A Thousand Splendid Suns

If I had to describe this book in three words it would be heartbreaking, beautiful, and powerful.

No matter how many books I read, I always think of this one and always compare them all to this one. It’s absolute perfection. I didn’t know a soul can hurt but this story showed me that it can.

Khaled Hosseini tells a good story, eliciting empathy for both his female main characters while using the recent history of his native country as a backdrop that nourishes while educating his audience about a culture and place of which few have knowledge.Unlike his first novel, "The Kite Runner," "A Thousand Splendid Suns" does not depict an immigrant's journey from a troubled Afghanistan to the melting pot of America a la Elia Kazan's classic "America, America". Instead it focuses on two Afghan women who as contemporaries display vastly different vantage points in terms of their individual gender freedom.Mariam, reared as a harami (illegitimate child) in the smaller village of Herat, lives on the outskirts of town with her mother, fallen woman Nana who succumbed to the attractive Jalil, rich owner of the cinema, husband of three wives and father of nine legitimate children. As a harami, Mariam quickly learns that the world of Herat and her father's smaller privileged universe proffer her only the sad wisdom of rejection and endurance. Married off as a teenager to a 40-something-year-old shoemaker named Rasheed, she finds herself in the large city of Kabul where Rasheed's imposed dress code of the burqa in public becomes an oxymoron of sorts--a comforting form of anonymity after years of self-imposed insecurity and harami notoriety and a convenient cover up for the consequential markings of his anger when she cannot provide him with a child .Not so for Laila, Hosseini's second protagonist. Born in Kabul of educated parents, Laila's potential for success ranks her highly amongst her peers during the pro-woman Communist reign. Always encouraged to pursue her dreams, she finds that only her country's turbulent history encumbers her ambitions. After the Soviet Union's departure from Afghanistan and the mujahedeen infighting for control ensues, a stray rocket blast kills Laila's parents and through a stroke of ill-fate she becomes a member of Rasheed's household, alas her bright future eclipsed by the same dungeon of unenlightenment as that of the hapless Mariam.The beauty of Hosseini's tale comes in his ability to draw the reader into the lives of these two women. Although introduced with a certain amount of predictable melodrama that sweeps us along with the implacable rhythm of a 1970s television mini-series, by the time Laila and Mariam physically unite in Rasheed's household we are sold, living and breathing each and every trial and tribulation. Of these, there are plenty, Hosseini paints a cruel picture of Afghanistan's intolerance towards women during not only the Taliban era, but within the confines of their supposed sanctuary of home. Intensely, we experience the beatings these women routinely receive and cower instinctively as the Taliban patrol wanders the streets of Kabul seeking out stray women to disfigure.Shamelessly, Hosseini's technique relies on the interjection of improbable occurrences that add to the tension on the reader's heartstrings. This is nothing new in literature; Charles Dickens employs the same coincidental manipulations quite successfully in his classic serializations. However implausible, we are absorbed within the pages, reliving in nightmares some of the brutally repugnant scenes of blatant misogyny depicted so vividly in Hosseini's detailed account. We cringe and cry and await retribution. Like "The Tale of Two Cities," we are rewarded with a modern day execution where innocent love and unselfish sacrifice allow another's happiness and ultimately the irrepressible good triumph over the miserably evil.Bottom line? Khaled Hosseini writes well in the female perspective; his account of the fictional Mariam and Laila brings home the abject suffering of the senseless mistreatment of women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In the telling of their story, he links them with women all over the world through both the small and large events in their lives. Simultaneously, he educates his audience to the history of his native country, the differing racial factions and the indisputable effect of religion and culture on the larger terrain of the soul. Recommended.Diana Faillace Von Behren"reneofc"

I remember the first time I've ever picked up a book by Khaled Hosseini.It was during my sophomore year, and my teacher decided to select The Kite Runner as the book for the class to read. I was utterly thrilled by The Kite Runner as well as devastated because of the clandestine that was hidden from Amir regarding Hassan, the way Assef had treated Hassan in the past and then his son in the same exact manner during the present where luckily, Amir goes back to Kabul and saves the poor child from Assef's wrath.But however, this book is way better than The Kite Runner. This book has made my cry so many times, it's quite unbelievable. This is without a doubt- the best book I've ever read in my whole life! No joke. This book made me feel immensely aggravated and happy at the same exact time. It made me feel immensely aggravated because of the negative treatment of girls and women in Afghanistan and because of the constant hardships and all forms of abuse Mariam, the protagonist had to face from her childhood up until the moment of her death. Mariam had so many hopes and dreams as a child, but unfortunately all these hopes and dreams were crushed by her father Jalil as he gave her away to a misogynistic/sexist forty year old man Rasheed, after her mother committed suicide. Mariam used to live with her mother Nana in a peaceful village near the city Herat. Jalil provided money and food to Mariam and Nana each month. Mariam was the product of an affair between the servant of Jalil's home which was Nana and Jalil. Therefore, she was portrayed as a bastard, or a harami by the Afghan society and mostly by Nana.Nana didn't like idea of Mariam chit chatting with Jalil, and she warned Mariam of him. Nana promised Mariam that one day, she would surely come to see the real face and nature of Jalil. And when this finally would take place, she wouldn't be there to protect her. Finally during her 15th birthday, she abandoned Nana because of Jalil and visited the world outside her home. Therefore, Nana committed suicide. Nana incessantly warned Mariam of the world outside her home in the past. She told her, the outside world was cold, cruel, and bitter. But still, Mariam did not listen nor concur with her. Instead, she wholeheartedly believed in all the false hopes and utter lies which Jalil provided and reassured her with.Jalil and his three wives gave Mariam away because of the dishonor he would come to face from others for keeping a bastard child, a harami in his home. He was a wealthy man. His social status was mandatory to him, not Mariam. Mariam wanted to attend college, gain education and knowledge just as Rasheed's two other daughters. She had hopes and dreams surprisingly, even after the death of her own mother.Mariam was physically tortured by Rasheed almost every single day and every single moment of her life. She grew more and more vulnerable by each day and sadly, she couldn't do anything to defend herself against Rasheed's wrath until Laila was the victim of his abuse. Mariam finally gathered up her courage to stand up against Rasheed and give him the taste of his own medicine, once in for all which made me immensely happy although it brought permanent despair to Mariam...Mariam was executed by the Talibans at the end, but please don't let this intimidate you! Mariam was finally free from the cruel world which she lived in and her memory was preserved by Laila. In a way, Mariam became a part of Laila. Mariam was Laila's courage, Laila's bravery and her will to fight and stand up against all the odds in the world.Oh and also, did I mention that this book has amazing quotes? The quotes are utterly meaningful."At the time, Mariam did not understand. She did not know what this word harami-bastard—meant. Nor was she old enough to appreciate the injustice, to see that it is the creators of the harami who are culpable, not the harami, whose only sin is being born."I will never forget about this book, never. It'll always stay in my heart.

What a story. The imagery was excellent, the characters so strong and powerful. I read this story without knowing what I was getting myself into and I’m glad that I finally got around to it.