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'One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls. '
This book was a Bookstragram Recommendation. I saw hundreds of reels and accounts talking about this book and so I had to get into it. I went to the bookstore and bought this book along with this, I bought it's twin ' The Kite Runner' as well.
Synopsis : ( From Amazon) Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
Review
I was mesmerized by this book. Starting from the first page till the last, I was rooted to my spot just turning pages over and over to see where the story takes me. This book entangles you emotionally into the stories of it's characters. You want to reach out to them, and protect them especially Mariam. She gave love even though she herself was denied love, from her childhood to the day she died, Life has been exceptionally cruel towards her.
The story is set in the war-torn Afghanistan, under the rule of Taliban. The book highlights the plight of the people of Afghanistan during the war and especially the women after Taliban's opressive rule took control. Mariam Jo, was illegitimate daughter of Jalil Khan, a wealthy cinema owner in Herat, Afghanistan. Mariam loved him deeply despite of her mother's warnings and excitedly looked forward to his visits. She was unware of the ways of the world and the world that she built around her soon crumbled when her mother suicided and she learnt the truth about her father. After her mother's death, Jalil Khan's wife didn't agree to keep her in the main house since she was illegitimate and so she was married off to a much older man, who was a shoemaker in Kabul. Rasheed, that was his name, he was an abusive and controlling person.
Laila as well plays a central character in the book. She was a teenager during the time Mariam moved with Rasheed in the neighbourhood. Laila's father was a progressive and educated man and so he encouraged Laila to read and write and to voice her opinion. She had a childhood friend, Tariq, who lost his one leg in the landmine during the war yet his charisma and positive outlook towards life was magnificent. The friendship between Laila and Tariq soon evolved into love as they reached adulthood.
However, it couldn't last long as the scale of the war increased and people started fleeing but before Laila and her parents could flee, their house was destroyed by a rocket that struck her house when they were preparing to leave. Her both the parents were killed instantly while she was buried under the rubble, later rescued by Rasheed. Separated from Tariq with no news of him and both the parents dead, she was gaslighted by Rasheed into marrying him. After which her life took a very oppressive and abusive turn.
This novel is melancholic and the storyline is weaved so intricately that you cannot escape the sadness and the sorrows of the character's in the book. I have cried with Mariam Jo, I have Drank chai with Mariam jo and Laila in the night when everybody has slept in the house. I tried running with them from the house. I have lived their lives that's how I have read this book and the quotes in the book, oh my god top tier!!! you can't help but bookmark them.
'A man's heart is wretched, Wretched thing Mariam. It isn't like the mother's womb. It won't bleed, It won't stretch to make room for you. I 'm the only.'
When Mariam's Mother quoted this, I was frozen. I had to keep the book down and let this quote sink in and make sense to me. There's rarely some quotes which are stuck with you for life. This is one of them. And like this there are several.
What I like the most about this book is everything from storyline to the prose to the narration, everything is wildly excellent. It is amazing how masterfully Khaled Hosseini tells the complex topic of 'Afghanistan's political history' through the personal life of these characters. He doesn't present facts or throws some bigger words but he weaves a story, a journey of how the war affected the normal people. The war, the rule of Taliban, these are not just background events, but they are life itself lived by these people.
I would recommend everybody to read this book with respect to the trigger warning. It is a great work of literature but it is definately not a light read.
Trigger Warning:
Rape, Domestic Abuse, War, Suicide, Public Execution. If you are not comfortable with such topics, do not read it or read it at your own risk.
A Thousand Splendid Suns Vs. The Kite Runner
Since I bought the twin book together. After finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns, I started reading 'Kite Runner'. I had mentioned this openly on reddit as well, I liked 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' more than the 'Kite Runner'. It is like Khaled Hosseini first gave us 'Kite Runner ' to have a taste of his storytelling and then he gave us 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' like full course meal. The storyline in both of the books traumatise you and they definitly are not a light read. But I feel like, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini puts more details and his storytelling is more immersive than in the Kite Runner'. While reading 'Kite Runner', I felt like a third person watching whatever is happening in the story but while reading Thousand Splendid Suns, it felt like I am living their lives, as if I am walking the alleys of Afghanistan with the characters.
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