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A Thousand Splendid Suns (平装)
by Khaled Hosseini
| Category:
Memoir, Fiction, Afghan war, Woman novels |
| Market price: ¥ 228.00
MSL price:
¥ 208.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A wonderful, intensely moving story of how two modern Afghan women overcome the great challenges that have faced women in their home country and rise above their victimization. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 14 items |
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T. Holmes (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-25 00:00>
I think Khaled Hossieni has just become my favorite author. Just like in his first novel, I learned more about a part of the world that prior to reading I knew or cared very little about. And also just like his first novel I learned that there are real people in Afganistan, human beings just like myself, that have to live in a war-torn, violent, unforgiving, male dominated, poverty stricken, etc. society.
The best way that I can describe this book is that it is depressingly educational and entertaining. On the surface it is the story of two women whose lives come together by fate. But really it is a book about Afganistan, it's culture and unfortunatley the downfall of the country. Within the pages of this book you will learn a brief history of the country, it's religous factions and it's culture. It is certainly one of those books that make you thankful that you live in a free society. More importantly it makes you grateful that you are not a woman living in Afganistan. Just like The Kite Runner, you learn what a bunch of thugs the Taliban really are. If you enjoyed The Kite Runner then you will certainly enjoy this book just as much. I would say they are equally awesome.
I thought the book started off great, then I thought maybe it slowed a tiny bit. I remember thinking to myself during this time that Hossieni's first novel was going to be much better. But just past the half-way point it became awesome. I literally could not put it down nor could I read or turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen.
This book is beautifully written. It is very well organized and coherent. All the chapters and sections within each chapter fit and tie in together perfectly. I love how he uses things early in the book that you don't think much of at the time, only later to be brought back at the end to have enormous meaning and symbolism. I thought the characters were real and believable for the most part and you really feel for them.
The majority of this book is sad and depressing. Ironically, I do not like sad books or sad movies but I have to admit that this book was the exception. When I finished reading the book I remember shutting it and saying to myself out loud, "Wow, that was a great book!" I really enjoyed it and once again, I am already waiting for his next book. |
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Danael Caywood (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-25 00:00>
I have just finished Khaled's Hosseini's lastest book. I greatly enjoyed this book! It is similar to the Kite runner in that the story quickly brings the reader into the story. This book is much darker than Kite Runner. Though much of the story the women are repressed and abused by the male dominated society. It is a tale of adversity and hardship which the female characters persevere and overcome. I reminds me somewhat of the Good Earth by Pearl Buck in that the main characters face obstacles and overcome them. |
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Patrick Bowman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-25 00:00>
I was extremely impressed with The Kite Runner and would rate it five stars, and so I eagerly anticipated Splendid Suns. While I believe this is a much better book than other "book club selections" (Life of Pi and The Secret Life of Bees come to mind), it was not as strong as Hosseini's first novel. The power of Kite Runner comes from the honest portrayal of Amir's complex relationship with Hassan. A relationship based on friendship yet marked by moments of cruelty. Amir was flawed due to his own selfishness, and that's a theme to which Western readers can relate.
The characters of Splendid Suns are more one-dimensional. Their "flaw" comes from the simple fact that they are women in a patriarchal society. For Mariam, there is the added "flaw" of being born into a dirt-poor existence (the product of a scandalous affair). Western readers can certainly sympathesize with the characters' dismal state, but it's hard to empathize with them. The reader surveys the horrific scenes with no real emotional connection. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, perhaps they were too busy subsisting to have the kind of bourgeois problems to which middleclass Westerners can relate.
Readers of the Kite Runner tend to believe it is autobiographical. While Hosseini denies this, he had to expose his own vunerabilities to give us the power of that novel. The sincere portrayal of Amir as an imperfect person who ultimately seeks redemption is literature in the highest form and will no doubt rank among the modern classics. If you haven't read Kite Runner yet, I highly recommend reading it first. Don't let your opinion of Splendid Suns keep you from experiencing Hosseini's excellent first novel.
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Roger Brunyate (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-25 00:00>
Although I tend to read quickly, I virtually never finish a book in a single sitting. But A Thousand Splendid Suns was the exception; except for meals, I simply could not put it down. The troubled timeline of Afghan history between 1960 and 2002 made for an irresistable momentum, the country moving from monarchy to republic, suffering a soviet invasion, buffeted by apparently random fighting between factions, celebrating the restoration of order by the Taliban, only to submit to the grip of a ruthless theocracy; the book ends in a quiet epilogue a few months after the installation of the Karzai government by the Americans. |
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1 2 Total 2 pages 14 items |
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