A Timely Tear-Jerker: A Thousand Splendid Suns Review
If you’re looking for a book packed with raw emotion, love, and relationships all tied together with historical events based on the war in Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the perfect book for you. This masterpiece of a book is written by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner (a book I’m sure many of you avid readers out there are quite familiar with). While this book was published in 2007, its profound impact has influenced and educated many people and generations before and following its publication.
This book revolves around the lives of two women who grew up during different time periods in Kabul, Afghanistan: Mariam and Laila. It’s split into four parts. The first part introduces Mariam and her mother living in Kabul in the 1950s, growing up in a small hut away from her wealthy and prominent father, Jalil, and his separate family. Following a family tragedy, Mariam is forced to marry a man about thirty years older than her, at the mere age of fifteen. The rest of Part One follows Mariam’s life and marriage with her forced husband, Rasheed, and mentions a woman named Fariba (who helps Mariam through a miscarriage). Fariba has a daughter named Laila during the overthrow of the Afghan government and the book enters Part Two, which follows Laila’s early life growing up in Kabul in the 1970s. To avoid any massive spoilers, by Part Three, Mariam and Laila’s lives are now connected and the story follows their journey to survive an abusive relationship, war, and reign of the Taliban and constant violence simultaneously. As the book reaches Part Four, the point of view switches to Laila and her plans to continue life and expand her legacy.
In all honesty, this book was quite a challenge to read for two primary reasons. One is that it becomes a little confusing to follow the war in Afghanistan and which parties/groups of people overthrow who if you haven’t already acquired prior information about this war. However, it was extremely educational and opened up a broader interest in me about the history of the war in Afghanistan and its effects on the modern world. The second reason is due to the ugly truth behind the Taliban regime, their enforcement of overbearingly strict laws, and the way the women are treated in the book. I typically never cry when reading books, but this one certainly did it for me. It was such a powerful read and so emotionally written that it was enough to make me cry. The writing is absolutely beautiful and phenomenal, but I do think there should be a level of fair warning for some people prior to reading this book given the sensitive topics it covers along with very detailed, graphic scenes.
While many parts of the book became overwhelming at times, I believe the journey that the characters embark on—tied with the accurate depiction of reality for many of the women during that time—makes this book exceptional. It is a piece of work that will live on for centuries and is certainly not forgettable. The experiences carry an extensive weight and the education gained from reading A Thousand Splendid Suns is priceless, making reading this book truly worthwhile.
