A Thousand Splendid Suns
Much like Goldfinch or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, or even Let the Great World Spin, Hosseini has this beautiful ability to build real people, fully fleshed by circumstance and people, situations and experiences. And the real, flawed, people come together and apart in a kaleidoscope of emotion. Then the music swells, the plot pivots, and suddenly a contrast throws these characters in a new light; who they’ve become, and what they dream to be.
Hosseini did that same in The Kite Runner. I find that plot is neatly echoed in Tariec and Lolita’s love story. Childhood friends, separated by the war, and then return to be new and yet the same all at once. Tarnished mirrors of their younger selves, chipped and cracked, but a shiny immortal mercury backing nonetheless.
However, it’s Mariam and Laila that are the main relationship. They share this complicated family structure forged in fire and fists, tempered by Aziza’s love and Zalmai’s innocence. By the climax, I can only swell with emotion, in-between a sacrifice for a “happiness undeserved”, and the strength of alloyed love between a disjointed and scarred family.
I highly recommend the book to any fan of the style, and open to learning from another culture.
Actually, that’s my favorite part. This different backdrop makes a uniquely situated story, yet still succeeds in showing the shared humanity that binds us in God’s love; and the broken, weird, uneven mimicry that we try to share and, ultimately, give ourselves.
What sucks is the lack of diversity in publishing really hurts the amount of great literature. Hosseini is one of the few commercially mainstream Afghan authors I can think of, and both of his books unapologetically frame the story in the mind of another Afghani, exposing a different perspective on arbitrary truths about history. That’s where A Thousand Splendid Suns shines brightest.
Also, a side feminist comparison. I recently read The Handmaiden’s Tale. Comparing them, it’s interesting how, across vastly different cultures, religion is still used by men to oppress women. It’s unique in application and outcome to each group, fictional Gilead and historical Afghanistan, but it’s scary how it shares characteristic of stemming or relating to marriage, food, child birth and care, housework, modesty, and patriarchy. Hosseini is male, but his portrayal of the women’s plight is realistic and moving nonetheless.
4.63/5.00 Story builds an emotional attachment between realistic and unique characters and culminates in epic heart wrenches and poetic truths all set in a brutal portion of modern history. Plus, for being set in an under-represented culture and strong women protagonists. Plus for making me cry a little on the subway. Very slight minus for “trying too hard” at some points: descriptions, emotional exclamations. But I admire ambition.
[I'm trying a logarithmic scaling? 0-2.5/2.6-3.9/3.91-5.00? Something like that?]