Mille soleils splendides (A Thousand Splendid Suns)

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ISBN-13: 9782264049063
Publisher: Belfond, Editions
Publication date: 6/28/2011
Language: French
Edition description: French-language Edition
Pages: 411
Sales rank: 1,206,888
Product dimensions: 4.30 (w) x 6.90 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Khaled Hosseini

Afghan-born physician Khaled Hosseini rises at 4:00 every morning to pursue his second career -- as buzz-worthy, bestselling author. His first effort, The Kite Runner, is "a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence," reflects The New York Times.

Biography

On Christmas Day in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, securing Kabul within two days and remaining for a nine-year war with anti-government insurgents. During the time of the initial invasion, Afghani born Khaled Hosseini was living in Paris, France, where his father worked at a diplomatic post at the Afghan Embassy. When Hosseini and his family returned to their home country in 1980, they found the landscape violently changed and found themselves in need of political asylum in the United States.

As he grew older, Hosseini feared the Afghanistan that existed prior to the Soviet war and the subsequent rise of the Taliban would be forgotten forever. Even as he reached great levels of success as a practicing internist in California two decades after last having been to Afghanistan, he never forgot his roots. So, rising at 4AM every morning before beginning his medical shift, Hosseini began writing a story that not only captured the unsullied Afghanistan of his youth but also tracked its ensuing downfall. "I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history," he told Newsline.com. "For many people in the west, Afghanistan is synonymous with the Soviet war and the Taliban. I wanted to remind people that Afghans had managed to live in peaceful anonymity for decades, that the history of the Afghans in the 20th century has been largely pacific and harmonious."

The novel that resulted from Hosseini's early morning writing sessions was The Kite Runner, a heart-rending tale about two Afghan boys, best friends pulled apart by personal betrayal and the immense upheaval of war. Drawing raves from a long list of publications, this 2003 debut went on to become an international hit. Four years later, Hosseini delivered A Thousand Splendid Suns, an emotionally resonant crowd-pleaser focused on the plight of oppressed Afghan women before and during the rise of the Taliban.

In 2003, Hosseini revisited the place of his birth for the first time in nearly 27 years. "I returned to Afghanistan because I had a deep longing to see for myself how people lived, what they thought of their government, how optimistic they were about the future of their homeland," he said. "I was overwhelmed with the kindness of people and found that they had managed to retain their dignity, their pride, and their hospitality under unspeakably bleak conditions." In Hosseini's gripping novels, their voices rise strong and clear above the clash of violence.

Good To Know

During his years in the U.S., Hosseini has soaked in more than his share of American culture. He professes to be a fan of such U.S. institutions as the music of Bruce Springsteen and football. Still, he admits that he simply cannot appreciate baseball, saying, "I think that to fully appreciate baseball, it helps to have been born in the U.S."

When it comes to chickens, Hosseini is a chicken. "I'm terrified of chickens," the writer confesses. "Absolutely petrified. This intense and irrational fear is, I believe, caused by the memory of a black hen we owned in Kabul when I was a child. She used to peck her own chicks to death as soon as the eggs hatched."

When Hosseini isn't writing or tending to one of his patients, he enjoys games of no-limits Texas hold 'em poker with his brother and friends.

1. Hometown:
  
  Sunnyvale, California
1. Date of Birth:
  
  March 4, 1965
2. Place of Birth:
  
  Kabul, Afghanistan
1. Education:
  
  B.S. in biology, Santa Clara University, 1988; M.D., UC San Diego School of Medicine, 1993
2. Website:
  
  http://www.khaledhosseini.com

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Mille soleils splendides (A Thousand Splendid Suns)

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Product Details

More About This Book

Product Details

Meet the Author

Khaled Hosseini

Biography

Good To Know

Customer Reviews

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