Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini, the writer of The Kite Runner, wrote an amazing book called A Thousand Splendid Suns. When I was first assigned this seemingly mediocre novel, my exhaustion and boredom exposed themselves through my unhappy face. "Why do we have to read another novel?" I asked myself. Although the last book assigned was decent, I was dubious about this one. The clay houses on the cover and background of the war in Afghanistan could only prove to be a novel that would drag its feet through the pages. By the end of the week, I knew if I had not yet torn the novel to pieces, someone else would do it for me. Strangely enough, as I reading, one page had not managed to tear itself apart.
Ironically, this novel, indeed, fulfills its reputation for being “splendid.” Little did I know that this novel would boggle my mind, presenting a vision of how the world really expresses life. I always thought that Afghanistan and Iraq were all melodramatic about their horrors, their sufferings. Until I read this novel, I had no idea that life in Afghanistan was very real and similar to how the media presented its war. Mariam, an impoverished young virgin girl, loses her mother to suicide and her father from shame. Laila has her home blown up by a stray RPG missile and even more, her love, Tariq, has left to keep his father in health. Both of these women have nothing coming for them. They have no hope or future; they only have their own hands to desperately grasp onto life.