Monday 13 July 2015

Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns
-By Khaled Hosseini


Life is tough, not for everyone, but for some it really is. Mariam knew it is since her mother told her that you are nothing but a "harami" (Bastard).

Plot:
Penning down the story of Mariam and Laila’s struggles comprising their husband's violence, loss of family, Afghan wars, Khaled Hosseini will make you sob and cry in this reading journey.



The story is divided into four parts. First part starts with the introduction of Mariam, a harami, her mother Nana and Jalil (her biological father but so called dad). The hardships she goes through while living in the small kolba, getting fake loved from Jalil then getting married to a man more than double her age are explained wonderfully. Even though Nana behaves very rudely with her owing to the miseries she had faced in her own life, she loves Mariam and say, “Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman”. After her death, Jalil and his three wives marries her off to a man instead of consoling her of the grief she was going through only to erase, once and for all, the last trace of their husband's scandalous mistake. Her marriage brings no difference in her life and she keeps on craving for the love she never found.

The book takes a different turn with part two which has nothing to do with Mariam and her hardships. Instead it deals with the story of Laila, a happy-go-lucky, carefree girl who is in love with her one-legged-best-friend Tariq. Loved by her family, her life suddenly takes a different turn and leaves her pregnant with Tariq’s child. Tariq on the other hand has left the country due to the ongoing wars.

Following the lives of these two girls, Part three and four dealt with how both of them meet and how this meeting brings a new era of suffering into their lives. After overcoming the feeling of hatred, a new bond of mother-daughter relationship grows between them which help them in fighting with their life’s miseries.

In between, detailing the lives of people and a country during war, especially women, Hosseini is successful in visualizing his readers the destitution both Marial and Laila suffer, the pain they go through, how their hatred with each other transforms into never ending love and how this love gifts Mariam the life she always desired. 

But will they ever be able to come out of the troubles they are struck into?

Will they find a solution to their problems or will their troubles bring an end to their life??

Will Marriam be able to find love in her life? 

Will Laila and Tariq ever meet again?

Go through this emotional, heart breaking and brave drive which will make you feel pity, which will show you the life you have never dreamed of. I can bet once you start reading this, Mariam and Laila will not let you sleep till you complete their journey through 'A thousand splendid sons'.



My Opinion:


With perfect narration, simple language and world class visualizing ability, Hosseini has left no point of criticism in this read. All the characters are properly justified and all the scenes are wonderfully carved. With exceptional literature and visual appeal, he has been successful in winning his readers’ heart. Right from the description of characters to that of the locations, his writing has made me his fan. This will make you cry, this will make you grieve for what his protagonists face. 

Not only the life of his protagonists, but the consequences and sufferings people face during wars, the true life of Afghanis during the three decades of war in between the Soviet troops, Mujaheddin, Pashtuns and Hazaras and Tajiks and Uzbeks, this book details every minute details of a dying nation haunted with the impact and nightmares that war left on their lives. 

Passing through the hardships, this is also a story of self-sacrifice, bravery and heroism which makes it dearer to its readers.



Final Rating:

Book Cover: 4/5
Plot, language and Literature: 5/5
Character Justification: 4/5
Final Rating: 4.5/5






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