And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold.

But the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her

I think the emancipation of women in Afghanistan has to come from inside, through Afghans themselves, gradually, over time.

There is an energy, a romance in writing the first novel that can never be duplicated again. I was entirely absorbed in that world as I wrote the book [The Kite Runner] and to see the final page of that manuscript whir out of the printer was a very special feeling indeed.

If I ever do get married," Tariq said, "they'll have to make room for three on the wedding stage. Me, the bride, and the guy holding the gun to my head

Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him.

about clichés. Avoid them like the plague.