Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very moving story which could change your life.
This is a work of fiction which is beautifully woven using many threads of both harsh and loving reality. I cannot believe that it could be possible for any reader to get through this book without shedding a tear. I shed many.
It is about the collision of the life-paths of two women who come from very different family backgrounds, but become the wives of the same, cruel husband in Kabul. They form an unlikely, strong, and loving, alliance.
The story takes us through over three decades of recent Afghan history, through the many ruling regimes and conflicts during those times, and the consequences of what is termed as collateral damage suffered by many during the battles between the many factions involved.
You must read this book. For those who are familiar with many of the cultural and individual personality variations to be found in all the peoples of the world, you will still discover more amongst these pages. For those who believe the single, simplistic view of Muslim society that the western media portray, this book will be a huge revelation. However, many of those people would rather bury their heads in the sand. Those people should overcome their fear, and drag themselves into the opening pages of this book. I can guarantee that they will be quickly captivated, and they will soon be shedding tears with the rest of us.
Original review posted in Goodreads in December 2012
