Come and chat to international bestselling author Khaled Hosseini about AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, and all his previous books, Thurs 5 June, 9-10pm

[TillyBookClub]

Bookclub's webchat guest for May is a bit of a superstar and we're very excited...Khaled Hosseini, author of THE KITE RUNNER, is one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with over 38 million copies of his books sold in more than 70 countries. His latest novel, AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, is an epic tear-jerker covering 50 years and featuring multiple characters, all connected to a father's terrible dilemma. It has all the elements of a classic Hosseini story, where war and conflict have disrupted families and sent shock waves through continents and generations. It is bitter-sweet and, as you'd expect, both heart-breaking and uplifting.

You can find out more on our book of the month page, or go to Khaled's US website for numerous videos about his career and excerpts from all his books.

Bloomsbury have 50 copies to give Mumsnetters - to claim yours please go to the book of the month page and fill in your details. WE'll post here when all the copies have gone.

We are thrilled that Khaled will be joining us to discuss AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, his two previous books and his extraordinary life and career on Thursday 5 June, 9-10pm. So please feel free to discuss the book here throughout the month, pop up any advance questions and we will see you all here, Thurs 5 June.

Hi Khaled, I think your Splendid Suns book should be compulsory reading for schoolchildren - it's the only book I can think of that gives the pov of a woman living in Afghanistan. My question is, how did you manage to get that point of view? How are you able to know what it feels like to have to live under such restrictions and wear a veil?

Thank you.

So, I am on holiday and was expecting to have lots of time for reading, but the sun has been shining in the UK and I have yet to finish this book. I have been enjoying it so far, but not in a page turning sort of way.
I loved both the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
My questions

1. has writing 2 such well received books added to the pressure of writing and do you feel the expectation of your readers?
2. I notice you live in California and wondered if you feel your writing would be framed differently if you lived in Afghanistan?

I loved this book. I loved the way that the book was written from lots of people's points of view. I was surprise though as I was expecting a different kind of book after reading the blurb. I felt that the book really emphasised family connections and responsibilities and how you are always tied to your family, and how important those ties are, and how stifling they can be at the same time. I loved markos story and felt that could have been a book in itself. I also loved splendid suns and I learnt a lot about the history of Afghanistan through this book. I have written a review on my blog as part of my monthly what I've read this month post: www.tealadymumbles.co.uk/what-ive-read-may/

My question for Khaled is, I just wanted to ask, are any parts of your novels based on true stories?

I have just started Nabi's story but have read some of the spoilers above.
My question is this:
How important is the concept of memory in your narrative for Abdullah and Pari in view of the opening tale with the mercy-giving potion? Do you consider their lack of memory at the end to be merciful or cruel?

My cousin wasn't much of a reader (read: she never read anything that was not a trashy novel ) until I loaned her my copies of A Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner. When I gave them to her, I didn't even think she would read them, I didn't expect her to; but she did and loved them; just like I did.

We were both so excited that Khaled had written a third book and we could not wait to read it. I bought myself the electronic version and read it. Told her how amazing, emotional, touching and sweet it is and how I know she would love it too.

I never got around to buying her the book and she passed away almost three months ago without reading it . I never got around to buying it for her while she was alive but I bought it for her anyway, even after she died and I am so so sad that we never got to discuss it; that I never got to hear what she thought of it and how it moved her.

Khaled, without even realising it, in a small little village in the north of South Africa you helped forged a very unique bond between my cousin and I. I will always treasure that she indulged me and she loved your stories as much as I did.

I have a couple of questions:

1. How have your personal experiences affected your writing and how you come up with the story lines for your books?

1. How do you get started writing your books? What was the thought process/ how do you develop the story and where do you draw inspiration.

1. What would you like people to take away from your books?

Thank you.

Evening everyone

It is with enormous pleasure and excitement that I introduce Khaled Hosseini to Mumsnet Bookcub tonight. Author of three phenomenally successful novels, a trained doctor, a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency and founder of a non-profit organization giving humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, he is joining us live from the US and we'll do our best to get round to everyone's messages over the next hour.

Khaled, first of all, thank you very, very much indeed for giving us your time tonight. And congratulations on your stunningly brilliant writing career and all that you have achieved. We've already got a fair few questions to get through so I'll just add our standard Mumsnet ones and then off we go...

What childhood book most inspired you?

What would be the first piece of advice you would give to anyone attempting to write fiction?

Over to you...

@TillyBookClub

Evening everyone

It is with enormous pleasure and excitement that I introduce Khaled Hosseini to Mumsnet Bookcub tonight. Author of three phenomenally successful novels, a trained doctor, a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency and founder of a non-profit organization giving humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, he is joining us live from the US and we'll do our best to get round to everyone's messages over the next hour.

Khaled, first of all, thank you very, very much indeed for giving us your time tonight. And congratulations on your stunningly brilliant writing career and all that you have achieved. We've already got a fair few questions to get through so I'll just add our standard Mumsnet ones and then off we go...

What would be the first piece of advice you would give to anyone attempting to write fiction?

Over to you...

thank you so much, Tilly. It is a pleasure to be here!

What childhood book most inspired you?
My favorite book growing up was the story of Rostam and Sohrab, one of the tales from the ancient Persian epic, the Shahnamah, or The Book of Kings. The Shahnamah, written by Ferdowsi in the tenth century, is an epic poem that has over 500 characters and spans from the dawn of time to the Arab invasion of Persia in the 7th century. It tells mythological stories of old kings, warriors, princes, giants, monstrous beasts, and was on the whole a delight to peruse. I did not read the whole thing as a child, but my favorite story was the one that is the best known, the story of the great warrior Rustam, Shahnameh’s greatest hero, who in the course of a battle, unwittingly slays Sohrab the son he never knew he had. It has all the elements of a great tragedy and I referred to it both specifically and thematically in The Kite Runner.

On the artistic side of it, I wish I had some illuminating, earth shattering advice to give to new writers, but the truth is that there are two things that are indispensable if one wants to be a writer: First, you have to actually write (I cannot tell you the number of times people walk up to me and tell me they are sure they have a novel in them if they could get around to it.). Write about something that feels urgent and important and compelling to you. Write it because you cannot imagine not writing it. Don’t write to get published or for money or fame. Write from the heart. Second, you have to read. You have to read a lot, and all the time. I think writers learn from each other, especially young writers. We all develop our own style, in the end, but it is a great education to expose yourself to a variety of styles and approaches.
The business side of it is a combination of luck and perseverance, assuming the manuscript is of quality. There are entire books written on ways to get published. But the first thing is to write a compelling story. If you have written one, then you have to believe in it and persevere and hopefully you will catch a break and get the manuscript into the right hands.

@DuchessofMalfi

Ok, here's my question - I did like the way the story unfolds through different yet interconnecting narratives, but I felt that there were one or two too many, leaving some of the stories lacking sufficient detail to make them feel complete.

I apologise if I missed the point of this narrative, but why did you include the story of Markos Varvaris the Greek plastic surgeon? I thought he was really only a minor character with only a tenuous connection to the story. His tale didn't take the narrative onward and introduced extra characters who weren't connected in any way to the main story. It felt like a whole different novel could have developed from that tale!

Nevertheless it was a pleasure to read. I haven't read The Kite Runner yet, and am looking forward to reading that shortly :)

Thank you for your question. I agree that Markos’ story is not as integral to the Abdullah-Paril narrative as, say, Nabi’s chapter or Pari’s chapter. But my intention with this book was not to tell a linear, straight forward narrative, rather the creation of large mosaic-like picture made up of a series of free-standing wholes. I became very much interested in Markos’ story as I was writing Nabi’s chapter, and his letter which is addressed to Markos. Since he was such an important person in Nabi’s life, important enough that Nabi would trust him with this confessional letter that reveals so many personal secrets, it seemed odd to me to not explore who Markos was, what his background was, how he came to end up in Kabul in the first place, what were the forces in his life that drove him to it. And as I wrote about him, I saw that, although his specific narrative may have as you said diverged from the main one, his story fit in very nicely from a thematic viewpoint, i.e. the idea of memory, illness, responsibility toward family, siblingship, etc. So I thought there was a place for him in the book. But I do appreciate your own take on it.

@frogletsmum

Thank you Mumsnet for my copy! Really enjoyed it, though I do agree with some of the comments upthread about the number of different narratives. I would have liked to know more about some of the stories, whereas others - such as Markos - didn't seem to be necessary to the main story. My favourite chapter was the one narrated by Nabi - it completely changed the picture I had of him from the earlier chapters, and I found his long, quiet devotion to Mr Wahdati very moving.

My question for Khaled: How did you decide which voices to write in the first person, and which in the third, and did you feel differently or maybe closer to the ones you wrote in the first person? Were you tempted to write Pari (either sister or daughter) in first person?

Thank you!

Thank you for this question. The decision of which viewpoint to write the story from is a fundamental and difficult one. Both third and first person views have their advantages and disadvantages. I always struggle with this decision. I wrote some chunks of several of the chapters in this book in different voices that simply did not work. Sometimes the choice is clear. Nabi, for instance, had to be in first person. I had thought that all along, had always pictured his story told in epistolary form. His tale is so personal, so revealing, so confessional in tone that I did not think it would work as well in third person –I thought the same with Amir in The Kite Runner. Other times, when I find I have to shift from character to character, I choose the third –as in A Thousands Splendid Suns.- since I have always found multiple first person narratives to be awkward. Most times, though, it becomes an instinctive decision. I will write some of story in both first and third person and see which one feels right. More often than not, I will find that one perspective feels more natural, more fitting for that particular character, and I go with it, shaping the story around the advantages and limitations that the chosen perspective offers.

@yummum120

Hello Khaled, I'm intrigued by the ending of the story. You showed such a good bond between The relationship of a brother and sister (Pari and Abdullah) at the beginning of the story. Why didn't they reconnect so well at the end? This was disappointing for me as I felt there was more emphasis on a new relationship building with Pari (sister) and Pari (daughter) than brother and sister bond.

Thank you for your question. This book is kind of like a fairytale turned on its head. To be frank, I was quite dreading the possibility of a mawkish, Hollywood ending in which brother and sister would tear up and hug and the violins would soar. I knew that the ending would bring some sort of resolution but likely not a complete one. Then I reread the first chapter, which includes the story where the div gives the peasant father a potion that erases his memory, and with it, the pain of having lost his son. And I realised this is how the book needs to end, with this idea of memory as a way that we make sense of our life, the way treasure all those things that matter to us the most but also the way that we suffer again and again the painful parts of our past. So once the theme of memory came to the fore, and once I saw how it would affect Abdullah, then I saw also that if the reunion were to occur between the siblings, it would occur on these terms and it wouldn't be the happy reunion we'd expect and perhaps the one we want. Which is how real life so often works, after all. Real life doesn’t care much for neat endings and loose ends being tied up.

@Uzma01

I've read Khaled's other two books, really enjoyed them. Have started this one - looking good so far.

My question is: how are your books taken by Afghans - do you get a lot of praise or criticism from your fellow countrymen/women?

I think there is little awareness of my writing in the countryside, where poverty and illiteracy are prohibitive obstacles. In the cities, I think the reaction from my Afghan readers has been mostly positive, especially among the younger, urban, professional crowd. I get regular letters and e-mails from fellow Afghans who have enjoyed the book, seen their own lives, experiences, and memories played out on the pages. So I have, not always but most times, been thrilled with the response from my own community.
Some, however, have called my books divisive and objected to some of the issues raised in the book, namely gender rights, discrimination, ethnic inequality etc. These critics tend to be older, more conservative culturally and more religious. Those topics are sensitive issues in the Afghan world, but they are also important ones and I think they merit discussion. The role of fiction is to talk about difficult subjects, about precisely those things that make us cringe or make us uncomfortable, about things that generate debate and perhaps some understanding.
That said, I also understand and respect the fact that I live in exile, that I have not lived in Afghanistan in over 30 years, and that since I write about Afghan people and the troubled recent past of the country, those Afghans who actually do live there -many of whom actually lived through events I am merely writing about- have a right to have their opinion about me. They have certainly earned it.

@CheeseEMouse

Thank you for my book. I love the style of writing, and am about half way through at the moment. Like cabster was very teary through the first chapter and I am finding myself getting a bit upset for the children. A sign that I am getting involved with the book, but I do sometimes wish for a little less sadness.

I have a bad habit of reading the final chapter of a book before actually finishing any book - I guess I like being reassured things will be ok...

Thank you so much!

I read this book a whole ago but I really loved it. It was a book I was sad to finish.

I don't really have any questions, but just wanted to come and say how much I love your books. Especially A Thousand Splendid Suns. So incredibly moving.

@Arti

I found this book to be a very powerful read on many levels. The book is beautifully written, and helped me to reflect deeply on some of the core themes relaying to family relationships, identity and acceptance of where a person is at at a particular point in time. My mother died 4 months ago and these themes really struck a chord with me, especially the exploration of the relationships between Markos and his mother and Pari (junior) and her mother at the terminal stages of their illnesses. I work as a medical doctor and liked the descriptions of some of the medical aspects that were woven into the story, e.g descriptions of the hospital grand round and also of the various health challenges experienced by the characters.

My questions to the author are:

to what degree did you model the character of Markos on yourself with your own medical background as a doctor?

What is the most powerful thing you have learned about yourself as a result of writing this book?

What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing this book?

Thanks for writing such a great book and for being such an inspiration.
Arti

Thank you! Well let me answer the question about the most challenging part of writing this book, which was without doubt the structure. My intent from the start was to write something with both the heft and the arc of a novel. I never meant this book to be a collection of stories, though it did take that shape for a very brief time in the early stages of writing it. After that, and also for a brief time, it took the course of a more traditional, linear novel. But I discovered, as I went on, that that a whole host of characters were taking shape in my mind and crying out for their stories to be told, a feat that proved impossible with a traditional linear structure. The end result is that each chapter stands more or less on its own and is structurally complete, but each also augments and illuminates part of a much bigger story, a little like listening to one specific voice in a choir and then another and then another, until there is a sense of all the different voices joining and creating a single, cumulative song. The challenge was to adapt a new voice with each chapter and for each chapter to provide answers to questions raised earlier in the book, each to reveal epiphanies both minor and major, and each chapter to be better understood and appreciated if you had read the previous ones. So there was a lot of plate spinning going on!

@PenelopeLane

I loved this book - having loved the Thousand Splendid Suns and liking the Kite Runner I made sure I got a copy as soon as I saw it in the shop. I especially like that these books are about a part of the world I don't know much about, and have a way of really drawing me in.

Spoiler alert

I have a couple of questions about the book and a couple of general ones:

1. I especially liked the conclusion with Idris, and was wondering if this plot line (esp with Roshi) is intended to also be a wider comment about Westerners who can talk the talk but not walk the walk?

1. Was it hard to decide to give Abdullah Alzheimer? That was the part of the book that effected me the most I think.

1. What part of writing do you find the most challenging - writing, revising, editing?

Thanks, and I look forward to your next book

Thank you. I think the ending of the idris chapter for me is about a person discovering the limits of his own powers and character. Every chapter in this book is about a person about to discover something about themselves that they did not know before. Idris' discovery is a painful one for him, I think.

I ended the book with the dementia ridden Abdullah because of the theme of memory, which also opened the book with the Div giving Baba Ayub the potion that erased his memory. I liked the way the novel was bookended by the theme of memory, allegorically in the beginning and much more realistically at the end.

Interesting discussion about third and first person narratives - there are such strong contrasts between the two and I've often re-read bits of novels wondering how they would sound if written from the opposite side, as it were.

Khaled, did you do a writing course whilst writing your first book or was it just you sitting in a cafe/corner of the kitchen/study, bashing it out on your own?

And how do you think your own ambitions as a writer have changed since writing the first draft of The Kite Runner?

@Inlovewith2014

Did you have much influence in the film? As it's one of the best book to film stories IV ever seen

Thanks!
Ian McEwan had a great quote, something to the effect of how a screen adaptation of a novel is like a controlled act of vandalism. I loved film from a very early age, but did not have any misguided romantic notions that my novel would be translated from print to screen without changes.

I was pleased with the film for two reasons. First, I was really proud of the children in the film, particularly since they were amateur actors who had never even seen a movie prior to being in ours. Second, for me the film was a positive step forward for the depiction of that region of the world by those in Hollywood. Usually those films center around political violence, terrorism, things of that nature, and this was a film largely about family, friendship, guilt, betrayal, redemption and regret. Very human things. The characters in the film were Muslim, but they weren't in the film because they were Muslims. Their faith was incidental to that. And I think that is a really positive development.
I served as a kind of sideline consultant, making myself available to answer questions when they arose. I also visited the set of the film in western China and spent a couple of weeks watching the shoot.

@MirandaGoshawk

Hi Khaled, I think your Splendid Suns book should be compulsory reading for schoolchildren - it's the only book I can think of that gives the pov of a woman living in Afghanistan. My question is, how did you manage to get that point of view? How are you able to know what it feels like to have to live under such restrictions and wear a veil?

Thank you.

I was very familiar with the struggle of Afghan women from a young age. this is a very old story in Afghanistan. I grew up in a fairly affluent milieu in Kabul in the 1970's but at every street corner there were women in burqa, women whose faces were never seen publicly. So it was a not an alien phenomenon for me, the idea of the burqa, because it was prevalent long before the Taliban ever came into being.

@ladydepp

I finished And the Mountains Echoed yesterday. I have not read A Thousand Splendid Suns but the Kite Runner is one of my favourite all time books. I found it very powerful emotionally but also a fascinating insight into a culture I am not at all familiar with.

And the Mountains Echoed was a great read, Mr. Hosseini is obviously a very accomplished storyteller and has an amazing ability to draw extremely sympathetic characters. My one issue with this book is that I felt that there were just TOO many people to care about, I wanted to learn more about some of them but I almost found it confusing how many different strands there were to follow. I think this confuses the story somewhat, although it was still a very enjoyable book.

My question(s) for the author are in relation to his own reading:

Were there any books that inspired you to become a writer? Which books, if any, have you read more than once? Do you have a favourite childhood book?

Many thanks!!

I really can't recall that I was inspired by any single book that I read as young person, meaning inspired to become a writer. I loved Alice in Wonderland, 20,000 leagues Under the seas, The three Musketeers, James Bond novels, but more as a reader. On the writing front, I always knew that I loved writing. I have been writing since childhood. It has been a personal compulsion for as long as I can remember, and I cannot point to a time when I did not want to create characters and stories. That is a far cry from saying I always knew I was a writer. I never thought of it in those terms, I suppose because I thought real writers were published and published writers, in my mind, were a different species altogether, occupying a different dimension from people like me. I thought of writing as a private indulgence.

@QueenYnci

Looking forward to the webchat tonight, my review is further up the thread.

My question is:

I thought the ending with Abdullah's Alzheimers was very fitting for the tone of the book, did you have that planned from when you started writing the book?

thank you. No I had no idea it would end that way, but as I neared the end, the idea came to me and I saw how fitting it would be. This is pretty typical for me. I plan nothing, I outline nothing, I start with an idea or an image or a line of dialogue and see where it leads me. Because I never know what the next page will contain, let alone the end of the book, I am perpetually surprised by the course that my characters take. The writing process is as full of surprises and twists for me as the reading experience is for my readers. I love the spontaneity of writing this way, the possibilities left open, the feeling that I am not constrained or committed to any given path. Every day, I am surprised by something. It may not be the most efficient way of writing, but it has served me well thus far.

@yUMMYmUMMYb

So, I am on holiday and was expecting to have lots of time for reading, but the sun has been shining in the UK and I have yet to finish this book. I have been enjoying it so far, but not in a page turning sort of way. I loved both the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. My questions 1) has writing 2 such well received books added to the pressure of writing and do you feel the expectation of your readers? 2) I notice you live in California and wondered if you feel your writing would be framed differently if you lived in Afghanistan?

Many thanks!
It’s a different beast altogether writing follow up novels. And the bigger the previous novesl, the hairier the beast. Suddenly there are deadlines, and people who want to know when the book will be done, and not to mention the self doubt, and the internal pressure you put on yourself, to prove to yourself that that previous books didn’t soak up everything that you ever had to say. I remember telling my wife, “What did I get myself into?”

So, if you are not careful, it can get to you. But once I was in the throes of writing And the Mountains Echoed, I felt buffered from all of that. Suddenly I was in Kabul and Paris and Greece and living through my characters' struggles and I became completely invested in their world. They permeated my thoughts day in and day out for the better part of three years. And I still knew that there was pressure, but I didn’t feel it anymore. I felt removed from it now, dissociated. Hope that answers your question.

@Crackers83

I loved this book. I loved the way that the book was written from lots of people's points of view. I was surprise though as I was expecting a different kind of book after reading the blurb. I felt that the book really emphasised family connections and responsibilities and how you are always tied to your family, and how important those ties are, and how stifling they can be at the same time. I loved markos story and felt that could have been a book in itself. I also loved splendid suns and I learnt a lot about the history of Afghanistan through this book. I have written a review on my blog as part of my monthly what I've read this month post: www.tealadymumbles.co.uk/what-ive-read-may/

My question for Khaled is, I just wanted to ask, are any parts of your novels based on true stories?

Thank you for your kind words.
As far as the autobiography question, let me give you the example of the Kite Runner. That was a novel, and by no stretch of imagination a memoir. However, there certainly were autobiographical elements woven through the narrative. The descriptions of Kabul circa 1970’s, the social set up, the political milieu, are based on my own recollection and observations. The kite fighting and the games Amir and Hassan play mirror the way my brother and I passed our time, as does Amir and Hassan’s love for films, in particular westerns. Probably the passages most resembling my own life are the ones in the US, with Amir and Baba trying to build a new life for themselves. I too came to the U.S. as an immigrant and I recall vividly those first few years in California, the brief time we spent on welfare, and the difficult task of assimilating into a new culture. My father and I did work for a while at the flea market and there really are rows of Afghans working there, some of whom I am related to.

so the simple and not terribly revealing answer is that in the end, novels are hybrids, part autobiography, part imagination, with the line often blurring between the two.

@MaNeo

My cousin wasn't much of a reader (read: she never read anything that was not a trashy novel ) until I loaned her my copies of A Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner. When I gave them to her, I didn't even think she would read them, I didn't expect her to; but she did and loved them; just like I did.

We were both so excited that Khaled had written a third book and we could not wait to read it. I bought myself the electronic version and read it. Told her how amazing, emotional, touching and sweet it is and how I know she would love it too.

I never got around to buying her the book and she passed away almost three months ago without reading it . I never got around to buying it for her while she was alive but I bought it for her anyway, even after she died and I am so so sad that we never got to discuss it; that I never got to hear what she thought of it and how it moved her.

Khaled, without even realising it, in a small little village in the north of South Africa you helped forged a very unique bond between my cousin and I. I will always treasure that she indulged me and she loved your stories as much as I did.

I have a couple of questions:

1. How have your personal experiences affected your writing and how you come up with the story lines for your books?

1. How do you get started writing your books? What was the thought process/ how do you develop the story and where do you draw inspiration.

1. What would you like people to take away from your books?

Thank you.

I am so sorry for your loss, and I am so touched by the lovely words you say here. I am grateful that I played a small part in bit of happiness between you two.
The trigger for this latest book was a story I read in the news about impoverished Afghans in villages who had to sell one or two of their children to wealthy families in Kabul in order to survive. that kind of painful Sophie's Choice dilemma really touched me, being a parent myself, and about a year later, I began to write the chapter about Abdullah and Pari being taken to kabul by their father.

Sometimes inspiration comes disguised as a small image, a line of dialogue, a news story (Kite Runner came to be after i saw on the news that the Taliban had banned kite fighting, for instance.)
As far as what people should take away, that is up to the reader. every reader has a personal relationship with a book, based on their own history, background, beliefs, emotional make up, etc. So I believe that we are not fully in charge of what we take away from a reading experience.

Hello Mr. Hosseini, had to take opportunity to tell you how much enjoyment your books have given myself and my family. From the superb Kite Runner, the fantastic Thousand Shining Suns I couldn't wait to buy a new book. I enjoyed this book but I really needed that Hollywood happy ending that you felt was inappropriate. I understand your explanation and thinking but when I finish a book I need to feel the characters are satisfactorily catered for! That's my fault, not yours and I forgive you dear author, giver of so much emotional pleasure. Thank you.