A Thousand Splendid Suns in Between the Lines

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

Why we're reading this: I'm the only person left on planet earth that hasn't read it.…more
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What Members Thought

Mar 18, 2008 Roy rated it really liked it

This was a wonderful book. I enjoyed it every bit as much as the Kite Runner. While reading it I was reminded of the style of Pat Conroy, another master of the family saga. Also brought to mind was Alice Walker's The Color Purple, another well written novel filled almost exclusively with loathsome male characters and long suffering women. Such books make a guy feel a bit guilty for having a penis, but unfortunately they are inspired by the behavior of real life A--HOLES throughout the course of ...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Kellie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2007-reads

鈥淥ne could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.鈥� This was another fantastic book by Hosseini. To me, he is one of the best story tellers ever. This book was the story of Mariam and Laila. The first part is about Mariam who lives with her mom in the hills looking over Herat, Afghanistan. Her father Jalil, was not married to her mother, but he would come visit Mariam once a week. She lived for these visits. Her mother was a bitter ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Fenixbird SandS rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, cultural-awareness, wanna-buys, others-favorites

Highly recommended! 5 chapters in and I need a breather (plus a box of Kleenex)...ooooh sooo sad...

(Soldier) Lindsey's recommendation of a "Pulitzer- prize winning worthy" author [Abbrev. theme: 30 years in Afghan.." As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next gene Highly recommended! 5 chapters in and I need a breather (plus a box of Kleenex)...ooooh sooo sad...

(Soldier) Lindsey's recommendation of a "Pulitzer- prize winning worthy" author [Abbrev. theme: 30 years in Afghan.." As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice..."]

This book is written beautifully but portrays a lifestyle that makes one remember why we have human (civil) rights movements. It is heart-breaking to read this book. It is the story of Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of Nana + Jalil.

'Mariam loved having visitors at the kolba. The village arbab & his gifts, Bibi jo & her aching hip & endless gossiping, & of course Mullah Faizullah. But there was no one, no one, that Mariam longed to see more than Jalil. The anxiety set in on Tuesday nights. Mariam would sleep poorly, fretting that some business entanglement would prevent Jalil from coming on Thursday, that she would have to wait a whole other week to see him. On Wednesdays she paced outside around the kolba, tossed chicken feed absentmindedly into the chicken coop...Finally, on Thursdays, all she could do was sit against a wall, eyes glued to the stream, and wait. If Jalil was running late, a terrible dread filled her bit by bit. Her knees would weaken, and she would have to go somewhere and lie down."

"Then Nana would call, "And there he is, your father. In all his glory." Mariam would leap to her feet when she spotted him hopping stones across the stream, all smiles and hearty waves..."

PART 3 opens with the story of childhood friends, Tariq & Laila, arriving at Murree" "...They married that day they arrived in Murree. Saheed...would not have to broach with Tariq the delicate matter of an unmarried couple living in his hotel....Laila looked at their reflection, at faces that had aged beyond their years, at the pouches and lines and sags that now marked their once-scrubbed, youthful faces....That night they lay in bed as husband and wife, as the children snored beneath them in sleeping cots....Laila remembered...when they were younger, the haywire, brisk flow of their speech, always interrupting each other, tugging each other's collar to emphasize a point, the quickness to laugh, the eagerness to delight. So much had happened since those childhood days... That night, it was blessing enough to be beside him..." ...more

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Mar 28, 2008 Keeley rated it did not like it

This book bothered me tremendously. I had nightmares about it and it gave me a terrible feeling everytime I read it for a short time. So I have decided not to finish it. I know that it is good to know what is going on in the world and about the bad things that are happening but I just can't read about it. I want to help but I don't think reading this book will be helping anyone, as far as I'm concerned. I can find other ways to make a difference in the world. I just can't bring myself to finish ...more

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May 22, 2007 Gabby rated it it was amazing

Shelves: inspirational

This book was amazing. I couldn't put it down. So very sad and upsetting though. How can men be so cruel? What is wrong with our world to allow such things to happen? The people in this story really moved me and made me grateful to be a woman living here in America. Beautifully written book, I highly recommend it. ...more

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