A Thousand Splendid Suns -- Review by Chris

The buzz around A Thousand Splendid Suns was incredible. Everyone raved about it -- and when that happens, I am suspicious. I loved The Kite Runner. Could Khaled Hosseini strike twice?

Absolutely.

This time, Hosseini takes on a difficult voice: the voice of a woman. Multiple women, actually: of different ages, different backgrounds, different education levels, different regions. He does an excellent job. His voices, his characters are authentic, rich and vibrant. They are real.

The relationships are very real, too. Readers feel the anguish of a rejected daughter, a beloved daughter, a lonely daughter, an abandoned daughter, a frightened wife, a jealous wife, a supportive and loving mother, an anguished mother, a woman in love.

There are a number of women in this book, but two characters are central: Miriam and Laila. Miriam's youth is joyous but troubled. From the start, her angry, bitter mother tries to tell her the ways of the world for a harami like her. Her father visits every Thursday, and she feels special. Her world has been this way always: living in a small hut with her mother, her father living somewhere in town, on the other side of the creek. Her world is small and everything seems simple to her, as with any child. Too soon, she grows up and realizes that while her mother was troubled, she was not completely inaccurate about the world.

Leila is the daughter of an educated man and a lively, strong woman. Unfortunately, she arrives late in life when her mother has lost her sons to the army fighting the occupiers of her beloved Afghanistan and her father has lost his livelihood. However, she is smart and lively and she sees things in the world that make her love her country and her people, especially her family and Tariq, a childhood friend who from an early age is terribly important to her. When her family finally comes together in a beautiful and successful way, tragedy strikes with images that are as horrific as any a young girl should bear.

Both Miriam and Leila find themselves in heartbreaking situations, and both make the best choices they can under the circumstances. And both watch the world unfold at their doorstep.

This is what I loved most about this book: the personal viewpoint. Much like A Handmaid's Tale, the world presented in third-person narration is limited to the character's immediate experiences. There are situations in which they learn about the world around them, but for the most part, their world is their homes and families. Information is controlled by the totalitarian regime of their country and homes.

With his second book, Hosseini presents an Afghanistan that is rich and full, so much bigger than the nation this country ignored until 2001. As with any story, it is the characters that make it special and memorable, and Hosseini again creates characters that remain in the reader's heart and mind long after the final page is turned.

I strongly recommend readers purchase this book and read it, then share it. It is not an easy read, but it is a compelling read, memorable and beautiful, tragic and resonating. A Thousand Splendid Suns reminds us that a country is more than its politics: a country's heart truly is its people.

The Kite Runner as a Film: What Do You Think?

The Kite Runner, one of the most amazing books I have read in a long time, was just released in the U.S. as a film.

Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

Do you plan to see it? Why or why not?

I don't plan to see it because I loved the book too much. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out: it's never as good on the screen as it is in my head.

Some books translate well to film, and I'm glad to see them.

However, some I cannot bear to see on celluloid, including I Dreamed of Africa and A Passage to India. I am sure at least one of them was a lovely movie, especially in the hands of Merchant Ivory Productions. I also know Mitch Albom would advise me to let it go. And maybe someday I will. But I can't yet surrender the beauty of the scenes told by Khaled Hosseini to the imagination of another human being.

Carole said...

I don't plan to see it, but for different reasons. I saw the preview for The Kite Runner a few months ago, and it started with "From one of the most beloved novels of our time...", and I thought "beloved"? The Kite Runner could be described in many ways, but beloved is not a word I would choose. Then the brouhaha about the boys who appear in the film having to flee their country because their families feared for some retribution for the rape scene they participate in really made me angry. It also made me angry that the father of one of the boys said that he only let his son be in the movie because he thought that scene wouldn't be included. Huh? It's only pivotal to the whole story!

Note: plot spoilers in following paragraph.

Lastly, although I thought that the imagery was beautiful in the book, and the characters were compelling, I didn't actually enjoy The Kite Runner as much as others around me did. I actually found the plot a little contrived. When the main character seeks redemption by going to Afghanistan to rescue his friend's son, he not only finds the orphan in the war-torn country, but the biggest impediment that he faces is the very same nemesis he couldn't confront as a child. It didn't work for me, and I have to say that I really didn't like the ending of the book at all. The slight glimmer of hope we were given at the very end didn't counterbalance all of that despair.

So, the answer to your question, for me, is no, I don't plan to see it.