Inspired by the lines of a poem composed about Kabul by Saeb-e-Tabrizi, a seventeenth-century Persian poet, the title of the book was created;
"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."
"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman."
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini is a painfully explicit story that revolves around two women set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years. It is a remarkable chronicle of two generations over three decades during the destruction and ruin of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.
Khaled Hosseini through this novel has allowed his readers a slight glimpse into the brutal reality of Afghanistan. His descriptions of the devastating lives led by the people of the nation are heart-rending, and their never fading hope to find happiness is inspiring.
When Mariam’s parents got her married to Rasheed, a cruel man who curbs her freedom and believes in the complete domination of women, she is abused physically and verbally every day. Laila, a very attractive girl, loses her family when rockets were carelessly and mercilessly showered at that point of time, and one destroyed her home, killing everyone in it.
Rasheed saves her from the ruins offers to marry her, because she had nobody to protect her.
"A man’s heart isn’t like a woman’s womb, Mariam! It won’t bleed, it won’t make room for you. A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing. I’m all you have in this world, Mariam and when I’m gone, you’ll have nothing. You are nothing!"
However, a tragic twist develops when Laila realizes that she is pregnant with Tariq’s baby, her childhood love. Unfortunate news arrive a Laila’s doorstep that Tariq had been killed in the war.
Mariam and Laila initially are bitter rivals fighting a feeble battle for the better favour of Rasheed, but we see the change in hearts and how their friendship blossoms.
"Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly."
Through his characters, Hosseini explores the fragility and the tenacity of relationships. Of relationships in every form. He illustrates the hope of the success and the dread of failure, which each relationship comes wrapped in. He skillfully exemplifies emotions ruling lives, and emotions ruining it.
Khaled Hosseini has this incredible capacity through his serene writing to bring to life his much-loved Afghanistan and through this the reader witnesses the escalating crumbling of the country through his words. His words even momentarily bring alive the famed Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taliban, now lost forever.
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is about love, hope and the unexpected discovery of inner strength. And above all it is the touching tale of a beautiful bond between two women who, though unrelated by blood, are intimately related by circumstances.
Photo Credit:http: http://www.bordersmedia.com/feature2athousandsplendidsuns/
"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."
"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman."
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini is a painfully explicit story that revolves around two women set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years. It is a remarkable chronicle of two generations over three decades during the destruction and ruin of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.
Khaled Hosseini through this novel has allowed his readers a slight glimpse into the brutal reality of Afghanistan. His descriptions of the devastating lives led by the people of the nation are heart-rending, and their never fading hope to find happiness is inspiring.
When Mariam’s parents got her married to Rasheed, a cruel man who curbs her freedom and believes in the complete domination of women, she is abused physically and verbally every day. Laila, a very attractive girl, loses her family when rockets were carelessly and mercilessly showered at that point of time, and one destroyed her home, killing everyone in it.
Rasheed saves her from the ruins offers to marry her, because she had nobody to protect her.
"A man’s heart isn’t like a woman’s womb, Mariam! It won’t bleed, it won’t make room for you. A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing. I’m all you have in this world, Mariam and when I’m gone, you’ll have nothing. You are nothing!"
However, a tragic twist develops when Laila realizes that she is pregnant with Tariq’s baby, her childhood love. Unfortunate news arrive a Laila’s doorstep that Tariq had been killed in the war.
Mariam and Laila initially are bitter rivals fighting a feeble battle for the better favour of Rasheed, but we see the change in hearts and how their friendship blossoms.
"Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly."
Through his characters, Hosseini explores the fragility and the tenacity of relationships. Of relationships in every form. He illustrates the hope of the success and the dread of failure, which each relationship comes wrapped in. He skillfully exemplifies emotions ruling lives, and emotions ruining it.
Khaled Hosseini has this incredible capacity through his serene writing to bring to life his much-loved Afghanistan and through this the reader witnesses the escalating crumbling of the country through his words. His words even momentarily bring alive the famed Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taliban, now lost forever.
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is about love, hope and the unexpected discovery of inner strength. And above all it is the touching tale of a beautiful bond between two women who, though unrelated by blood, are intimately related by circumstances.
Photo Credit:http: http://www.bordersmedia.com/feature2athousandsplendidsuns/
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