Friday, May 15, 2009

One Thousand Splendid Nights

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (Hardcover)

by Khaled HOSSEINI (Author) "Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami..."
  • Hardcover: 372 pages
  • Publisher: RIVERHEAD (January 1, 2007)
  • ASIN: B001194F5K
This is his second novel and is also a best seller. I picked this up at the library book sale because several people recommended his first book, The Kite Runner.

This book is gripping and simplistically complex in it's telling. He begins with the bastard daughter of a housemaid whose mother hangs herself. As a fifteen year old, she is married off to a 40 year old man, who physically and verbally abuses her after she miscarries several infants. At age 60, the man marries another wife, a 14 year old girl who he pulls from Taliban rubble. It speaks of the history of Afghanistan (Soviet rule, jihad, and then Taliban) through telling the lives of the people, mostly woman, who are most effected by the change in government. It is ultimately a love story. It intersperses Iranian words throughout the telling, which can be confusing because most are not defined and there is no Glossary of terms. My perspective is broadened by this book, conversely, my innocence weakened.

1 comment:

  1. A blog after my own heart! I could talk books all day. :) I also see you're a Shannon Hale fan. Love her (and I've read all of her stuff).

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