Broken

Background:
__A Thousand Splendid Suns__ is Khaled Hosseini's second novel. Was born in Afghanistan in 1965 and fled to America in 1980. He uses his writing to express his sorrow for the destroyed beauty of Afghan culture and to help the world grasp a better understanding of what life is like in this unstable region.

Setting:
A majority of the events in __A Thousand Splendid Suns__ take place in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. The book's timeframe spans from the mid sixties to the dawn of the twenty-first century. This enables Hosseini to bring forth the tumultuous political nature of Afghanistan and showcase the opression created under the Taliban.

Synopsis:
__A Thousand Splendid Suns__ is the story of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. Mariam is the by-product of an affair between an affluent man-about-town named Jalil and his housekeeper. Raised by her bitter mother, Mariam is chronically told that she is a bastard child who is damned to a lifetime of suffering. Jalil visits once per week, but it is very apparent that he is ashamed of his affair and does not wish to fully include Mariam in his life. Against her mother's wishes, Mariam goes to her father's house to demand he hold her in equal regard as he does his other children. Mariam is coldly sent home only to find that in her absecne, her mother had committed suicide. Jalil quickly arranges for Mariam to be married to an abusive man named Rasheed in order to distance himself from his past. Laila is the daughter of a married couple named Hakim and Fariba. Laila's two older brothers are killed fighting against the takeover of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. It is after this event when Laila and her best friend Tariq begin to fall in love. Tariq is a boy from Laila's neighborhood who lost one of his legs as a result of war. After the defeat of the Soviets, Afghanistan plumits into civil war, and Tariq's family flees Afghanistan. Laila and Tariq make love before his departure. A few weeks after Tariq's departure, a rocked decimates Laila's house killing both of her parents. Rasheed recovers Laila from the wreckage and allows her to stay in his home. Rasheed marries Laila, causing a rift to grow between her and Mariam. It is not until Laila gives birth to Rasheed's daughter Aziza that Mariam and Laila begin to grow close. The women are forced use one another as a support system in order to survive an abusive marriage in an oppressive country.

Writing Style:
Possibly Hosseini's best quality as a writer is his ability to keep his audience's attention with fast paced storylines. In __A Thousand Splendid Suns__ there are very few dull sections without any sort of action. Also, Hosseini is able to give a detailed descripion of someone or something without becoming too long winded. Descriptions seldom exceed a small paragraph. Anything greater runs the risk of arousing a profound sense of boredom in the reader. The characters in the story are well developed and given powerful realistic dialogue. The text flowed very well and Hosseini's poetic word choice often left the reader rereading various sentences not out of confusion, but in order to take in his excellent writing skills.

Critical Review and Recommendation:
I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a speedious storyline, multicultural elements, politics, or simply a good story. Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times writes, "Mr. Hosseini’s instinctive storytelling skills take over, mowing down the reader’s objections through sheer momentum and will. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible to us, and by conjuring their day-to-day routines, he is able to give us a sense of what daily life was like in Kabul — both before and during the harsh reign of the Taliban." Click [|here] for the full review.

media type="youtube" key="S4kyalTT_wY" height="344" width="425"