Sunday, November 4, 2007

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Some have said that Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns is better than The Kite Runner; that may be true. The story, like The Kite Runner, follows a family in Afghanistan through war, turmoil and uprising and how these people find a way to survive (or not) through it. This book, however, touches on the September 11 attacks and how the Afghan people were affected when the Taliban took over. Hosseini has a superb writing style that convinces the reader to truly hate the lead male character – Rasheed, and to feel nothing but compassion for the lead female characters – Mariam and Laila. The story keeps the reader on an emotional roller coaster, but most of the time sadness and despair rule over any sort of happiness. But the ending is at least as comforting as possible in staying with the reality of the war-torn country.

For me, the book read a little slow, mainly because of the author's use of Farsi words and phrases. But once I memorized the meanings of most of these words I was able to read a bit faster. It was also an abbreviated history lesson about the formation of the Taliban and the acts that led up to the attacks on America. While this book won't make it into my top ten, I would still highly recommend it to anyone.

5 comments:

  1. Did you read "The Kite Runner"? I have not, but I saw they're making a movie of it....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ivdc76nAY

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  2. I actually liked "The Kite Runner" better than "Suns." As an avid reader however, I struggle with movie versions of my favorite books. They are never the same and can't possibly contain as much detail and description as the book. I hardly ever see those movies.

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  3. I just finished yesterday. I thought the use of Farsi words greatly enhanced the narrative and aided the authors intent of placing in Afghanistan. Sure, they were hard to get the hang of, but I was very glad they were there.

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  4. I agree that the book wouldn't have had the same impact with the Farsi words. Once I was familiar with them, it was much smoother reading. Thanks for your comment, Chuck! Enjoy.

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  5. I'm about 2 books away from reading "Suns"...great comments...I LOVED "The Kite Runner" so I'm very interested in reading this one!

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