A. S. GERASIMOVA Candidate of Philological Sciences Keywords: Afghan novel, expatriate Afghan writers In 2008, a new significant work appeared, created by the Afghan Atik Rahimi in French and received the highest literary award in France - the Goncourt Prize. The author was born and studied in Kabul, at the French lyceum "Istiklal". After the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, he emigrated to Pakistan; there, at the French consulate in 1985, he received an entry visa to France, where he lives and works to this day, having dual citizenship. Atik Rahimi is a well-known professional writer, screenwriter and film director. At first, he wrote in his native language, Farsi, translated into French himself, and published his works in Paris. Prior to receiving the award, Atik Rahimi published: "Terre et cendres"1 ("Earth and Ashes"), "Les mille maisons du reve et de la terreur"2 ("A Thousand houses of dreams and horror"),"Le Retour imaginaire"3 ("Imaginary return"). The author turned the novel "Earth and Ashes" into a script, directed and directed a film based on it, which won a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival. According to A. Rahimi, this work was his protest against the world community, which does not pay attention to the suffering of the peoples of Afghanistan. The novel, awarded the Goncourt Prize, is called " Syngue sabour. Pierre de patience " 4 ("The Stone of Patience"). On the last page of the cover, the author explains the title of the novel: "Syngue sabour (in Persian, syngue means "stone" and sabour means "patience"). In Persian mythology, we are talking about a magic stone, which is "placed in front of you to pour out your misfortunes, sufferings, sorrows, and disappointments on it... They trust Him with everything they don't dare reveal to other people... And the stone listens, absorbs like a sponge, all these words, all the secrets until one day it explodes. This is the day of liberation." It should be noted that exactly under the same name " Sa ... Read more