Introducing Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Sun"

Afghan-American novelist Khaled Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation.

Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.

Here are a few sample comments from Khaled's blog:

When I was reading "the kiterunner" my 8 year old son asked me what I was reading. Hmmm.. what do you answer a child of that age? I decided to tell him about the part where the Father tells Amir that the worst sin is stealing - the parent of all sins. We talked about that and as the very bright child he is, he thought a lot about it. A couple of days later his teacher told me about an episode earlier the same day. My son and another boy from his class were talking and having fun in the classroom. She asked them to keep quiet...and had to ask a couple of times before she caught their attention. My son looked at her and said with a serious voice "you know that the worst sin is stealing and right now you are stealing our right to behave childish...." She told me that she found it very hard to make a fast come-back on thatone, mainly because she had a hard time holding back laughter... Carefull of what you tell your children :o) Need I say that we had a little mother-son talk that evening

I first saw you on C-span Book TV a few weeks ago and decided that minute to buy both of your books which I did 5 days ago. I gave Kite Runner to my daughter to read first and I chose to read A Thousand Splendid Suns. Today, 5 days later, we have finished our respective novels and exchanged one for the other, both of us eager to read the other one.
As I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns I prayed for the Taliban to be somehow swept off the face of the earth forever. I gave thanks I live as a free woman in America. You have captured the very essence of love and courage in this book. And, this may sound rather strange, but I even found myself wanting to taste some of the foods the characters ate, foods which I've never tasted but seemed quite appealing.
My God bless these people of Afghanistan and give them some peace at long last.
Khaled Hosseini's website

Watch him introduce his book here.
My blogger friend Frieda had a good fortune of meeting him in person.

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Introudcing a New Blog!

Today, I stumbled upon a fascinating blog on Afghanistan.

The blog Title is "The New Afghanistan After Years of War". His name is Mohammad Fahim Khairy. Mohammad, a student in Arizona, has very informative posts regarding post-Taliban's everyday political, social and economic issues. Here’s a picture of the man behind the blog:

This is what Mohammad has to say about himself: “I started to work with World Food Program Afghanistan in 1993 I became severely sick. Initially my symptoms included severe headaches, fever, and overall weakness of my extremities. As these symptoms got worse, my entire neck and left arm became paralyzed. I gradually lost the ability to move my limbs. Upon completion of my “treatment”, I was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). With both of my legs paralyzed, I became a disabled person. Paralysis changed my life forever. I had to leave my homeland moved to the U.S.”

I find his perspectives and his generosity of spirit refreshing and courageous. I will be visiting this blog everyday from now on.

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Iran Helping The Taliban

Julian Borger is surprised that Iran is building alliances with Talibans and Hamas. Why? What universe these so-called experts live in? Don't these people study how Islam become to establish itself as an empire?


When Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed this week to hit back at American interests around the world if Iran was attacked, it was no empty threat.
More than at any time in the life of the Islamic republic, Iran is positioned to inflict significant pain on the US and its allies in many places at the same time.
US stumbling in the Middle East has strengthened and emboldened Iran. On top of an array of patron-client relationships with powerful Shia groups, like Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Badr brigades and the Mahdi army in Iraq, Tehran has built a new layer of alliances with some more surprising partners among the Sunni jihadists. It has forged a relationship with Hamas in Gaza, and even appears to have developed links with the Taliban.


In the wake of anecdotal accounts of would-be Iranian jihadists turning up in Afghanistan, western intelligence sources believe official contacts have been made between the erstwhile enemies. Iranian intelligence is thought to be providing some money and training to the Taliban and giving safe passage for jihadists travelling from the Iraqi to the Afghan front.

Seth Jones, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation thinktank, who has just returned from Afghanistan, said: "There are indications the Iranians have opened contacts with insurgent groups, including the Quetta Shura (the Taliban command council for southern Afghanistan)".
He said there was so far no evidence Iran had supplied what the Taliban need most, modern surface-to-air missiles. He also stressed that Iranian backing for the Taliban was barely significant compared to the support it enjoyed in Pakistan, while Tehran enjoyed strong relations with the Karzai government in Kabul. "What Iran in my view is doing is pursuing a hedging strategy," he said. "The Iranian government would prefer to keep a close relationship with the Afghan government, but also wants to protect itself from a strike from the US or Israel." Iran could make life more difficult for the US, Britain and their allies in southern Afghanistan. "If the Taliban got surface-to-air missiles, it would really change things in Afghanistan."

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