Author: Khaled Hosseini

Book Tittle: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Why I read this book?

Similar to my previous read, I was looking to read something outside my comfort zone. This time I asked my better half for a recommendation - coincidentally, she was reading this book around the time we first met.

What I thought about the book?

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it. Though I must say it was extremely sad at times, there was plenty of violence, brutality, and death. It was a harsh reminder of how ugly war is. By the same token, it was also a reminder of how fortunate I am to live in a relatively peaceful democracy - and whilst I recognise that no place is perfect, our woes seem trivial when compared to what the characters in this story had to endure.

In brief, and trying really hard to avoid spoilers, the book is about the war(s) in Afghanistan from around the 1970s to the early 2000s, told predominantly through the experiences of Mariam and Laila.

A quote or two

Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for the most part had been unkind to her.

Even when the baby napped, there were soiled diapers to scrub and leave to soak in a pail of the disinfectant that the girl had insisted Rasheed buy for her. There were fingernails to trim with sandpaper, coveralls and pajamas to wash and hang to dry.