A Thousand Splendid Suns

Last night I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I realize I'm a bit behind the times on this one since it came out in 2007, but in my defense I have had it sitting on my bookshelf since then. The thing is that when I read books I have to be in the right mood for the right book. I think that's why I buy so many books, because I never know what I'll be in the mood for. Anyway I guess I was in the mood for a more serious read after finishing a couple of fun travel books so I picked this one up on Monday. Last night I was finished.

This book was absolutely incredible. The Afghanistan that Hosseini writes about is one that I never even knew existed. Up until pretty recently the only Afghanistan I knew was the one on CNN. That Afghanistan is one filled with Taliban, and women covered in burqas. That Afghanistan is a strange and backward country, one that had no connection with my own. In this book Hosseini writes of a different Afghanistan. One with a proud and complex history. A country that has been torn apart by war and drought, but is also filled with poets and writers and people. A people that I'm ashamed to admit I never gave much thought to before. While this book is fiction, it still portrays a very real Afghanistan. This book was by no means easy to read. The content is rough, gritty and honest. The story pulls you in and spins you around for 372 pages before throwing out back out into reality. It is a book about love, faith, hope, and sacrifice. It is a story about powerful relationships, and about the power of relationships. Above all it is an incredible book that I would highly recommend to everyone!

This book has clearly cemented Khaled Hosseini as one of my favorite authors and has assured that I will buy and read anything that he writes in the future.