pakistan to a refugee camp." Arriving at the refugee camp and meeting the Marines was the first step in a four-year journey to find his mother, Fazli said. "I told the Marine translating for us I wanted to find my mother and the Marine said come back in four days," he said. "So we came back and the Marines were smiling at us. They said we found your mother after four years of not seeing each other and no letters. She was living in Charlottesville, Virginia." Fazli got on the phone and called his mother in Virginia but the response from the other end of the line was not one of welcoming or excitement, but one of confusion. "My mom got on the phone and she asked who it was and 'I said this is Fahim,'" he said. "She said, 'What are you talking about? My son is dead. The communists killed him.' I said, 'It's me, Mom, my voice has changed. I've become a man.' After long struggling to convince her, she believed me." Fazli's aunt, who was in the U.S., had told his mother he and his brothers were dead and that his father had married another woman. This made Fazli's mother deal with the grief and begin to move on with her life. After two years in the refugee camp, Fazli and his family were allowed to come to the U.S. and received their green cards and passports at the airport upon arrival at Washington Dulles airport American Life Arriving in the U.S. provided more challenges for Fazli, but his dream to become an actor was still in his heart. "I always ask myself six questions," he said. "Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where do I want to be? What is my dream? What is my passion and what is my hobby?" These questions led Fazli to try to sign up for the Marines but after receiving a five-page test, which he failed, he had to change direction which led to him pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. "After failing the test, I asked myself the questions again and went to work as an actor but couldn't get my (Screen Actors Guild) card because I couldn't get a speaking part," he said. In 2006, Fazli began working as a technical advisor coaching Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Soon after, Fazli began getting parts in other movies and television shows as an actor, voice-over artist and consultant but the parts were typecasts as a terrorist for the most part. "As a terrorist, the reason I do that, I know those guys hijacked the religion, and I want to introduce them in the movie how evil they are," Fazli said. "You saw me get emotional; I have a heart and love my mom and stuff, and I don't mind if I get typed as a terrorists for the rest of my life, and I will always want to show how they hijacked the religion. The religions aren't bad. These people hijacked the religion and are the boogeyman." Working in film and television has led to an illustrious career allowing Fazli to work along side such people as Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood in "American Sniper," Ben Affleck in "Argo," Tom Hanks in "Charlie Wilson's War," Louis C.K. in "Louie" and Bill Murray in the upcoming film "Rock the Kasbah." After working on films with award winning actors, Fazli's focus shifted back to his home country and he decided he wanted to do something to help. Back to War In 2009, Fazli decided he wanted to pursue his dream of being a Marine and took a test to become a translator for the Department of Defense. This time he passed and was shipped of to Afghanistan where he helped Marines and locals communicate. "Both America and Afghanistan have given me so much," Fazli said. "Afghanistan is my birth country and America is my adopted country, and I wanted to pay my dues for this passport." After arriving in Afghanistan , Fazli began working with local tribes and Marines to open up communication and ease tensions in the area, which had an impact on ASU professor Mark von Hagen. "What I really liked best was the story he told of how he had to explain to the Afghans that the Marines weren't Russians," he said. "He didn't do that by words but by pulling out a cross to show them they weren't communists and he did that instinctively and translated that so fast." Fazli said multiple lives were saved due to his ability to talk and translate between the tribal leaders and Marines and he is proud that no one, either Marine or civilian, were killed during his time in the region. ASU student and retired Cpl. John Luebke said Fazli's ability to stop conflicts and bring people together made him a role model amongst his peers. "We all looked up to him," he said. "I had just turned 20 years old and it was my first deployment and had no idea what war was going to be like until I was in it. We had to learn to respect their customs, so if we didn't have that guidance from Fahim, it would have been a lot different." Retired Lt. Col. Michael Moffett, co-author of "Fahim Speaks," said his time with Fazli in Afghanistan began a lifelong friendship and he is proud to have helped Fazli achieve his dream. "I think I helped him to have an opportunity to chase a dream, writing a book, and I think I helped him realize that dream," he said. "My dream has also been to write a book and make a difference so I think we both helped each other realize dreams that otherwise wouldn't have happened." The next 50 years Fazli's message to students at ASU this week has been seek out your dreams and go for them and if he can come to America and make his dreams come true then anyone can. "I want to send a good message as an Afghan-American," he said. "If I can do it, they can do it. My advice to Americans is to not take advantage of this great country. I grew up in a war zone twice. Two empires fought in Afghanistan, Russian and American, and I want Americans to appreciate every second of their lives in this country. Don't look at the past, think about the future. A ninth-grade-educated Afghan became an actor, became an author; you can do it, too. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Joey Hancock

[@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs]

May peace descend beyond the Panjshir Valley

[@cl2229]

What a self fulfilling prophecy

[@AliAkbar-vo3te]

As Hazara I didn't like in kite runner what he write about Hazara. Peasent words is all times used for my people.

[@javer9706]

Can you explain please what exactly means to be hazara? What are the differences between Afghan and hazara men?

[@СанаАфган]

@@javer9706 In Afghanistan we have many different ethnic groups. Pashtuns, tajiks, uzbeks, Turkmen, hazara, Nooristanis, Baloch, Pamiri, Wakhis, Kyrgyz etc. Hazara's look mongolian. Uzbek, Turkmen are turkic ethnic groups, kyrgyz is a nomad tribe they are a minority and live in the mountains. Wakhis, Pamiri live on high mountains in Afghanistan and they are similar to Tajiks but a little different because they live in a remote region not in the cities. Baloch are like the Baloch in Pakistan and Iran. Nooristanis look European they live in Nooristan a mountainous region too. Hazaras were Mongols you know left over soldiers of genghis Khan whom failed in Afghanistan and his soldiers were left they then became Shia Muslims. However Pashtuns never gave them power because they didn't trust them. All the kings of Afghanistan were Pashtuns and Pashtun ethnic group is the world's largest tribe with over 30 major tribes and countless sub tribes and clans. Historically the word "Afghan" was used for Pashtuns by the Greeks, Persians and many others and even today you would find tajiks, hazaras saying in farsi/dari/Persian "Man Afghan Nestam" which translates to in English as "I'm not an Afghan". They don't like the word Afghan used for them, they don't like the Pashto language or some won't respect the national anthem of Afghanistan because it is in Pashto language they refrain from speaking or trying to learn Pashto language instead the Persian speakers enforce or kind of like use excuses like we can't learn Pashto it's too hard etc to not speak Pashto. The Pashtuns back then and even now some Pashtuns hate the hazara because come on someone who comes to destroy your country, kill ur people would you like them?? No way!!! Pashtuns would always say the blood of an Pashtun/Afghan and a hazara never mixes. Recently now Pashtuns don't give a shit about them they are free no longer slaves nor treated bad but still they aren't really trusted not even by the turkic ethnic groups nor the tajiks trust them. They do use the hazaras for their own interests against the Pashtuns because they want to take power from the Pashtuns in Afghanistan but they truly don't trust Hazaras either. Hazara men were made slaves and women as house maids of the Pashtuns back in the days when they wanted to take power from the Pashtuns. First reason why we hated them is because they are basically Mongols and the Pashtuns hated and still hate the Mongols because of genghis Khan and when they were forgiven and became Muslims despite Pashtuns putting their hate aside the hazaras always kept a grudge against Pashtuns and always on a lookout for chances to backstab Pashtuns or join hands with any invader to take power from Pashtuns. So like I said before second time all hazaras got together and stood against the king and asked for power which of course the king and the Pashtuns didn't accept. And I am sure you know how it worked back in the days if one stood against the king, either killed, jailed or made slaves and maids. However nowadays Pashtuns don't really hate hazaras and don't have much hate towards them. Unfortunately the hazaras hated the Pashtuns even more after they were made slaves and they don't forget that and carry on hating Pashtuns and continue their struggle to show Pashtuns as the bad, evil uneducated terrorists which ofcourse we aren't. One more thing I missed when the taliban came to power they killed hazaras I think and taliban were like mostly Pashtuns back then not now and so the hazaras hate Pashtuns because of that too. But to be fair the taliban has killed far more Pashtuns and far more Pashtuns were killed whether in Afghanistan or in Pakistan Pashtun regions than any other ethnic group in Afghanistan. The major differences are Pashtuns don't look mongolian or Asian but hazaras do. Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims and hazaras are the only Shia Muslims in Afghanistan even tajiks, uzbeks, Turkmen, nooristani, Baloch are majority Sunni Muslims. So you would hear of sometimes reports of hazaras going to Syria or wtever to fight among Iranians for Iran because as shias they are quite loyal to Iran. Hazaras believe Afghanistan should be named khorasan because of their loyalty to Iran too. Because they don't like the name Afghanistan as it literally sort of means the land of the Afghans = Pashtuns. Tajiks and uzbeks have this same problem too. Pashtuns are one of the only ethnic alongside Nooristanis, Baloch, kyrgyz who don't speak Persian/farsi/dari. Anything else you want to know feel free to ask.

[@СанаАфган]

@@javer9706 it would take a long time to read but I tried to explain everything.

[@javer9706]

@@СанаАфган thank you very much for your time to give me all this information! I read it thoroughly and with big interest. I'd like to hear now and what a hazara has to say about the difference between them and the pashtuns.

[@ruparoy8212]

@@СанаАфган you explained so well.you are from Afghanistan.

[@tolomotena]

14:30-16:00

[@arondariab4834]

Arsenal loooool

[@aryandwivedi4906]

Aron Dariab the moment when arsenal is your fav club too

[@Nikhilsharma-dp9tw]

Taliban's conquering afganistan again 😌 and so called superpowers evacuating the place and let Afghans die. 🥺