To my other side stood rows of snow-burdened cypress trees peppered among flat-topped clay houses—no more than mud shacks in most cases—separated by narrow alleys.

Hosseini uses imagery to paint the picture. Not only does the writing portray the scene, it shows Amir's life. The clay houses in this sentence sound very similar to the mud shack that Hassan lives in. This way, we get a glimpse at what the majority of Afghans were living like at the time, and of just how lucky Amir is.