On "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


1st Comment - (22nd September 2010)

I have read first 2 parts of it. Both of them were thought provoking; both in their own respect. Mariam's was of sacrifice whereas Laila's was of independence. Hakim's thoughts appeared acceptable to me. I also liked the quote/sentence -
"Boys, Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly."

There's a lot in the book. People told me this book is not as good as The Kite Runner is. But I think both are incomparable. Both have different subject altogether. They both show you a different world.

*****

2nd Comment - (25th September 2010)

I read more of the book. In the third part, at most places I found that I needed time to digest the things going on. It is not like any mysterious book where you can't wait and you go on reading until it finishes. For this book, at certain places you need to wait, take a breath, and accept what you read, come to reality and then start it again.
People, who haven't read the book should skip the rest of the post, read the book first and then read the whole post.
The book is not at all to refresh you. It tells everything that happened in Afghanistan at some point of time. The incidents when Mariam goes to see her father in Herat, when she loses her mother, when she marries Rasheed – a man of three times age of her age or rather when Rasheed marries her (woman does nothing in Afghanistan, what she does is forced), when Laila faces the bomb blast, when Rasheed marries Laila, when Laila gets caught when she tries to run away along with her daughter and Mariam from Rasheed and how he punishes them, when Laila gives birth to her second child - Zalmai, when Mariam comes to know about her father's death (this was so touchy that I have no words.); all incidents talk about Afghanistan’s culture, but they also show you one form of human mind. Laila's smartness and strength is appreciable. It is hard to digest how at such a small age she can understand and handle such difficult situations. What Khaled Hosseini has said is correct - "There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood."
The rules that Taliban had imposed; we only had read them and felt disgusting. But it is more horrible to see how they can affect the people specially women. The incidence when Laila gives birth to Zalmai is disgustingly horrifying.
I still have pages to read. And I'm sure there will still be more to talk then.

3rd Comment: (8th October 2010)
I completed reading the book. In the last part of the book, Tariq (Laila's friend, love) comes back to her. Rasheed's anger for Tariq's coming back, for Laila's meeting him and for talking to him, his beating Laila to death, Mariam's dare to kill Rasheed; all is explained wonderfully. Not a single detail has been missed. Laila goes away with Tariq along with her children. Mariam stays back to face Taliban. The paragraph which talks about her execution by Taliban keeps you still. Her courage touches the heart. I thought about my last moment in this world. Will I know that I'd be dying? Will I get a moment to think of my whole life and to make myself content about whatever I will have lived? I want to get it. I want to live my last moment knowing that this was my last moment.

Back to the book: Laila's start of teaching and becoming the need of Afghanistan was the best end of the book. There can't be any other end. I learned what hope is. Same way I had learnt when I watched “The Shawshank Redemption”. And of course the last line - "...if it's a girl, Laila has already named her." Lovely!



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