“A Thousand Splendid Suns” : Khaled Hosseini

First and foremost, it’s imperative that I thank Sukriti Gandhi for recommending this book to me. It was a perfect way to reboot my romance with books.

In essence, this book tells the story of 2 Afghan women – Mariam and Laila. It picks up their stories from a time when they were still young children, and follows it past marriage. Of course, it would be imprudent to relate further details about the plot and characters, but it would be apt to inform a prospective reader that the plot is such that the end of a chapter is not incentive enough to put the book away for another time. There are innumerable deftly etched characters – some of which come and go, some which persist throughout the storyline of the book. But one thing is for certain – it’s difficult to forget any one of them.

 

The book is mainly set in the turbulent past of Afghanistan, one of the countries which has seen more than its fair share of war, communal violence and more. More specifically, it focuses on the treatment meted out to Afghan women. Yes, it does give a rather one-sided account of the whole matter – preferring to let the successful(?), urban Afghan woman languish in the sidelines, but then, the book doesn’t intend to capture their lives. It attempts to capture the lives of Mariam and Laila, and the injustices and torture – both mental and physical, that they are made to endure, which though may seem alien and unimaginable to a non-Afghan, urban reader such as myself – which are still very much a reality in several parts of the world. The books captures in vivid detail all of these excesses.

Khaled Hosseini is really just two books old – with his first being Kite Runner, a book that I plan on reading soon. He spent a few years in Iran before his family moved to North America. Nevertheless, he has done some work with UNHCR, the UN human refugee agency, so I assume he has had enough hands-on experience and first-hand stories to tell. Although there may not be anything spectacular about the literary style, but the way Pharsi and Urdu words are liberally used in the narrative and the dialogues are a gentle reminder to a non-Afghan, non-oppressed reader that this is a different world, one that exists, and the story of which needs more telling. But the variety of locations, the detailing provided by Hosseini speaks volumes of his capability to create an immersive read that a patient reader should have no problem envisioning in its entirety. The perspective that it offers to the happenings inside a mostly orthodox Muslim household and the suddenness with which war can shatter lives and families is something that most of us will be fortunate never to experience. But to ignore all of this would be a sin in itself.

And you can’t help but empathize with the two female protagonists as the story progresses. The book does a great job of explaining how they are socially ostracized, mostly for no fault of their own. The book talks about friendship, love, relationships, war, the human spirit among other things, and there can be no doubt that this is a riveting read that should leave even the most passive of readers spellbound during the course of the read. I look forward to picking up Kite Runner on my next trip to BCL.