A Thousand Splendid Suns Book Review
Khaled Hosseini's Literary Glimpse Into Afghanistan's Culture
Oct 6, 2009
The second novel for best selling author Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a beautifully written and eye-opening account of two women’s struggles in Afghani culture. Along with the struggles these women face, the reader sees the hardships of war and the limits placed on Afghanis by the invading Soviet Union and then the Taliban. Just when things start to look like everything will be okay, another travesty hits.
Mariam
The story begins with five year old Mariam, a harami (illegitimate child), who lives in a shack with her mentally unstable mother. Mariam’s father, Jalil, is a wealthy cinema owner who lives in the city of Herat with his three wives and their children. Mariam looks forward to her weekly visits from her father. For Mariam’s fifteenth birthday she asks Jalil to take her to see a movie at his cinema, which he reluctantly agrees to do. When Jalil fails to pick Mariam up, she walks to the city of Herat in search of him only to be turned away.
Mariam returns to her shack to find her mother has killed herself. Mariam is sent to Herat to live with her father and his family. Under pressure from his resentful wives, Jalil agrees to marry Mariam off to a widower shoemaker from Kabul named Rasheed. Mariam begrudgingly settles into her life with Rasheed in which she is forced to wear a burqa in public. Mariam’s unsuccessful attempts to provide Rasheed with a son result in Rasheed’s steadily increasing scorn and abuse of Mariam.
Laila
Laila is the youngest child and only daughter of a school teacher, Hakim and his outspoken wife Fariba, who live in the city of Kabul. Laila’s childhood best friend is a young boy with a prosthetic leg named Tariq.
Laila’s family receives the unfortunate news that her two older brothers, soldiers, were killed in combat. Laila struggles to get her grieving mother’s love and attention. Laila’s family celebrates the retreat of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan only to come under control of the Taliban. At the age of fourteen, Laila and her childhood friend Tariq profess their love for each other before Tariq and his family flees to the neighboring country of Pakistan.
Months later, Laila and her family are preparing to flee Afghanistan to Pakistan when a missile hits their house and Laila is the only one who survives. Laila is pulled from the rubble and brought to the home of a neighbor, Rasheed and his wife Mariam. Rasheed soon proposes marriage and Laila, who has realized she is pregnant with Tariq’s child, agrees to marry him.
A Joining of Wives
Mariam is at first resentful of Laila’s intrusion into her home and marriage. Mariam eventually grows to love Laila and her baby daughter Aziza. Laila and Mariam build a loving friendship built from their hatred for Rasheed and their need to survive. Together they hatch a plan to escape from Rasheed’s abuse and flee to Pakistan, only to be turned in to the police and sent back to Rasheed and a horrible near death beating by him. A fire destroys Rasheed’s shop and his family struggles to survive. Tariq finds Laila and Rasheed goes into a volatile rage because of it. In the bravest act of her life, Mariam kills Rasheed to save Laila’s life.
Contentment at Last
Although Mariam is prosecuted and then executed for the death of her husband Rasheed, Laila and Tariq move away and marry. It’s a bittersweet ending to a heart wrenching story. Throughout the story, the reader gets a glimpse into the politics of Afghanistan and the struggle of its people.
Too often the horrible acts committed by the Taliban overshadow the world’s view of Afghani life. Although their culture and beliefs are much different than America’s, the Afghanis have a strong sense of family and a strong work ethic and it is unfortunate that after years of suffering they are still under the dictatorial control of the Taliban. Many thanks to Khaled Hosseini for opening our eyes to the horrors faced by his people.
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Riverhead Books. 2007.
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