A Thousand Splendid Suns

Paperback, 372 pages

Langue : English

Publié 11 janvier 2007 par Riverhead Books.

Numéro OCLC :: 317962838

(2 critiques)

Mariam and Laila are born a generation apart but are brought together by war and fate. Together they endure the dangers surrounding them and discover the power of both love and sacrifice.

48 éditions

fionag11@bookwyrm.social a publié une critique de A Thousand Splendid Suns par Khaled Hosseini

None

5 étoiles

Wow, yeah. This book is hard to read, because of the domestic abuse, but if you can stand it, it is also such a fascinating window into the last few decades of Afghanistan's history, powerful, full of tension. You will be rooting for these two women and looking forward to the liberation of Kabul as much as they did - will it be in time to save them? Even more poignant given that we have now gone back to the days of the Taliban. OK, don't despair, there are light moments! - one detail that sticks with me is when the Titanic craze hits Taliban-controlled Kabul - Titanic burkhas!

Jamal a publié une critique de A thousand splendid suns par Khaled Hosseini

What am I supposed to take away?

2 étoiles

Avertissement sur le contenu Spoilers ahead!

I read this on the recommendation of a woman. Apparently, in her circle, this book is quite popular for the way it shows the hidden injustices against women and the weight they carry in society. To these points I can agree, and I see why someone can have an emotional moment reading this book.

For me however, I found the characters to be mostly flat, and the plot just depressing. I had to force myself to finish it when I was halfway through. The pile-on of horror did not make me think this or feel that, it purely led to disgust and boredom.

One positive take away is the historical context, which made the chronology of events memorable.

I suspect that I was not the target audience for this book. I saw that its fans fall into two camps: those that like it for the historical and humanized look at Afghanistan, and those that related to the women's perspectives in that society. The former did not have that wow effect on me given that I was a bit more knowledgeable on the topic, and the latter fell a bit short of capturing me given the flatness of the characters and the extremes of violence.

Sujets

Social conditions
Arranged marriage
Families
Fiction