Boy, that Khaled Hosseini must be a lot of fun at dinner parties. I love The Kite Runner, but I felt that I needed about 12 therapy sessions once I finished it. At least with A Thousand Splendid Suns, I think I only need 6 therapy sessions.
This is an excellent book, although not quite as excellent as The Kite Runner. It centers around the relationship of two women, Mariam and Laila, who are married to the same abusive man. The story is set against the turmoil of afghanistan from the 80's until the early 2000's--fun times, indeed.
When I first heard about the story line, my first thought was, "Big Love, Taliban style." But it's nothing like that. At the risk of sounding too trite and cliche, it's the story of the triumph of the human spirit (I warned you, trite and cliche!). It's not a pleasant book by any means, although it is an easier read in those terms that The Kite Runner. And, unlike The Kite Runner, the protaganists are actually likeable and you don't spend the entire book hoping they get a door in the face (which they actually do get in this book) or walk out in public with their fly open (which does not happen--I don't think burqas have zippers).
One thing that truly hit, that did not in The Kite Runner, was the living conditions in Kabul. I would read pages and pages, thinking that this is something that happened ages ago, when all of a sudden people are watching bootlegged copies of Titanic and going ga ga over Leonardo diCaprio. I think that Hosseini's greatest gift is not necessarily his stories, as excellent as they may be, but his ability to open the eyes of Western Society to the hell that was, and may still be, Afghanistan.
My verdict...read it. Don't wait for the paperback copy.
Now, I'm off to read something a little less taxing...like chick lit.
This is an excellent book, although not quite as excellent as The Kite Runner. It centers around the relationship of two women, Mariam and Laila, who are married to the same abusive man. The story is set against the turmoil of afghanistan from the 80's until the early 2000's--fun times, indeed.
When I first heard about the story line, my first thought was, "Big Love, Taliban style." But it's nothing like that. At the risk of sounding too trite and cliche, it's the story of the triumph of the human spirit (I warned you, trite and cliche!). It's not a pleasant book by any means, although it is an easier read in those terms that The Kite Runner. And, unlike The Kite Runner, the protaganists are actually likeable and you don't spend the entire book hoping they get a door in the face (which they actually do get in this book) or walk out in public with their fly open (which does not happen--I don't think burqas have zippers).
One thing that truly hit, that did not in The Kite Runner, was the living conditions in Kabul. I would read pages and pages, thinking that this is something that happened ages ago, when all of a sudden people are watching bootlegged copies of Titanic and going ga ga over Leonardo diCaprio. I think that Hosseini's greatest gift is not necessarily his stories, as excellent as they may be, but his ability to open the eyes of Western Society to the hell that was, and may still be, Afghanistan.
My verdict...read it. Don't wait for the paperback copy.
Now, I'm off to read something a little less taxing...like chick lit.
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