Kite Runner to Mountains echoed - Khaled Husseini

I picked up ‘Kite Runner’ from a book store near our office, when I was pregnant with Ezekiel. Till that point of time I had not heard about Husseini or Kite Runner, when my young colleague saw me picking up the book and reading the review -  said that she has read the book and it is a good one, but probably not a good time for me to read the book. I rarely buy books, and that day I just thought I will buy Kite Runner more out of curiosity to know a little about Afghanistan. I remember being part  school skit based on Tagore’s Story ‘Kabuliwalla’  the Pathan from Kabul selling dry fruits. And when in 10^th standard I had two classmates in K.V who had come from Kabul after all Indian delegates were asked to leave Kabul in 1989-90 and one of them Vandana who used to speak with her mother in one of the local dialect spoken in Kabul and it fascinated me …..

Coming back to Khaled Husseini  - I read ‘Kite Runner’, slowly and steadily -  and I liked the plot, the characters , though there were parts in the novel which were violent , but no where did I feel that it was out of proportion or out of way – I did almost cry reading some parts of the book , but liked his style of writing and the plot and the way he had described the life of people in Afghanistan never felt that he had left the country  as a child. But was rather impressed !  I checked with my friends if they had his second Book ‘The Thousand Splendid Suns’ but some how I could not pick the book, it was only after 3 years of reading the first book, that I picked up the second book ‘The thousand splendid suns’  from the library which turned out to be even better than ‘Kite Runner’ If Kite runner was about the lost childhood, then the Splendid sun was about  2 young  women’s  Lost hope and love and finding it back .Beautiful and realistic portrayal of life of women in Afghanistan’s tribal area and Kabul spanning from 60’s to early 2000. .... And very recently is 3^rd book ‘And the Mountains Echoed’ which was more about women who had left Afghanistan and found new home in Europe and America.  All three books absolute satisfying read But my personal favorite ‘ A Thousand Splendid Suns’ . All the books so realistic, so true  Khaled is definitely a very gifted  and sensitive writer !