Thousand Splendid Suns.. Splendid Read!!!


Once again I read the book of Khaled Hosseini, and again he has done a splendid job. Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is emotional & touching book. It takes you to the time where Afghanistan as a country struggles to keep their religion intact. The book covers time from Russian invasion to Mujahideen’s battle to the emergency of Taliban. The story revolves around two women, both with different background, come together and support each other in life’s ups & down.

The two women are Mariam and Laila. Mariam, girl to bitter mother & disloyal father, is forced to marry Rasheed, shoemaker in Kabul after her mother’s suicide. Rasheed is very brutal and violent in nature who takes out his anger on Mariam every time especially after Marian failed to give him a child. Laila on the other hand is born to modern & educated family. She is brought up in an environment where education to girl child is important. She also has love interest in neighbor’s boy name Tariq. Soon after her parents death & separation from Tariq leads her to marry Rasheed. Later Laila gives birth to girl child name Aziza which makes Rasheed more aggressive towards both his wife’s. Soon Mariam & Laila come together and become good friends. They share not just their husband but also beating and curses. Laila and Aziza are like daughter to Mariam. The relation between them is filled with love, care and support for each other.

As war in Afghanistan gets extreme, the story also gets intense. With Taliban’s force & philosophy the country has changed drastically. Females are forced to wear Burqa, there are separate hospitals for women without any facility available and killing and bombing is regular and so on. On contrary, Rasheed’s life is blossoms when Laila give birth to Son name, Zalmai. In this midst of Rasheed’s affection for Zalmai & ignorance for Aziza, Tariq enters the life of Laila. The buried romance of childhood friends comes to life again. On knowing about this affair, Rasheed gets mad & starts his brutal attack on both the women. Mariam, whose luck was bad gone worse, get worst when she kills Rasheed in the attack.

Khaled Hosseini has explained the dreadful situation of Afghanistan & suffering of women in very agonizing way. Though the background and style of writing reminds you a lot about “Kite Runner” but if you haven’t read that book then everything about “Thousand Splendid Suns” will be likable. There are moments in book which make you feel sad whereas somewhere you will feel relived. While reading this book, I was feeling sad for the people in Afghanistan but at the same time I was also feeling blessed about my life.

In our comfortable life, we can’t think of pain & misery of people who are deprived of such comfort. We always complain about not having something or the other. We feel that “Others” have everything. We forget that we are also “Others” for some people. Every child in a country is not blessed with money. Not even a country is blessed with peace.

You may not have everything in life but we do have home to stay, food to eat & clothes to wear. Unlike some people who have none. Unlike some people who gets killed in the war of others. Unlike some people who die in an attempt to fed their children.

Why cry over something which is not there? Why can’t we appreciate what we really have?
Life is short but it’s not empty. We need to fill it with memories, love, friendship etc. The list is endless..!!!