Hope Road

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini *****

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel of deep anguish, unspeakable pain, heartfelt beauty, and unconquerable love. It takes place in the war-torn but beloved city of Kabul, Afghanistan, over a period of forty years. The protagonists of the book are women, Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. Their stories are difficult to read, yet impossible to ignore. Their worlds are three-dimensional, showing shades of gray and rainbows, not just black and white. Hosseini reveals layers of Afghan history and culture that would take years of study for a foreigner to uncover, much less understand.

After reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, I understand why Hosseini’s two novels have been wildly popular. He has the rare and exquisite ability to write with both sparseness and beauty. Though the events in the novel are far from sunshiny, Hosseini could not be accused of melodrama. He conveys both depth and tenderness with a living, genuine voice that admits humor and love, even in the pathos and pain of life. The plot is steady and surprising. And the characters’ voices are ringing and unmistakable, unsilenced in spite of their bitter circumstances. These voices, hitherto unheard, are the triumph of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Recommended age level: 18+. Most of the adult material in this novel is painful to read. Rather than being gratuitously descriptive, it tells of the suffering the characters experience, or serves as a foil to the suffering. But be warned before you begin reading that there are quite a few thematic elements and violent scenes.