A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a splendidly written novel. There are two protagonists in this novel: Mariam and Laila. The main antagonist of this novel is Rasheed, Mariam and Laila’s husband. It is divided into four parts. The first focuses solely on Mariam, while the second and fourth on Laila. The third section alternates between Mariam and Laila throughout the chapters. The story is very interesting as it details a general and widespread event or situation with a specific example. This particular situation is the hardships of Afghan people in Afghanistan, especially women, during wars in their country. In this way, the novel chronicles the past 30 years of history almost month by month.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam is shown as being brought up by her mother, Nana, and embittered women in a small village near Herat. It is revealed that Mariam is conceived illegimately by her wealthy father, Jalil. On her fifteenth birthday, her father promised to take her to watch Pinocchio, but he never did. So Mariam went to her father’s house to find him even though her mother told her ‘“I’ll die if you go.”’ When she made her way to her father’s place, he refused to see her. Upon returning to her own home, she found that her mother hanged herself, and immediately regretted her own leaving. Jalil then took her in, but soon forced her into a loveless marriage to the insensitive Rasheed. Childless, Mariam was treated very cruelly by her husband. He constantly insults her : ‘“You know nothing, do you? You’re like a child. Your brain is empty. There is no information in it.”’ As well as often attacking her: ‘he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks’.

During the course of the civil war in Afghanistan, Rasheed and Mariam adopts 14 year old Laila, orphaned by a bomb attack. Laila is an intelligent and beautiful girl who gets caught in an unfortunate series of events. Rasheed soon takes her as a second wife, doting over her. But when she gave birth to a girl, Aziza, Rasheed’s disappointment made him treat Laila like he treated Mariam. In the beginning of Laila’s time with Mariam, Mariam was almost cruel to Laila, reflecting her own treatment. But as time passed they found in each other what society deprived them of, and became very intimate friends.

As the story progressed the tension built up. Mariam, Laila and Aziza were once deprived of food and water for three days by Rasheed after they attempted to escape. This also points to Rasheed immense cruelty and insensitivity. His tyranny was finally ended when ‘Mariam brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had.’ Laila had pleaded with Mariam to run away with her, but she decided to turn herself in. On the last day, Laila told Mariam ‘”You’re the best friend I ever had”’.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is an extraordinary novel. It is very emotional and extremely sad at parts. Although it had a happy ending, we are made to remember the tragic events, how it affects their lives and reflect upon ours. When I read it, I often forgot that a large part of it was set in the late 20^th Century, and some in the 21^st Century. This element made the story more immediate, and thus more shocking. I can say the second last chapter almost made me cry—to me, that is an indication of a well witten book. I would highly recommend it for its content, as well as being a simply good read. As Lev Grossman said in Times, “Suns is a dense, rich, pressure-packed guide to enduring the unendurable.”

-copied from my 2008 wide reading