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| From Amazon - Believed to be fair use. |
This book tells the lives, almost-lives, and not-lives of two women as they attempt to survive, persevere, and thrive in Afghanistan during much of its tumultuous recent history. Each must make impossible decisions and sacrifices in the pursuit of justice, their dreams, and love. As their stories come together, these choices become harder.
Hosseini has certainly found his bread and butter in reflecting the complexity of the human experience. Once again he tells a story of friendship, and the exploration thereof was as important to this text as it was to Kite Runner. I keep comparing these two books, and that's not a bad thing! What Kite Runner was to the exploration of a male experience, A Thousand Splendid Suns is to the female. Both are easily universalized, and I enjoyed them immensely in part because of this. It was also an easy read, language-wise. In fact, in some moments the forced grandness feels a bit contrived, but not so much that I was put off my reading. Additionally, many have said that the similarity to Kite Runner is a bad thing - to them, it feels a little "Dan Brown" in the way it sticks to a formula. But I like the way Hosseini writes, and I look forward to picking up And the Mountains Echoed as a continuation of the positive experience I've had with his work.
