Grant Newman- A Thousand Splendid Suns

Grant Newman
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
Historical Fiction
Just Right
P. 181

1. The novel follows the life of two fictional women, Laila and Mariam, Afghans living in the mid to late 20th century in Afghanistan. So far, the book has been divided into two parts, one focusing on Mariam's life, and the other, Laila's. Mariam is a woman who grew up in the city of Herat, a bastard child of a poor woman and one of the most wealthy men in the city. She grew up living in a shack with her mother looking and waiting for her father to visit her every Thursday. What she didn't know is that he felt disgraced by her, and didn't want to be associated with her. On her 15th birthday, she asks to go to a movie at her father's cinema to see Pinocchio. Her father drives her into Herat, but she never sees the movie, because she wasn't let into her father's house. When she gets back to her house, she finds her mother dead on a noose. She hung herself because she didn't like what Mariam did. After that, Mariam went back to her father's house, and then went away and got married to a much older man named Rasheed, who lived in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Her relationship with Rasheed is abusive, and Rasheed is a very uncaring person. Down her street, a family has a baby, and her name is Laila. The second part of the book deals with Laila's life, and she's nine when the part starts. She's currently 14. It follows her through school, and social life with a boy named Tariq who she comes to like romantically. He feels the same way about her, and they end up kissing. While all of this is going on, the Soviets have occupied Afghanistan. The book follows some of the events of the Soviets' occupation, and then eventual withdrawl from Afghanistan. Laila's mother is very moody, and once said she wanted to see the Soviet regime end in Afghanistan. But, they receive shocking news that both of Laila's older brothers died fighting. The book deals with much sorrow and emotional times, including deaths of family members.

2. The book is very good. I like Hosseini's writing style a lot and his complex, but not extremely difficult language is very good. The book deals with emotions, and is sometimes shocking to read. It's an interesting connection to learn about how Afghanistan's culture differs so greatly from ours, when whe currently occupy it. The social classes, communism, and many other things are so much more extreme than they are in the US. Poverty is much more prevalent, especially in Mariam's case. So much of the novel follows the character's emotions and how the events in the background come into play is very interesting as well. The fictional characters are affected by real-life events. I understand The Kite Runner is similar to this, but I haven't read it yet. Hosseini's plot is not unlike an Afghan's everyday life, but so much notable occurs within these everyday events that it makes it more unique and definitely not boring. I like the book a lot because of its detail, sufficient vocabulary, and an engrossing plot.

3. A theme I've noticed so far is suffering. Both characters have already lost family to death in the book. Mariam's mother hung herself, and she lost her familiy back in Herat to go live with another man against her will. Laila lost both of her brothers fighting, and a friend who got blown up by a rocket. The characters must deal with the trials of everyday life in a very difficult Afghanistan, and their emotions come through Hosseini's writing really well. You get to know their relationships with characters who you never actually meet, but still know well through their words. Both characters are struggling emotionally with these losses, and their worlds have become somewhat intertwined because of where Mariam has come. The way Hosseini transitioned from Mariam to Laila's perspective was very easy to understand and not confusing at all, unlike some other books that switch perspectives.

4. My favorite character is Laila. She is a very strong young girl who has dealt with more loss than many adults. She lost her friend, and some family members to death. The world she lives in is dangerous, but she makes do with the meager amount she has. She does some things normal kids do, such as going to school, and hanging out with friends, but she is very emotionally strong and understands a lot. She's very smart for her age, because she's a grade ahead of where she's supposed to be in school, and she comes from a family of relatively well-educated people. Her father teaches her sometimes. Her emotional difficulties and the way she has handled them make Laila my favorite character.

5. My least-favorite character is Rasheed, Mariam's husband. They've tried unsuccessfully to have kids, and he's become more abusive and more sulky as it's gone on. Mariam tries very hard to make sure he's happy, but he's very demanding and not nice at all. He put pebbles in Mariam's mouth once and broke two of her teeth to show her how her rice tasted. That's a little harsh for a bad bowl of rice. He smokes, which is bad, but many people smoke in the book. I don't know if they know it's bad for them, considering the time period starts 30 to 40 years ago. But, still, his personality is very unfriendly, and the way he treats Mariam is very bad. This is what makes Rasheed my least favorite character.

6. A prediction I have is that somehow Laila and Mariam will become closer than they are, and they will each lose more family to death. I also think the Soviets will occupy Afghanistan for a while longer, but eventually, before the end of the book, they'll leave. I think Laila's mother will die before the end of the book, maybe because she's hinted about things like that after her kids died.