Khaled Hosseini Quote
I do it for the girls.What girls?He smirked. They think it's sexy.It's not.No?I assure you.Not sexy?You look khila, like a half-wit.That hurts, he said.What girls anyway?You're jealous.I'm indifferently curious.You can't be both. He took another drag and squinted through the smoke. I'll bet they're talking about us now.In Laila's head, Mammy's voice rang out. Like a mynah bird in your hands. Slacken your grip and away it flies. Guilt bore its teeth into her. Then Laila shut off Mammy's voice. Instead, she savored the way Tariq had said us. How thrilling, how conspiratorial, it sounded coming from him. And how reassuring to hear him say it like that - casually, naturally. Us. It acknowledged their connection, crystallized it.And what are they saying?That we're canoeing down the River of Sin, he said.Eating a slice of Impiety Cake.Riding the Rickshaw of Wickedness? Laila chimed in.Making Sacrilege Qurma.They both laughed. Then Tariq remarked that her hair was getting longer. It's nice, he said.Laila hoped she wasn't blushing. You changed the subject.From what?The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy.You know.Know what?That I only have eyes for you.Laila swooned inside. She tried to read his face but was met by a look that was indecipherable: the cheerful, cretinous grin at odds with the narrow, half-desperate look in his eyes. A clever look, calculated to fall precisely at the midpoint between mockery and sincerity.
I do it for the girls.What girls?He smirked. They think it's sexy.It's not.No?I assure you.Not sexy?You look khila, like a half-wit.That hurts, he said.What girls anyway?You're jealous.I'm indifferently curious.You can't be both. He took another drag and squinted through the smoke. I'll bet they're talking about us now.In Laila's head, Mammy's voice rang out. Like a mynah bird in your hands. Slacken your grip and away it flies. Guilt bore its teeth into her. Then Laila shut off Mammy's voice. Instead, she savored the way Tariq had said us. How thrilling, how conspiratorial, it sounded coming from him. And how reassuring to hear him say it like that - casually, naturally. Us. It acknowledged their connection, crystallized it.And what are they saying?That we're canoeing down the River of Sin, he said.Eating a slice of Impiety Cake.Riding the Rickshaw of Wickedness? Laila chimed in.Making Sacrilege Qurma.They both laughed. Then Tariq remarked that her hair was getting longer. It's nice, he said.Laila hoped she wasn't blushing. You changed the subject.From what?The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy.You know.Know what?That I only have eyes for you.Laila swooned inside. She tried to read his face but was met by a look that was indecipherable: the cheerful, cretinous grin at odds with the narrow, half-desperate look in his eyes. A clever look, calculated to fall precisely at the midpoint between mockery and sincerity.
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About Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini was briefly a resident of Iran and France after being born in Kabul, Afghanistan, to a diplomat father. When Hosseini was 15, his family applied for asylum in the United States, where he later became a naturalized citizen. Hosseini did not return to Afghanistan until 2003 when he was 38, an experience similar to that of the protagonist in The Kite Runner. In later interviews, Hosseini acknowledged that he suffered from survivor's guilt for having been able to leave the country prior to the Soviet invasion and subsequent wars.
After graduating from college, Hosseini worked as a physician in California, a situation he likened to "an arranged marriage". The success of The Kite Runner meant he was able to retire from medicine in order to write full-time. His three novels have all reached various levels of critical and commercial success. The Kite Runner spent 101 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, including three weeks at number one. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), spent 103 weeks on the chart, including 15 at number one while his third novel, And the Mountains Echoed (2013), remained on the chart for 33 weeks. In addition to writing, Hosseini has advocated for the support of refugees, including establishing with the UNHCR the Khaled Hosseini Foundation to support Afghan refugees returning to Afghanistan.