Regret... when it comes to you, I have oceans of it.

The ordinary, utterly mundane reason behind the massacre makes it somehow more terrible, and far more depressing. The word 'senseless' springs to mind, and Idris thwarts it. It's what people always say. A senseless act of violence. A senseless murder. As if you could commit sensible murder.

Kabul was very popular with the hippies in the Sixties and Seventies. It was very quiet and peaceful.

The story of what has happened to women in Afghanistan, however, is a very important one, and fertile ground for fiction.

For a novelist, it's kind of an onerous burden to represent an entire culture.

The bulk of our efforts [in The Khaled Hosseini Foundation] has focused on helping build permanent shelters for returning refugees who are homeless, living out in the open or in makeshift homes. This is an area of urgent need as Afghanistan's natural elements are quite harsh, with very hot summers, and freezing winters.

Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft.