From the Bookshelf of One N' Done Book Corner…

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

Start date: September 1, 2021

Finish date: September 30, 2021

Discussion: September 2021

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September 2021

September 2021 BOTM - A Thousand Splendid Suns
By La Tonya · 8 posts · 11 views

last updated Oct 07, 2021 08:27PM

September 2021 Book Nominations
By La Tonya · 10 posts · 10 views

last updated Aug 30, 2021 07:03AM

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What Members Thought

Oct 18, 2019 Ankit Saxena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cultural, fiction, marriage, soul-classics, mine, family, 2019, based-on-true-events, world-literature, cultures

It is not the book that you hold in your hands but it's the other way round. The way this book grips you is beyond imagination. Though I have lot of fascination for the books set in middle-east, Afghanistan (specifically) and African Continent, but, still that this is the kind of book that maintains that fascination in me.

“Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami”; this was quite a very unexpected starting from any writer but the way this leads further depict the depth ...more

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Sep 25, 2021 La Tonya Jordan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I am still trying to recover from this excellent read. It is a novel from the headlines of today that was written in 2007. It is a story of Mariam, Laila, and the history of Afghanistan. Mariam was born an harami, a bastard, in a country where this is completely shameful. She is forced to marry at fifteen and spend the next twenty-five years being the wife of a tyrant and not truly knowing her full worth until it was much too late.

Laila, was the daughter of progressive parents, who wanted her e ...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Colleen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-on-the-shelf

Great, moving story, told from the other side. So intricate, lovely characters, and heart breaking challenges of what war and violence does to people. I'm glad he writes the books he does.

Allah on one side Akbar (God is great/er/est) on the other (watermelon split open w/the seeds spelling out the words.

They'll comfort you too, Mariam jo. You can summon them in your time of need, and they won't fail you. God's words will never betray you, my girl.

A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mari ...more

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Aug 19, 2019 Blondish And Bookish rated it really liked it

Through two different paths, two very different women end up as wives to the same man. Both were forced to marry him because of desperation and no other choice. Neither loved him, and both were abused by him.
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a rich man. When her mother hangs herself, Mariam finds out that her father and his wives and children think of her as an inconvenience. Despite being only 15, they quickly marry her off to Rasheed, a man in his middle forties. He’s rough, and smelly, Through two different paths, two very different women end up as wives to the same man. Both were forced to marry him because of desperation and no other choice. Neither loved him, and both were abused by him.
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a rich man. When her mother hangs herself, Mariam finds out that her father and his wives and children think of her as an inconvenience. Despite being only 15, they quickly marry her off to Rasheed, a man in his middle forties. He’s rough, and smelly, and since he’s a “traditional man”, Mariam must wear a burqa on the rare occasions she’s allowed to leave the house.
Laila grows up next door to Tariq, and she loves him and knows she will marry him some day. When she’s 14, Tariq’s family moves away. Then Laila’s family is killed in the bombing, and she finds out that Tariq has also been killed. But before he left, he and Laila had a single night together. When Laila realizes she is orphaned, alone, and pregnant, she accepts Rasheed’s proposal and becomes his second wife.
19 years apart in age, Mariam and Laila start out as enemies but grow close as they are united in their fear of and hatred for Rasheed.
The story is wonderful, and is set against the background of almost nonstop wars in Afghanistan. The treatment of women, the poverty, the desperation, and the helplessness of the people is heartwrenching. Hosseini excels in his ability to tell a beautiful story inside of the bigger history of Afghanistan in the late 20th century. The book kept me on the edge of my seat, and had a very satisfying conclusion.
I recommend this for everyone who loved The Kite Runner, or who loves well written general fiction. I also suggest this for those who enjoy women’s fiction (although not JUST for them—it’s just a great story in general!). And lastly, for anyone who likes history—this is presented in a very entertaining fashion, I didn’t realize how much I had learned about the war in Afghanistan until I was discussing the book with a friend. In the USA we are lucky enough that these bloody battles rarely touch us, it’s good for me to be reminded of how lucky we are, and books like this do a fantastic job. Also, I’m glad I don’t have to wear a burqa!!

...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Fenixbird SandS rated it really liked it

Shelves: cultural-awareness, wanna-buys, others-favorites, fiction

Highly recommended! 5 chapters in and I need a breather (plus a box of Kleenex)...ooooh sooo sad...

(Soldier) Lindsey's recommendation of a "Pulitzer- prize winning worthy" author [Abbrev. theme: 30 years in Afghan.." As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next gene Highly recommended! 5 chapters in and I need a breather (plus a box of Kleenex)...ooooh sooo sad...

(Soldier) Lindsey's recommendation of a "Pulitzer- prize winning worthy" author [Abbrev. theme: 30 years in Afghan.." As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice..."]

This book is written beautifully but portrays a lifestyle that makes one remember why we have human (civil) rights movements. It is heart-breaking to read this book. It is the story of Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of Nana + Jalil.

'Mariam loved having visitors at the kolba. The village arbab & his gifts, Bibi jo & her aching hip & endless gossiping, & of course Mullah Faizullah. But there was no one, no one, that Mariam longed to see more than Jalil. The anxiety set in on Tuesday nights. Mariam would sleep poorly, fretting that some business entanglement would prevent Jalil from coming on Thursday, that she would have to wait a whole other week to see him. On Wednesdays she paced outside around the kolba, tossed chicken feed absentmindedly into the chicken coop...Finally, on Thursdays, all she could do was sit against a wall, eyes glued to the stream, and wait. If Jalil was running late, a terrible dread filled her bit by bit. Her knees would weaken, and she would have to go somewhere and lie down."

"Then Nana would call, "And there he is, your father. In all his glory." Mariam would leap to her feet when she spotted him hopping stones across the stream, all smiles and hearty waves..."

PART 3 opens with the story of childhood friends, Tariq & Laila, arriving at Murree" "...They married that day they arrived in Murree. Saheed...would not have to broach with Tariq the delicate matter of an unmarried couple living in his hotel....Laila looked at their reflection, at faces that had aged beyond their years, at the pouches and lines and sags that now marked their once-scrubbed, youthful faces....That night they lay in bed as husband and wife, as the children snored beneath them in sleeping cots....Laila remembered...when they were younger, the haywire, brisk flow of their speech, always interrupting each other, tugging each other's collar to emphasize a point, the quickness to laugh, the eagerness to delight. So much had happened since those childhood days... That night, it was blessing enough to be beside him..." ...more

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