A thousand splendid words on "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

With the publication of his first and only other novel, "The Kite Runner", Khaled Hosseini penetrated the literary scene only 6 years ago. As it rose to the top of the best seller lists, "The Kite Runner" brought Hosseini fame and recognition to American readers. When his highly anticipated follow up book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" was released in 2007, he was confirmed as a significant and unique voice in contemporary fiction. Though I have seen the film adaptation of "The Kite Runner", I haven't read it. I liked the movie though, and when I found "A Thousand Splendid Suns" on sale for $5 at the splendid St. Louis Book Fair, I said 'what the hey?'. Read on:


I suppose the first thing that must be said is that Khaled Hosseini is Afghani. He hales from Afghanistan (go ahead. don't be embarrassed. go look it up and find out where it is. I'll wait...). You might have heard a little something in the news about a war in some obscure country in the middle of Asia. Ring a bell? Well, that's Afghanistan. Trust me, I am no Afghanologist myself. I think most Americans could give a rat's ass about the poor place, and its just so confusing. Well, it turns out that some interesting, sad, and unbelievable things have happened there over the last 50 years. Both of Hosseini's books are based on Afghani people weathering the strange and dramatic twists of their country's history, and this proves to be fairly educational to the reader.

Afghanistan is one of those pitiable victims of the Age of Superpowers. As it is located at the crux of the world, the place has ebbed and flowed on the whim of conquerors for millennia. It's not really a new thing, but the political unrest that has plagued the nation since the Soviets invaded during the Cold War has proved extraordinarily damaging. Afghanistan's people, economy, agriculture, culture, and history have all suffered tremendously as the country has been abandoned and conquered by horrific forces these past decades. Though I can't say I understood or remembered all of the factoids about the country's history that Hosseini dumps into this novel, I can say that the historical knowledge and context that he gives us enhances the appeal of this book greatly. It was a critical aspect to the book, in my opinion.

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" is the intertwined tales of two Afghani women that follow different paths in life, both equally brutal. As the Communists leave the country and the power vacuum is filled with increasingly archaic and draconian rulers, their lives and their country spiral down in a double helix of horror. Oppressive phallocentrism, fascist dogma, misogyny, injustice, and a sense of international invisibility plague the lives of these people. Through the characters' sad lives and their crystal clear understanding of their world, this book criticizes all the tragedy that results from their history. The book is a clear statement on women's rights, fanatical religion, the farce of politics, poverty, the significance of history/art, and love.

The story line in this book is riveting, fast moving, and is ready made for a movie. Much like "The Kite Runner," there is a clear intention from the beginning that this is movie material. And I guess that is where my first criticism will take root. As much as I enjoyed it and found insight and beauty in this book, it is clearly a bestselling, page-turning, Hollywood wet dream. At times, I felt like I was reading "The DaVinci Code" or something (sorry Hosseini, I know that was harsh). It doesn't necessarily discredit the book, but it does make the story line more predictable and lessens the literary seriousness of work. Ah, well.

All in all, the book was a gripping, fast, emotional, and compelling read, and I would certainly suggest it to a select portion of my friends and family. If anything, take the 3 hours needed to read it just to find out a little more about the tortured but dignified people of Afghanistan. The book really did help me understand and empathize with their history, and I figure, if my country is bombing a place, I should at least try to learn something about it. Right?

Quote time!!
"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always."

"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls." -from an ancient poem about Kabul

"The only enemy an Afghan cannot defeat is himself."