I choose to read A Thousand Splendid Suns because I have heard nothing but praise for Khaled Hosseini. I can not even put into words how captivating this novel is. It consumed my life for three days. Every night I could not wait to get home to pick up where I left off. It is a beautiful story of hardships, coping, destruction and through it all: hope.
This is story set in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Through that small time frame a lot happened in this country. Different rulers came and went, leaders were assassinated, towns destroyed, innocent civilians killed and hearts broken. The novel is centered around two women, Mariam and Laila. I do not want to go into too much detail without giving spoilers. But in a nutshell, Mariam and Laila share a husband. At first Mariam feels resentment towards Laila because she has no intentions of sharing Rasheed (husband). What comes next is unexpected, yet it will last forever, Laila and Mariam find an unbreakable bond. They rely on each other to make it through the day, the week, the year. Together they deal with Rasheed's outbursts and beatings. They deal with what it means to be a woman in Afghanistan. And they deal with hardships no mother would want to go through. Somehow, through it all, they find hope.
Just when you think Hosseini is done toying with your emotions, he does it again. He will make you laugh, cry, have empathy, allow you to find hope and in the end makes you realize what it means to be human. He reminds how all humans want the same things, and no matter the circumstances all humans are beyond resilient. He forces you to realize that everything that happens in life, good or bad, still advances life forward and no matter the situation you are dealt, there is always hope for those who keep pushing forward.
This is story set in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Through that small time frame a lot happened in this country. Different rulers came and went, leaders were assassinated, towns destroyed, innocent civilians killed and hearts broken. The novel is centered around two women, Mariam and Laila. I do not want to go into too much detail without giving spoilers. But in a nutshell, Mariam and Laila share a husband. At first Mariam feels resentment towards Laila because she has no intentions of sharing Rasheed (husband). What comes next is unexpected, yet it will last forever, Laila and Mariam find an unbreakable bond. They rely on each other to make it through the day, the week, the year. Together they deal with Rasheed's outbursts and beatings. They deal with what it means to be a woman in Afghanistan. And they deal with hardships no mother would want to go through. Somehow, through it all, they find hope.
Just when you think Hosseini is done toying with your emotions, he does it again. He will make you laugh, cry, have empathy, allow you to find hope and in the end makes you realize what it means to be human. He reminds how all humans want the same things, and no matter the circumstances all humans are beyond resilient. He forces you to realize that everything that happens in life, good or bad, still advances life forward and no matter the situation you are dealt, there is always hope for those who keep pushing forward.
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