A Thousand Splendid Suns 3

Phew! That was crazy. I feel like I was in that book and watched everything happen before my eyes. Has that ever happened to you? Well it can make you feel pretty weird when you get out of it. It’s just so sad. All of the destruction. I mean, right now I just feel numb. I really loved the last few pages. It was like a whole new stage in the book. After all of the tragedy in the story, they return to Kabul and rebuild. There is a numb happiness, but there is still the ache of the past losses. Hosseini writes, “But Laila has decided that she will not be crippled by resentment. Mariam wouldn't want it that way. What’s the sense? she would say with a smile both innocent and wise. What good is it Laila jo? And so Laila has resigned herself to moving on. For her own sake, for Tariq’s, for her children’s. And for Mariam, who still visits Laila in her dreams, who is never more than a breath of two below her consciousness. Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope”(Hosseini 363). I felt like I was the one mourning over Mariam’s death and realized that all I could do was move on. There is always destruction, but all we can do is look to the future and give thanks for what was there and what will be.

I really put myself in Laila’s shoes throughout the story, and it really helped me understand the relationships between her and others. Mariam became a mother figure to her, and she doesn't even correct someone at the end of the book who thinks she is Mariam’s daughter. Its sort of ironic and amazing how, even though she was unable to have children, she became the most prominent mother figure throughout the book.

I was very surprised when Mariam was executed, that was heavy stuff. It was almost beautiful (is that weird to say?) when Mariam decided she wanted to be turned in. She knew it was what she had to do. She only wished she could turn back in her last moments when it was too late, which showed the weaker innocent side of her. She is a very interesting character, and I found it comforting to read her decisions and actions.  Everything became numb and slowed down after that part.

Overall: really good book, just don’t read it if you are very touchy because you will probably ruin the book with your tears. Just kidding, but it is very heavy. Thanks for reading!

A Thousand Splendid Suns 2

This book is amazing. It is very entertaining and speaks to me through a perspective that I am unfamiliar with. I have just reached the point where Laila and Mariam have accepted each other as wives of Rasheed and become allies, possibly even friends. To me, this book is mostly about two girls who have lost their families and have no one that they love or who loves them, but they manage to become family of one another.

The point when I think that the girls finally come to lighten up towards one another is through Laila’s daughter Aziza. The author writes, “Mariam had the impression that the baby too was examining her. She was lying on her back, her head tilted sideways, looking at Mariam intently with a mixture of amusement, confusion, and suspicion. Marium wondered if hace might frighten her, but then the baby squealed happily and Mariam knew that a favorable judgement had been passed”( Hosseini 217). Mariam has a slight resentment towards Laila since she is unable to have children while Laila is, and Laila is the second wife of her husband. Once the baby shows this friendship towards Mariam, it kind of breaks the wall and allows her to open up to Laila and to understand her. I think the child Aziza represents peace in the story. Almost everything in the book so far has been destroyed or killed, and there is a war going on. Aziza is the only person that has created something: a relationship. Other characters, which will take too long to explain, such as Jalil (Mariam’s father) and Rasheed (Mariam and Laila’s husband) represent destruction, and Nana (Mariam’s mother) represents the anger in response to destruction, but the inability to fix it. Babi (Laila’s father) and Mullah Faizullah (a man who lived near Marium) represent wisdom, and Tariq (Laila’s love interest) and JalilI (again) represent  hope, even if it might be false. I just realized that both Mariam and Laila have the same roles in their life (the destroyer, the anger, etc.) and when all of that disappears they both end up in the same place.

I'm sorry if that speedy little realization at the end of the last paragraph didn't make any sense to you, but it did to me, and it probably will if you read the book. This book is very sad, though it is a very good read. I was surprised that it lingered so long on the back stories of both female protagonists, but it allowed me to fully understand the situation and attached me to the characters. Thanks for reading my ramble and stay tuned for my final post on this book!!!  I can’t wait to see what happens!

A Thousand Splendid Suns 1

Just before I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, I found a useful resource of background knowledge about Afghanistan and the time period, which you can find here. The source is meant for a teacher, but I was able to weed out some information and links.

The book starts during the 1960’s and follows the story of a young woman named Mariam who is forced to marry a shoe-maker. In all the synopses I have read, the book revolves around her and another character, Leila, but she has not come into the story yet. The author of the book is Afghan-born so he obviously knows what he is talking about and everything should be authentic. I assume that the story will have something to do with the Soviet war in Afghanistan during the 1970’s and possibly lead up to the Taliban. At first I thought that his occasional use of Arabic words would be confusing but after reading a word used in multiple sentences I am able to figure out what the word means. I'm surprised at how many words I actually knew when I first read a word!

So far I have read about 30 pages of the book and it is very entertaining. From reading the first page or two I was skeptical that I would actually enjoy the book, but little did I realize that I was slowly becoming very interested in it. I am looking forward to reading a story from a different point of view about a different subject.

Kabul

 Kabul
by Saib-e-Tabrizi

An English  translation of the poem that Khaled Hoseini used for the title of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Ah! How beautiful is Kabul encircled by her arid mountains
And Rose, of the trails of thorns she envies
Her gusts of powdered soil, slightly sting my eyes
But I love her, for knowing and loving are born of this same dust

My song exalts her dazzling tulips
And at the beauty of her trees, I blush
How sparkling the water flows from Pul-I-Mastaan!
May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man!

Khizr chose the path to Kabul in order to reach Paradise
For her mountains brought him close to the delights of heaven
From the fort with sprawling walls, A Dragon of protection
Each stone is there more precious than the treasure of Shayagan

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye
Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass
One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers
Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair
Her melodious nightingales, with passion sing their songs
Ardent tunes, as leaves inflamed, cascading from their throats

And I, I sing in the gardens of Jahanara, of Sharbara
And even the trumpets of heaven envy their green pastures