Favorite Author and Theory of Narrative

For as long as I can remember, I've always been an avid reader. I simply love the beauty words on a page create. More importantly, I appreciate the power of language to communicate a purpose between text and reader. With that said, I've enjoyed most fictional and nonfictional narratives that I've read, but my favorite author is Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini does a remarkable job of telling cross-cultural stories of the Eastern and Western worlds. This is one of the best traits of Hosseini's works. Thus far, Hosseini has written three novels: The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and his latest And The Mountains Echoed. 

As a result, the more I learned about narrative theory, the more I wanted to apply these theories to my favorite work. In particular, I sought to effectively apply Wayne Booth's theories to the works of my favorite author. Booth's concepts of the unreliable narrator, reliable narrator, and implied author are what I focused on the most. While learning about these theories, I noticed that all three of Hosseini's texts follow a certain pattern. All three of his novels are written as a series of flashbacks and flash forwards because all three novels have a purpose. In this matter, Hosseini links the past and the present, giving and connecting the events of both simultaneously. Additionally, the master plots appear to be similar in that all three text center on loss -- loss of a country that is and typical human behaviors of love, guilt, heartbreak, etc. 

Hosseini's flashback and flash forward patterns lead me to believe that his purpose first of all is to tell a wonderful story. However, while telling a wonderful story, I think Hosseini wants his Western readers to realize that there really is not that much of a difference between the Eastern and Western worlds. We are all human, and the journeys we experience affect us long term regardless of which world we are from. Most important of all, Hosseini's texts (all three) seem to indicate that humans have the capability to overcome many hardships, and as such, his text certainly fit Abbott's stance that narratives reflect the real world. Hosseini texts tell of Afghanistan in a fictional way, but what these texts portray is human behavior, and despite what happens or where we are from, all humans behave in similar ways. With this, I think Hosseini establishes a strong link between the Western and Eastern worlds which for so long have wanted to be different, yet both worlds are far more similar than different. In short, Hosseini's personal theory on narrative centers on connecting all people.