A Thousand Splendid Suns

Recently, I came to know that this girl I've known for nearly 3 years suffers physical abuse at home. Needless to say, I was shocked beyond words. Reading Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" brought back the same questions - why do women put up with domestic violence? why are their men such stupid beasts? why does society tolerate, or in some cases, encourage the repression of women?

Khaled Hosseini's over-simplified book does not aim to answer any of the above. Instead, the author proceeds to milk the premise of mistreated women in Afghanistan to fill his coffers with royalty payments. Having read The Kite Runner, it was easy to anticipate the narrative in Suns - Hosseini's repertoire is quite limited. At no point in the misery laden lives of Miriam and Laila could I connect with the characters. It is easy to sympathize, but something made me stop short of truly caring about these battered women and their plight. Still, the horror of living in a country where there is no way out is staggering just to think about. When Laila is about to deliver her second baby, the doctor performs a c-section without anesthesia, under constant fear that some Talib might find out that she's taken off her hijab in order to see better while she's operating. For the sake of the Afghan women, I hope Hosseini's just exaggerating.

One thing the Hosseini does well (as he did in The Kite Runner) is bring out the rather violent and murky history of Afghanistan. Living in a country like India, which had no single ruler till the British came along, I sometimes wonder if we're meant to be a single nation. Afghanistan, by Hosseini's account clearly isn't. There are too many factions, too much aggression in these people to be a peaceful unified country. But then, that would be true of all human nature wouldn't it?

Verdict - Average. Hosseini will have to come up with something really good to make me read him again.

An Afghanistan we didn't know

I was pretty reluctant to pick up Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. I mean, a book so popular that all of page 3 is reading it... c'mon. But curiosity got the better of me (that, and the 60 bucks pirated edition at churchgate) and I ended up reading it. Lost it halfway through, bought another one and finished it. And what can I say, its been a while since I read something so beautifully tragic.

The Kite Runner is about two boys - Amir and Hassan - growing up in pre-Soviet Afghanistan. Hassan is the servant who's totally devoted to Amir and the best kite runner in all of Kabul. Their rather rosy childhood is interrupted when a shocking incident changes their relationship forever. The Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban further alienate the now expatriate Amir. However, the path to salvation lies in Kabul and Amir must seek his in the land of his ancestors.

There are few books that draw the reader so well into their emotional stream, and The Kite Runner is one of them. Right from the beginning, there is this sense of gloom, a dread that something horrible will happen to tear the young protagonists apart. A feeling of guilt runs through the narrative like a little brook that is out of sight, but whose gentle sound your ears cannot ignore. The only thing that mars the gentle subtlety of emotions of the book is the ending (or rather, the last few chapters) - its too dramatic in comparison, rather like a Hindi movie climax.

Apart from the story of personal loss and redemption, the book also paints a vivid picture of Afghanistan before it became the ravaged nation that it is now. When Amir finally returns to Kabul, one can sense the author's sense of outrage at the rape of a beloved land. And sadness at the loss of so much culture and heritage. In all, a good read. Reading Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns next.