Categories: book-review
Tags: book review
Date: 14 April 2008 21:09:18
I forgot to review this book, which I finished last month for last month's book group. It's only the second novel that I've managed to finish this year, which isn't very good - Auntie Doris is on about number 359 by now!
I gave it 4/5 on iRead (where 4/5 = I loved it. I think 5/5 must be something like "it changed my life and I want to have its babies"). I did have a couple of minor reservations, but they are minor, and compared to the dross that often gets churned out, this book really does stand out. It is set over the last 30 years in Afghanistan, and is told from the perspective of two women, Mariam and Laila, as they live through life during the Soviet invasion, then under the Taliban and it goes on till after the American invasion and the fall of the Taliban. The realities of life for ordinary women at these times is graphically portrayed, and I found the growing friendship between the two women very moving.
At my book group we discussed which of the two women we liked best. I thought that was an interesting question. I felt that due to her background I would probably find it easier to relate to Laila (middle class, educated by her father, articulate, etc), whereas Mariam was much more 'closed' to outsiders. But given her background (banished as an illegitimate daughter, rejected by her father's family, married off to a much older man at 15, reclusive thereafter with minimal interaction with the world apart from that sanctioned by her husband) the woman that Mariam eventually becomes, following her friendship with Laila, made her, for me, the more impressive and admirable of the two.
My main (very minor) niggle was around the return of a character towards the end of the novel (I don't want to give away the plot). Partly it was a relief, that something good had happened after the litany of awfulness, but it did remind me a bit of Dickens always tying up loose ends at the expense of reality. I have been told that actually this particular occurence was realistic, and as a non-expert about Afghanistan I'm happy to accept that - and it really is only the minorest of minor niggles really :)
Because of time and work pressures, I never managed to finish "The Kite Runner", Hosseini's first book about the same time period in Afghanistan, told from the perspective of a young boy. On the basis of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" I really do want to go back and finish it, and I'll certainly be looking out for his next book.
I do recommend finding a book group, especially if (like me) you don't otherwise read much. If it wasn't for this group I'd only be reading work-related stuff, random blogs and undergraduate essays of variable quality. As long as work isn't too frantic, this does mean that I do make an effort to at least read one book a month that's nothing to do with work or my real/internet life. Mind you, I could do with a slightly more cheerful book sometime - the last few (and the current one) have been a bit depressing! I might have to dig out one of my Captain Underpants books for a bit of light relief!