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.
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