A thousand Splendid Suns

(swiftly ignoring the elephant in the room)

Bants swore to me that this time we shall be good editors and keep bookworms going! So to kick it off I will do a review of a book I just finished!

Khaled Hosseini










I must confess that I normally hate books that deal with oppression because they make me angry on one hand and on the other am like "soo done" we have read too many of them. But A thousand splendid suns is a beautifully written book about an illegitimate girl in Afghanistan who is married off to an old man (who else) after her single mother commits suicide - because of her! The story follows the girl as she adjusts to life in Kabul and marriage and eventually being replaced in the affection (and hatred) of her husband by another unfortunate young girl who is not only orphaned by the war but is also.............I actually refuse to say what couz it will spoil the story for you if you decide to read it. The book has a bitter sweet ending.

Half way through the book I felt like flinging it away due to the intense hatred I felt towards one of the characters!

Without spoiling the ending and the story I must say that I had not read Kite runner (by the same author) but after I finished this one I had to look for kite runner. Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant writer who makes the reader feel an attachment and/or hatred to atleast one or all of the characters. Reading any of his books, you are guaranteed to have your heartstrings pulled at! I should however point out that Khaled has a way of bringing in the Taliban war without making the whole story about it, which is brilliant and annoying at the same time. Annoying because we know about the war already and dont need to hear any more about it; but brilliant because its inescapable forcing him to find a way to write it into the story.

Verdict: One day I read it with one eye closed on account of the amount of alcohol in my system! Thats how good the book is! If you can get it, Please read it...
Okay over to you bants