Jellamae G. Lopez.

GRADE 11-AUGUST ESCOFFIER

A Thousand Splendid Suns
KHALED HOSSEINI

Whereas The Kite Runner focused on fathers and sons, and friendships between men,
his latest novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, focuses on mothers and daughters, and
friendships between women In the opening chapters of the book the characters are so
one-dimensional that they feel like cartoons .Gradually, however, Mr. Hosseini’s
instinctive storytelling skills take over, mowing down the reader’s objections
through sheer momentum and will. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of
Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible to us In the end it is these glimpses of daily
life in Afghanistan a country known to most Americans only through news accounts
of war and terrorism.
Whereas The Kite Runner focused on fathers and sons, and friendships between men,
his latest novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, focuses on mothers and daughters, and
friendships between women … In the opening chapters of the book the characters are
so one-dimensional that they feel like cartoons Gradually, however, Mr. Hosseini’s
instinctive storytelling skills take over, mowing down the reader’s objections
through sheer momentum and will. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of
Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible to us … In the end it is these glimpses of daily
life in Afghanistan — a country known to most Americans only through news accounts
of war and terrorism — that make this novel, like The Kite Runner, so stirring, and
that distract attention from its myriad flaws.
Hosseini tries to go behind the burqa to describe the lives of two women in Kabu
These are obviously noble motives, but the fact that Hosseini began by thinking of
his main characters as ‘other’ – to the extent of wondering ‘about their inner
lives, whether they had ever had girlish dreams’ – is a huge hurdle...This is
unfortunate, since the novel improves substantially, especially after Hosseini
switches narrators But if readers can hang on 90 more pages, A Thousand Splendid
Suns takes a turn for the better with the introduction of Laila … Hosseini has
aimed high with his second novel. In addition to telling a gripping story, he wants
to convey 30 years of Afghan history and praise the endurance of the women of Kabul
in the face of titanic oppression.
Like much of Kite Runner, this admirable follow-up is set in Afghanistan against
the backdrop of 30 years of turbulent history … He shows us the interior lives of
the anonymous women living beneath identity-diminishing burqas … But Hosseini also
writes in gorgeous and stirring language of the natural beauty and colorful
cultural heritage of his native Afghanistan … Cultural treasures are a tragic loss,
but in A Thousand Splendid Suns, the lack of opportunities and absence of happiness
are equally mourned. Hosseini tells this saddest of stories in achingly beautiful
prose through stunningly heroic characters whose spirits somehow grasp the dimmest
rays of hope
fine risk-taking novel about two victimized but courageous Afghan women .The heart
of the novel is the gradual bonding between the girl-mother and the much older
woman … The dramatic final section includes a murder and an execution. Despite all
the pain and heartbreak, the novel is never depressing; Hosseini barrels through
each grim development unflinchingly, seeking illumination