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

Ahsante

I may be trying to get on the good side of Bants and SBB here, but I really want to say thank you for the effort into keeping bookworms alive. And bants (you can translate this into sheng) you are still co-editor!

Now that am back from the bush, and we have two editors, let us try and revive this blog. There was a time I was overwhelmed with reviews, but either watu wameacha kusoma (shudders!) or guys are too busy to send in reviews. But kichwa ngumu mimi shall not give up so here is my request:
Anyone who has read the following books kindly send in a review:

1. The Wangari Maathai book:- Unbowed

2. The Raila Odinga book:

3. The Moi book: Elder statesman (or whatever)

4. The Mandela book: Long walk to freedom

5. The kibaki book? Iko?

Am sure you can see a pattern here. Biographies of famous and infamous people............

There shall be a prize at the end of the biography session!!! So get writing. (pleeeease, they shall close us down if you dont) How is that for blackmail...

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

by Imaculee Ilibagiza

I stumbled upon this book in my quest for interesting memoirs and I must admit I was not disappointed. The book is written from Imaculee's perspective and starts off on a nostalgic note where she is describing her childhood. Her vivid description of the lush Rwandan countryside will make you long to visit shagz. The first few chapters suck you right in and this lays the groundwork of how deep an emotion you'll feel for the rest of the book. It's pretty obvious that she had a happy childhood, but was also very sheltered and mostly unaware of the political climate in the country. Therefore, when she wakes up one morning and Hutus are suddenly butchering Tutsis with machetes, it takes you by total surprise and you're right there with her wondering what the hell is going on.

The rest of the book takes you through the long, awful days spent in hiding with seven other Tutsi women in a tiny little bathroom that belongs to a Hutu pastor. I read the book while holding my breath and felt as though I were in that bathroom with her, willing those Hutus that are looking for her to disappear. How they all survive until the end of the genocide is truly remarkable and Imaculee's own intelligence and quick thinking is evident. There are many vivid descriptions in the book that will stay with you long after you've put the book down. Mine is the one where her oldest brother's head is split in half because the perpetrators wanted to see what "the brain of a person with a Masters degree looks like".

Overall, the book is well written and gripping enough to make you want to read it nonstop. However, this is a very personal representation of history and if you're like me, you will end up with a lot of unanswered questions when you turn the last page. It was not until after I'd read the book and was busy recommending it to everyone I knew that I found out her story has been featured on Oprah and a few other places, so many people are probably familiar with the story. But, it's worth a read. It's a testimony to how truly animalistic humans can be, but it is also a testament to the strength of the human mind and how hope and faith can help you survive trauma.

Overall, the book is well written and gripping enough to make you want to read it nonstop. However, this is a very personal representation of history and if you're like me, you will end up with a lot of unanswered questions when you turn the last page. It was not until after I'd read the book and was busy recommending it to everyone I knew that I found out her story has been featured on Oprah and a few other places, so many people are probably familiar with the story. But, it's worth a read. It's a testimony to how truly animalistic humans can be, but it is also a testament to the strength of the human mind and how hope and faith can help you survive trauma.


~SBB~