A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“It caused my PTSD to act up. Just like being back in Afghanistan.”

• Rated 5 stars

“one of the best books i have read !!”

• Rated 0 stars

“A companion, but not a sequel to 'The Kite Runner,' this story covers the same span of decades, from the 1960s to the early years of the 21st Century, as does that novel, but with wholly different characters. This story centers around the lives and sufferings of women. The same external events - the fall of the monarchy, the coming of the Communists, their fall before the Taliban, and the locust-like nature of the latter, are all on display here. The walls imposed by race and class also color this story, as they did the last. The constraints imposed on a woman's freedom of action after the Communists gave way to Islamist government are also palpable. This story will draw the reader in and engage the imagination, and one will perhaps be saddened when there are no more pages to turn. What better compliment can one give to a novelist than that?”

• Rated 3 stars

“This book has power to captivate reader's mind. I read this book before the Kite Runner, so I liked it so much. Now, I would say that the Kite Runner is one of the best book I have ever read. A Thousand Splendid Suns also introduce the History of the country to some extent for the people like me who know little about the country.”

• Rated 0 stars

“ Khaled Hosseini is an excellent writer. Here is why: he has great character development. These people are so real to the reader, they breath, move and live right there in the pages. This book is also set in Afghanistan and brings the torrid story of that country to the reader in a human story. The book follows the lives of two women: Mariam and Laila. The book starts with Mariam, who is born a bastard outside a city in Afghanistan. The story is told first through the eyes of this child - and the author does a superb job telling in through the eyes of a child. The novel skips through time. Important eventful days will be jammed packed together - sending a characters life off in one direction. Then years and years will pass and the reader will revisit a character again when they are older and changed. The characters voice changes with the passage of time. You can tell that the author went to great lengths to really develop a good story. The story is incredibly human. It is also completely immersed in the culture of Afghanistan. In just reading the novel, you can learn about the food, culture and religion of the people. Hosseini also tempts the reader - telling you a bit of information about a characters future, which would keep you hook, desperate to find out how that will happen. Mariam is forced into an arranged marriage with a conservative afghan man. Her husband Rashid is probably the stories' most honed character. Hosseini makes Rashid both a man one could see existing in the world - and also a horrible brute in the same way. The author makes Rashid human. The reader follows the character as the abusive husband, expectant father, conservative brute, lying and manipulative trickster. By far the books most complex character. The novel switches to Laila a young girl growing up in Kabul in the 1980's. The novel shows how society and Laila's life slowly breaks down with the war with the soviets. Her life is thrown upside down. I don't want to ruin the ending - but there are many twists and turns in the book. It makes for an exciting and touching story. I highly recommend it and I can tell you right now: this should make a great film. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“I always find it interesting to read novels written about people in countries that appear in news on conflict and war. These people must live on, struggle with a myriad of problems and seek for love. Violence creates violence. Living in violence rarely allows love.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Really enjoyed the book, although the "reading journey" was very hard to hear.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Almost as amazing as The Kite Runner, same author. It's Afghanistan from a woman's point of view. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“i loved this from the very first page.
Beautiful story of the struggle of two women, though generations apart.

One saw Afghanistan at its realm and the other when destruction & rise of Taliban seeped in the once glorious country; however the condition of women remained the same - deplorable.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I read Hosseini's first book, The Kite Runner. I truly enjoyed learning more about the raw and real struggles of modern-day Afghanistan. Susan Jamison suggested that I would even like this book better because of the female main characters. She was right! This is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last 30 years (Soviet invasion to reign of the Taliban to post- Taliban rebuilding). It follows two generations of women struggling to survive, raise a family, and find happiness while dealing with brutality. As a woman, I am appalled with the position/treatment of women in this society. Some of the events is the story will infuriate you, but the ending is sweet.”