Thank you for sharing your views on this dire topic. I just finished the Kite Runner and read A Thousand Splendid Suns two years ago, and I ran through the same problems. The books are written beautifully, it's a page turner and you constantly want more, the author writes engaging topics and the concepts are not shallow, they are deep and makes you ponder which is what we want all books to accomplish. Just in a span of a few hundred pages we get to see so much depth and character development which most authors can't even accomplish in a book series. I felt like I got to know the main characters so well, he truly embodies "show not tell", and he's a very talented author. However, the problem I constantly see is how Hosseini portrays Islam. As a muslim reading these books, I was able to easily decipher the difference between extremism and true Islam, but to the audience (which are mostly non-muslims) reading these books, they don't see the difference. They associate extremism and true Islam as equal just like you mentioned. I wish he was more vivid between the difference and gave more context for the non-muslim readers. If I read them without having the prior knowledge I would deem Islam extremist and harmful. It's just a sad reality. We need more books that dig deeper into what Islam truly portrays. And the history and politics you mentioned I didn't even know about. It was refreshing to get another point of view on this concept. Truly unsettling to see Hosseini having these political backgrounds.

Concerning Baba's character, he is accurately representative of revealing many who hide behind the mask of religion while being hypocritical. Hosseini presents a three-dimensional character, not a black and white one.

Nothing is more disgusting than when a non-Afghan likes to make their point by disagreeing with facts. Afghanistan has been a genocidal playground for both Russia and America. The way how you have presented this with facts, yet one of the commentators would rather believe their lies to justify the propaganda of this book, just because it has some “cute quotes” is just disgusting.

You expressed so many truths about these books in an articulate manner ! I can see how much effort you out into this video and I will read your full text essay. I just started rereading A Thousand Splendid Suns again and came across this. Afghanistan is a place I obsessed learning about as a child , teen , and adult because I grew up in the US in the pre and post 9/11 era. The misinformation was horrendous. Coming from another Cold War hot spot in the world myself , i related a lot to the experience of the Afghan people. Hence as a Muslim and student of knowledge I look forward to hearing more of your insightful intake. Respectfully , a new fan in Cali مصطفى

OH MY GOD! FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!!!! I really appreciate you take on this. I, too as a highschooler, admired his work and in a matter of factly way his writing and story structures are good but i totally agree with you! the way he mis-represented afghanistan and islam in so many ways was a disgusting attempt. His take on BABA led to many other writers dragging islamic scholars (whether sunni or shia) into this filthy mud where they started taking this anti-beard and anti-religious campaign to a next level. Not saying that "baba's" or other islamic scholars who have such views or commit forceful and heinous crimes and hide behind the name of islam are justified but this movement had a bad effect on other people who were in this field and this took the internet by storm. Hence the name "MULLA" which is not a curse word but said as such in Pakistan. Moreover, maryam's husband in "A thousand splendid suns" was yet another example. As i read through the novel i began to realize that this was entirely wrong! I could smell US propaganda through this book but i was dodging every single red flag in this book. And what scares me more is TWISTED HISTORY as the novel proceeds. I as a Pakistani was totally raged so i can't even fathom how you as an Afghan would have felt! By this not only has he made an attempt of distorting the history but also backed up the "US made" fake history and made the americans believe this is the truth since it's coming from an Afghan! Eating dinners with the man that literally killed billions of people in Iraq, syria, afghanistan and unstabilized to the point that they are still recovering from the effects of the war that happened years ago is utterly infuriating. I really loved this review and am grateful that i stumbled upon this channel. Apologies for i seem to have written an essay above that you probably won't read but i donot find people actually analyzing and critiquing this book since most people on book tube are our white american folks. But yeah, if you happen to read this please make some more videos like this. I would love to watch (because thankfully my focus span has not gone to minus) LOVE FROM PAKISTAN!!

That makes A LOT of sense!! Ty for insights

I just stumbled across this video and haven't watched it yet because I wanted to read the book myself for a long time and want to experience it first before hearing your criticism. But reading your list of contents for this video allowed me to have a general idea. The points you mentioned made me think of my experience reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and that while reading that book there were also some things I found...weird. Reading your point "Pro-Us imperialism" really put into words what I felt like ATSS portrayed towards the end. I didn't think of it as Pro-Us imperialism but now reading that term, that's exactly what it was. Having said that, I'm aware I don't know what you're talking about in your video because I haven't watched it yet and leaving a comment may make no sense therefore, but I'm really looking forward to hearing your criticisms now and am glad that I wasn't the only one who noticed some weird things in his books.

The storyline of KR is amazing but when I researched about Afghanistan some aspects of this seemed far from reality, i totally agree with u , fictional stories do play a big role to perceive people and cultures , thanks for giving insights. Plus i loved your video, do make more. Admirer from 🇵🇰

Asalam o Alaikum i am from Pakistan and belong to a Pashtun family and I first came to know about the book theough my college library and through my sisters recommendation. I read the thousand splendid suns a bit and i saw that the book truly showed nothing but hatred and disgust for the taliban regime in Afghanistan and Islam and had a very pro westren bias to it. In the book every supposed traditional or religious character is shown as some sort of a crazy psycho and liberal people who dont care about religion and have ideas that are very pro US are shown in a positive light The book does have merits that it shows the country of Afghanistan and its culture and shows the horrific scenes of the Afghan war (which growing up becomes hard to realise my home country had a part in it) but then at the same time twists the reality of the military campaign in Afghanistan and shows them as if they were some sort of saviours while they commited some of the worst atrosities in the country and then realising the authors ties to the terroist president bush makes me sick I think that the steriotype of religious people being crazy has in the past century became some sort of a symbol of being uncivilized and barbaric and as if though we need them to civilize us and it has not only spread into westren countries but also muslim countries. I am a boy who has recently stared taking my religion very seriously and have even started keeping a beard up to a hands length andthe amount of stuff i had to hear from fellow muslims like "you are an extremist" or"you are like the JAHHIL MULLAS" or taliban and whatever..........seriously hurts. I follow my religion because i have found my way back to Allah and i want to follow his commandments. It doesnt have anything to do and you are as obligated as i am to do the same. Calling me such things will not make me waver in my faith but it will most definitely become something you will have to answer for. Anyways, I dont know if this comment will be seen by you but thank you for this video. It was an amazing video. Allah bless you Love from Pakistan 🇵🇰

Thank you for this. I have not read the Kite runner only watched the movie. I love his other books. If you've read his other books can you also do a video about your intake if it is problematic.

You are filtering aspects of the novel through an imperialist perspective, which is, in a way, what Taliban represented in the novel by bringing in strict laws and barbaric methods of keeping people in line. They stripped people of their essence. Hosseini isn't misrepresenting. He is simply portraying a humanized character. At the end of the day, it is fiction, and the author has every right to tell the narrative that needs to be told. You seem really hurt by his words. This novel clearly went over your head.

I disagree with you. The book speaks a lot of truth about religion, culture, and how people under pressure make choices in order to survive. I'm a Pashtun originally from Pakistan but grew up in Canada. I think you have to separate the author from the work. The narrative stands on its own. The Kite Runner is a remarkable novel that speaks the truth people like you or others might not be able to swallow. I suggest truly analyzing and spending the time with the book. I disagree with you for stating that Khaled Hosseini doesn't know much about his own country and culture. He has done a lot to support those who are still in Afghanistan. You are entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. You really do need to spend more time with the book to understand it.

Im from Vietnam, and i love Kite Runner, great movie !!!

This is something we all need to hear!!!!

The truth is always problematic it seems

It is my favorite novel💔

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