A Thousand Splendid Suns

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Genre: Fiction/Drama
Language: English

Published: 2007, Penguin

*SPOILER ALERT*

I read this book recently although I knew it was published when I was in high school. At first, I was too scared to read it because my friend told me that it was heart breaking. I'm not really fond of heart-breaking sad stories. I like books which can make me feel cheerful, peaceful, and vivid. But, I was curious, so I grabbed this from my campus library.

This book consists of four parts. The early parts told about two women separately and the last parts told  when finally they interact and live together. They are Mariam and Laila. 

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Mariam was a little girl who lived with his mother on the outskirt of Herat in Afghanistan. When her mother was angry, she would call her harami, a cruel way to call a premarital child. Mariam loved his father. He occasionally visits Mariam and they would spend time fishing, telling stories, and coloring. Mariam loved how he treated her. But, her mother was worried that Mariam would abandon her and choose her father. A tragedy happened. Long story short, Mariam's mother committed suicide. Fifteen-year-old Mariam was forced to get married with Rasheed, a shoemaker in his forties.

Laila was 19 years younger than Mariam. They lived in the same neighborhood. Laila was a beautiful girl, born in educated family. She had a childhood friend, Tariq, who always protected her. During the war in 1990s, the situation was dangerous. Bombs, gunshots, were everywhere. Laila's brothers were killed in the war. Tariq and his family were planning to go to refugee camp in Pakistan. When he was saying goodbye to Mariam, they became so emotional and couldn't control their desire. Later, Laila's family were killed when they are preparing to leave Afghanistan. Laila was alone. Later, she found out that she was pregnant. She had nowhere to go. That was why she accepted to become Rasheed's second wife.

The story continued as Mariam and Laila lived under the same roof. At first, Mariam couldn't accept Mariam, but gradually she liked her companion. Mariam was constantly abused by Rasheed. Laila gave birth to her baby girl. Rasheed was suspicious that he wasn't the father. Then, Laila got abused too. Wars still continued. At first the enemy was from outside, but then the Afghans were fighting among themselves. When the Taliban ruled, women were banned from schools. They had to be accompanied by male relatives when they were going outside. Mariam and Laila  planned to escaped, but they failed and sent back to their home. Rashed  was angry. After some arguments, fights, Mariam had to kill Rasheed to save their lives. It was not the end.

*

This book really broke my heart. The setting of this book is around 1970s to 2000s. It was painful to think that in other part of the world, women didn't have access to education, women were enslaved, the war roared, families were torn apart. But, remember, this book is a novel. We have to keep in my mind that although some historical background may be true, we should not generalize the condition of Afghanistan based on this book. Khaled Hosseini has moved to US before any of the incidents in the story background happened. He has lived in US for 30 years, so I doubt that all of his portraying of Afghanistan was accurate.

 

Also, I'm afraid that this book may bring misinterpretation about Islam. I am a Muslim, and I feel uncomfortable reading this book as it gives bad image on Islam, especially about Muslims lives, jihad, hijab, polygamy. He portrayed them very far from the truth. Therefore, please be wise and don't stereotype the Afghanistan and Islam based on this fiction novel. As a novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a beautifully written piece. I couldn't put down this book although the story was very depressing. But, it will be better if the author put some effort to portray a balance, so this novel wouldn't give false message to the readers.