Customer Reviews
An Afghani `War And Peace' That Promises To Be One of 2007's Best Novels - By: John Kwok, 30 Sep 2008 
Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a genuine instant literary classic, & one destined to be remembered as one of 2007's best novels. It should be compared favorably to such legendary Russian novels like "War & Peace" & "Doctor Zhivago". And yet it is ironic to compare Hosseini's latest novel to such classic works written by Tolstoy & Pasternak, especiallyin light of their country's recent sordid history with Afghanistan, Hosseini's country of birth. However, I believe that this comparison is most apt, since he joins themin recounting most vividly, an intense, horrific periodin his homeland's recent history, which shows no immediate prospect yet of a peaceful resolution. Hosseini also demonstrates that he is both a literary master of exquisite detail & dialogue which so easily reminds me of Salman Rushdie's extraordinary literary skills; these are demonstrated most notablyin his great early novel "Midnight's Children". Indeed Hosseini, like Rushdie, is yet another South Asian writer committed to writing great novelsin the English language, demonstrating once more the Indian subcontinent's rapid ascendancy as an important source of original first-rate English language literature. Fans of "The Kite Runner", his critically acclaimed literary debut, will rejoice after reading his second novel, & share my observation that he has become one of our most compelling writers of contemporary fiction.
Afghanistan's tumultuous, tragic recent history is toldin riveting, exquisite detail by Hosseini, which is seen through the eyes of two extraordinary young intelligent women. We are introduced first to Mariam, the harami (bastard) daughter of wealthy Jalil Khan, a prominent Herat businessman, & his servant, Nana. And then later, but still early onin the novel, we will meet Laila, the youngest child of Babi & Fariba, both members of Kabul's early 1970s educated middle class. Mariam's heart-wrenching effortsin trying to gain her father's acceptance as his legitimate daughter lead unexpectedly to personal tragedy & a new life as the wife of Rasheed, an elderly Kabul shoemaker. Against her own free-spirited will, & inquisitive nature, Mariam reluctantly submits to age-old Islamic Afghani customs even as she realizes that some fellow Afghani women - Khan's legitimate daughters from his three wives - are acquiring a Western-oriented educated lifestylein the provincial city of Herat. In Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, the relatively illiterate, young Mariam soon finds some solacein a brief, tenuous friendship with the older Fariba. Fariba's husband Babi is a Kabul University-educated former teacher fully conversantin both traditional Afghani literature & Western civilization. When Kabul erupts into a bloody civil war soon after the fall of its Communist regime, Babi will teach their daughter Laila both modern Western mathematics & medieval Afghani poetry at home; its war-ravaged streets permanently ending her attendance at a local Western-oriented primary school.
Hosseini has cleverly compared & contrasted traditional Islamic Afghani customs with Western civilized values, especially with respect to women, through the unexpected metamorphosis of Laila's character from a free-spirited, intelligent school girl to a tradition-bound Afghani bride, as Rasheed's second wife, forced into this arrangement by both a romantic farewell tryst with Tariq, her childhood best friend & lover, & a personal tragedy brought on by a vicious civil war on the streets of Kabul between rival Afghani tribal warlords. Eventually she will find a soul mate & a friendin the older Mariam, both realizing that they've become virtual slaves to their older husband, who is all too willing to hide behind fundamentalist Islamic tradition as he makes their lives within his household a living embodiment of Hell.
Nearly fifty years of tumultuous, often bloody, Afghani history are describedin graphic detail via Hosseini's elegant, poetic prose. The 1973 coup d'etat against the Afghani monarchy, led by a member of the royal family, is followed five years later by another coup against the self-proclaimed president for life, leading inexorably to a Communist regime & the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The relatively tranquil Soviet occupation, & then later, evacuation of Kabul is succeeded by the bloody civil war amongst warlords, & the subsequent rise & fall of the Taliban regime. All of these events are interwoven neatly by Hosseini into the tragic lives of his two heroines. And yet, as readers will find out eventually, not all is lostin the mutually entangled lives of torment & pain for these two women, since Hosseni does end his novel on a hopeful, indeed triumphant, note. A triumphant note that is most worthy for a novel which successfully carries through the ambitious literary scope of Hosseni's fictionalized recent history of Afghanistan, muchin the same fashion as his literary predecessors Tolstoy & Pasternak. A splendid 21st Century novel that is most worthy of comparison to "War & Peace" & "Doctor Zhivago".
I can't put this book down! - By: Ms. L. Mcnally, 27 Jul 2008 I got this book yesterday afternoon & I have already read 34 chapters out of 51! I have told friends about it & even convinced one friend to buy The Kite Runner & read it so that we can both swap them overin a couple of weeks. After one night with this book,I have transformed from a person who never reads to a person who initiates book clubs.
broke my heart - By: K. S. Jackson, 18 Jul 2008 Being a chick lit girl all my life, i was never interestedin harsh reality books, i wanted the fairytale, where i could drift away, happy knowing my heroine would get the guy. That is until i read A thousand spendid suns. I had never read The Kite Runner, & knew little of the author but just reading the back of the book alone was enough to change my ways. Straight away i was drawn into the book, & i couldnt put it down once i picked it up. I found it incredibly difficult to stop at the end of each chapter & for a few nights i ended up getting just 4 hours sleep!It seems i couldnt stop until exhaustion rendered me completely useless! The story about the lives of these two womenin war-torn afghanistan really opened my eyes & the fact that it is all so very real makes it all the more heart wrenching. I have never cried so much over an ending of a book before & am now on everyones most annoying lists both at home & at work, not just bacause i cant stop talking about it but because i keep recommending it to everyone who will listen! For anyone who doesnt want to read this book because 'its not your type of thing' do yourself a favor, if theres one book that will change your mind, & your outlook on life, its this one.
Fantastic, sad, and eye opening - By: Ahmed, 03 May 2008 I have read The Kite Runnerin 3 sittings & was leftin a daze for days. As soon as I heard of this book by the same author I got my hands on this to fill the void left by the Kite Runner. It is addictive to read & I had to finish it to find out what happened at the end. I was left saddened & felt that I was going through a mourning process as the characters have left an effect on me. It is extremely sad that what women go throughin this story is taking place stillin reality, especiallyin this day & age.
Khaled Hosseini is a fantastic author & I hope he writes many more books to show the world what the people of Afghanistan are really going through because of war.
Fantastic Read - By: H. V. L. Sheppard, 15 Mar 2008 Loved it, & have passed it on or bought it for almost all the people I know.
