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A Thousand Splendid Suns by: Khaled Hosseini

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Rating: - This time from the womans point of view

As many have probably done I purchased this book as I had previously enjoyed Kite Runner. As Kite Runner was such a run away success this book had a lot to live up to and I must say I wasnt disappointed.
I enjoyed the book because it was told this time from the womens point of view. It shows the struggles women face in Afganistan during conflict and this wont spoil the book by saying that the villagers rejoiced when the Taliban came. Its so hard to see the Taliban in this way and I feel that I have a greater understanding having read this. Rasheed was a truly dreadful charactor and this was so well written that he was really brought alive for me.
When you read of the womens plight you may be forgiven for thinking this must be set long long ago, but this book is pretty much set in the 1990's and this fact makes the book all the more shocking as a result. Very informative of a country that was little understood to me and although very moving and sad in parts I feel better for having read it.
A great read.

Rating: - A must read novel.

This novel was a rather thought provoking and at times, rather harrowing narrative. The two female protagonists find strength not only in each other, but also in themselves in order to overcome a variety of obstacles. The women's story is one of strength in the face of advirsity and I found it impossible to put down. Although this is very far removed from my 'normal' reading material, I had promised a friend, somewhat begrudgingly that I would in fact read it so that he had someone to talk to about it(it had had a huge impact on him). I am very glad I did. The novel is both challenging and uplifting. I would recommend this to most people, regardless of whether they think it's for them or not.

Rating: - Best recommendation

This is a very well written book about two women, raised in different backgrounds and brought together through marriage to the same man.

An important point in this book demonstrates how differences can be erased when working together as a team. This occurs when Mariam and Laila (wives) become friends.

Their suffering at the hands of a man, their husband Rasheed, is realistic even though this book is fictional. I would recommend this book to everyone and especially people who work in; Social Services, Police, Women's Refuge and Child Protection. Anyone studying Social Sciences may also find this book useful as an example of mysogyny.

Can Rasheed really be blamed for his actions? He cannot be exhonerated, but his beliefs and upbringing tell him this is right, this is how women and children are to be treated. How many men, like Rasheed (globally) lose out on love, caring and sharing? Their violence and results of their violence cannot make them a happy person. No God would say this is how women and children should live.

The book was deeply enthralling, each page needs to be read and putting down the book was very difficult. I do not want to reveal too much of the plot, as this will spoil the reading.

Living with constant war, raised through war, death permiating one's whole life is unimaginalable for many British people. Added to this, is the living in fear of one's own husband; degraded and devalued for being a woman, weaker and dependent. A regime where there is no support for women. This later part being familiar to many women and children on a global basis, irrespective of the Country they reside in. Britain was equally as cruel where women were concerned until laws changed in 1974 and in 2009 there are many area's where women still suffer and have no support.

Khaled Hosseini writes through the eyes of a woman and a child, which is a rare special gift. It is this gift that he has shared which I hope will enbale his readers to stop and think about other's, if only for the duration of the book. I beleive this book, once read will reach millions of hearts and hopefully bring a greater understand of war and suffering.

Thank you, Khaled for this poignant book and educating me about the plight's of Afghanistan and the Nation.

Rating: - Superb and realistic!

Khaled Hosseini gives a riveting portrait of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present day. The story revolves around two women who are forced to marry the same abusive man, Rasheed, namely Mariam, an illegitimate girl who longs for her father's love and Laila, a beautiful woman who loves her childhood friend Tariq. Both women witness regime changes, bombings, executions, droughts, diseases and marital problems. Thanks to their friendship and love, they find a certain happiness in spite of all the dramas.
I would have preferred a happier ending to the story and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by how things turned out, but this is life sometimes. This is a very poignant and realistic story.

Joyce Akesson, author of Love's Thrilling Dimensions and The Invitation

Rating: - Very good but not great

Make no mistake, this is a very very good book. It is touching, harrowing and ultimately uplifting and is therefore to be thoroughly recommended.

It tells the story of two Afghan women. The elder, Mariam, grows up in isolation as the illegitimate child of a wealthy businessman whom she mistakenly idolises and who eventually gives her away as a child bride to the hard and bitter Rashid. In contrast, Leila is the beloved child of educated parents who shares an idyllic upbringing with her childhood sweethreat, Tariq. In some ways the two women's lives seem to be symbols for an old and a modern Afghanistan, both of which are swept away by war and invasion.

As conflict and chaos come to the country through revolution, (Russian) invasion, civil war and eventually the rise of the Taliban, the two women are thrown together. Initially enemies, a deep and moving friendship grows between them as both are horrendously oppressed by the tyrannical Rashid.

There is much to commend this book, the fluid writing style, the evocative sense of location, and some extremely moving moments. Mariam's eventual fate genuinely evoked tears in this reader. It is also a better book than its predecssor, the Kite Runner. I found the earlier work to be rather uneven, with a literary novel descending into a pot boiler of a thriller. This is a much more consistent and maturer work.

And yet, there is something in Hosseini's work which leaves me cold. Firsly I find his characterisation unsubtle and rather lacking in shade. For example Rashid is too much the hard hearted villain, while Tariq is too much the knight in shining armour. Secondly I find the style almost manipulative. "OK, things seem to be going well for the heroine in this chapter, the author must be building her up for a fall in the next few pages, and whoops, there we go"

Those sound like damning criticisms, they shouldn't be taken as such. They are fairly minor, its just looking for explanation of why I'm not absolutely raving about what is after all a very good, and fully recommended novel.

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