Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Lately, I had the chance to take out some free time from my schedule to read a novel that had been waiting on my reading list for quite some time now. After reading the book, I was more than happy to have done so.

The book I'm talking about is none other than 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini. Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born novelist living in the U.S. He has written three best selling novels since 2003, including 'The Kite Runner', 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' and 'And The Mountains Echoed'.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is one of his novels that I recently got to read. I have no words to describe how beautiful this book is. It had me hooked from the very first page. It made me laugh and it had me bawling my eyes out. Hosseini showed the main character, Mariam, in all stages of her life, her childhood, her teenage years, her married life, her old age were all described beautifully.

The novel starts with Mariam's narration, from when she is nine years old, living a life that is far worse than that of average Afghan children, including her siblings. Mariam has a kind and forgiving nature. She always accepts her fate and doesn't speak up for her herself. This is what gets her into her marriage with Rasheed, an older, grumpy, but kind man.

Then the second narrative starts from Laila's perspective. Laila, the second main character, is a generation younger than Mariam. Laila's story also starts from the time of her being a child. She belongs to a modern family and is always encouraged to get complete education. In her childhood years, Laila has a male best friend named Tariq, who is referred to as the one-legged Romeo by Rasheed, as he has one leg, the other lost in a land mine in early years of his life.

War breaks out in Afghanistan and Laila's life is turned upside down in a split second. All the good things Laila knows of, all the people she cares about, all the things important to her, disappear from her life. She has no other choice but to drop out of school and after a tragic event, accept an unusual offer. (I do not want to give any spoilers).

Unlike Mariam, Laila is a strong, confident woman who fails to be among those who accept their fate and do nothing about changing their conditions. She decides to put an end to all the torture she faces because of accepting that unusual offer. She attempts to change her life but fails. She tries again with the help of a new friend and this time, they succeed but not without one of them having to suffer.

The story ends with a somewhat happy ending, which made me really happy, because I didn't know how I'd cope with a sad ending. It left me with some happy tears to at last see some happiness.

The thing I liked the most about this book, in addition to the story, is the portrayal of women in Afghanistan. It shows the problems faced by Afghan women in their male dominated society. It is a must read novel. Khaled Hosseini has again written a masterpiece.

To review or summarize the book in a few sentences, I would say this,

A story of love at the time of hate and war, a story of hope at the time of hopelessness, and a story of growth at the time of destruction.

Women Rights and the Role of Religion

If men and women are equal in the eyes of God, then how come they aren't equal in the eyes of men?

God does not judge differently based on gender. I have never heard of that not being the case in any religion. Be it Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other religion of the world. Then where did this discrimination come from? When did people start thinking of women as inferior beings? Who taught them to? Here's the answer.

Among all religions, men and women are considered equal. But unfortunately, in all the religions of the world, the heads of the religion, the people that are responsible for the control of the message and for making decisions, are all men. Religious institutions are dominated by male leaders. Examples include the Pope (Catholic Christianity), Imams (Islam), Rabbi (Judaism), Dalai Lama (Buddhism), Fathers of churches (Christianity), etc. They are all men.

The male leaders misrepresent and manipulate scripture to create policies that benefit them. They cite religious scripture in their defense. That is how they gain support for their opinions. More often than not, those citations are taken out of context. Slowly and gradually, these misrepresented citations become common and influence our social and cultural norms, our laws and our societies so much that we fail to recognize it.

Women rights and religion are not mutually exclusive. One does not need to be absent for the other to be present. They are not the opposite of one another. To ensure the full participation of women globally, we have to reclaim religion. We cannot overlook the damage that has been done in the name of religion.

Our foundation is weak. It is not possible to build a straight house on a crooked foundation. If we cannot change the system entirely, we cannot realistically expect the economical and political participation of women. 

We as women need to be present. We need to speak up. If we remain silent, we will allow for the continuous persecution and abuse of women worldwide. We have to do it not for ourselves, not for the women in our families, not even for the women out there, but for the society. 

The Bucket List.

We all have some things that we want to do at least once in our lifetimes. No matter how big or small, we all dream of doing a certain thing, going to a certain place, meeting a certain celebrity, or simply to experience certain things. Here is a short list of things I want to do before I die.

Learn a fourth Language.

Travel to a Foreign Country.

Go Snorkeling in the open sea.

Done in 2015.

Go skiing.

Done in 2006.

Travel by sea.

Done in 2015.

Ride a Zip line ride.

Learn a Strategy Game (for example Chess).

Teach someone something I do best.

Create something new.

Do Volunteer Work. 

Attend a concert.

Done.

Hold a Snake. 

Write a novel.

Horseback ride on the Beach. 

Done in 2015.

Make a Snowman. 

Done in 2000s.

Swim with sea Turtles. 

Done in 2015.

Create Pottery on a Pottery Wheel. 

Done in 2006.

Find my Signature scent. 

Done, I think.

Dye my Hair an Unnatural Color. 

Go fishing and catch a fish.

Done. 

Bake an edible Cake. 

Done in 2013.

Eat Chinese food with Chopsticks. 

Make ice-cream. 

Done in 2014.

Go to Tourist Attraction areas in my own city. 

Done.

Join a Book Club.

 

Go ice skating. 

Learn to drive a manual car.

Read 100 Books within a Year. 

Donate Blood. 

Get a College (Uni) Degree. 

Fly a kite successfully. 

Walk 10 km continuously.

Done.

Ride a bike on the beach.

Done.

Learn to Roller Skate. 

Done in 2007.

Create my own blog. 

Done.

Start my own business. 

Help someone in need. 

Change someone's life. 

Save a life.