A Thousand Splendid Suns Kindle Edition

You know you are in the hands of a masterful storyteller when you put a book down only because you have no choice - life drags you away and it's a physical and emotional wrench to let it go, even for a moment. When all you can think as you go about compulsory tasks are the story and the characters. While you are away, you wonder what they are doing, where the narrator is going to take them and you care about their fates deeply. Such is the effect of A Thousand Splendid Suns. The characters live beyond the pages - not merely at the end, but throughout the reading experience, so realistically and gorgeously have they been drawn.Just as the sublime The Kite Runner told the tale of doomed male friendship, ATSS tells the story of two very different Afghani women: Mariam - shy, subservient, filled with self-doubt and yet, despite what life has meted out, is also honest and possessed of an innocence that is both her greatest strength and weakness. Then there is the beautiful, smart and kind Laila. Raised under very different roofs and with different expectations of their future, fate in the form of political and sectarian upheaval throws these women together and what happens before, during and after is heart-wrenchingly bitter-sweet.Hosseini knows not only how to capture the reader's imagination but our hearts as well. Told without sentimentality but nonetheless with an almost unbearable sweetness and pathos, ATSS unapologetically describes what the women of Afghanistan (and many men, children, families and thus communities) were forced to endure. The rampant misogyny, sexism and horrific abuses; terror, hope, the loss, the grind, the joy in the smallest and simplest of things; their constant sacrifices. Their resilience is formidable and humbling; their strength amazing - as is their capacity to forgive. By focussing primarily on Mariam and Laila (and those who play important roles in shaping who and what they become) Hosseini gives us a searing insight into not only the plight of those who are helpless pawns in a brutal battle for control of a weakened state, but Western prejudices, sense of entitlement and misunderstanding as well as revealing the ugliness and terrible beauty of a culture so few of us understand except through snatches from sensationalized news bulletins or from foreign correspondents with a brief to fill. That there are those resistant to as well as complicit in oppression, suffer because of wilful ignorance and the brutality of others; the way in which religion and culture can impose horrific restraints when reduced to power struggles while at the same time gesturing to a proud nobility is evident in the novel. Inevitably, as is the case when religion, sex and gender become politicized, there are scapegoats who pay for the hubris and cruelty of others - for more than a lifetime. The damage inflicted can last for generations.I didn't want this book to end. My heart soared, it plummeted; I gasped, cried, held my breath and as I read felt physically pummelled then embraced, experiencing the 30 years the tale covers as a visceral thing that left me psychologically and imaginatively battered but richer in ways that count. But, I also felt ashamed. Ashamed for thoughts I may have harboured deep down, for prejudices I may not have even realized I held until this novel exposed them to me, and for that, I am grateful.This is a beautiful, deeply moving book that I cannot recommend highly enough. It was a privilege to read and now to share.

I think Khaled Hossieni has just become my favorite author. Just like in his first novel, I learned more about a part of the world that prior to reading I knew or cared very little about. And also just like his first novel I learned that there are real people in Afganistan, human beings just like myself, that have to live in a war-torn, violent, unforgiving, male dominated, poverty stricken, etc. society.The best way that I can describe this book is that it is depressingly educational and entertaining. On the surface it is the story of two women whose lives come together by fate. But really it is a book about Afganistan, it's culture and unfortunatley the downfall of the country. Within the pages of this book you will learn a brief history of the country, it's religous factions and it's culture. It is certainly one of those books that make you thankful that you live in a free society. More importantly it makes you grateful that you are not a woman living in Afganistan. Just like THE KITE RUNNER, you learn what a bunch of thugs the Taliban really are. If you enjoyed THE KITE RUNNER then you will certainly enjoy this book just as much. I would say they are equally awesome.I thought the book started off great, then I thought maybe it slowed a tiny bit. I remember thinking to myself during this time that Hossieni's first novel was going to be much better. But just past the half-way point it became awesome. I literally could not put it down nor could I read or turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen.This book is beautifully written. It is very well organized and coherent. All the chapters and sections within each chapter fit and tie in together perfectly. I love how he uses things early in the book that you don't think much of at the time, only later to be brought back at the end to have enormous meaning and symbolism. I thought the characters were real and believable for the most part and you really feel for them.The majority of this book is sad and depressing. Ironically, I do not like sad books or sad movies but I have to admit that this book was the exception. When I finished reading the book I remember shutting it and saying to myself out loud, "Wow, that was a great book!" I really enjoyed it and once again, I am already waiting for his next book.