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pixiebix 's review for:
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh my God oh my God oh my God. Where do you even start in doing justice to an epic like this?
I have been drawn to both A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner since I first glimpsed the spines in Waterstones around six months ago. I took a glance at their covers, read neither of their blurbs, and immediately added them both to my TBR. My gut feeling (at least for ATSS; I haven't yet read The Kite Runner, but I'm determined to make that change very, very soon) proved correct. This was just so sublime and devastating and destroying and hopeful and honest and hard. So very hard.
Two things about this book show to me how special it is: 1) I'm usually not a very expressive reader (I probably cry/laugh/gasp to a handful of books a year, if that)--and yet I remember three separate occasions of gasping in shock at this book before rereading and rereading the section over and over for what must have been minutes trying to reconcile my thoughts; and 2) my memory has gotten seriously bad when it comes to remembering basic details about the books I read, even a couple of hours after I finish them (it's something that really really bothers me), and yet flicking through ATSS and landing on random pages, I can not only remember exactly what was going on at that moment by reading a line or two, but I can see it. I feel like I watched this book more than I read it; the experience was truly cinematic. I have detailed, textured scenes in my mind that I can actually travel through when I picture the events from this book, major and minor.
And yet I don't think I can explain exactly what made this book so profound for me. All I know is that Nana, Mariam ( Mariam:( ), Laila, Tariq, Rasheed, Mahfuzallah, Jalil, Aziza, everyone, I feel I have travelled through and seen into their souls and lived through a million lifetimes with them.
Looking back on some of the scenes in my head from this book is honestly so painful. I wanted to reach in an help every single one of these people. (Except Rasheed.)
Nothing short of a masterpiece. Truly (I hope!) unforgettable.
I have been drawn to both A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner since I first glimpsed the spines in Waterstones around six months ago. I took a glance at their covers, read neither of their blurbs, and immediately added them both to my TBR. My gut feeling (at least for ATSS; I haven't yet read The Kite Runner, but I'm determined to make that change very, very soon) proved correct. This was just so sublime and devastating and destroying and hopeful and honest and hard. So very hard.
Two things about this book show to me how special it is: 1) I'm usually not a very expressive reader (I probably cry/laugh/gasp to a handful of books a year, if that)--and yet I remember three separate occasions of gasping in shock at this book before rereading and rereading the section over and over for what must have been minutes trying to reconcile my thoughts; and 2) my memory has gotten seriously bad when it comes to remembering basic details about the books I read, even a couple of hours after I finish them (it's something that really really bothers me), and yet flicking through ATSS and landing on random pages, I can not only remember exactly what was going on at that moment by reading a line or two, but I can see it. I feel like I watched this book more than I read it; the experience was truly cinematic. I have detailed, textured scenes in my mind that I can actually travel through when I picture the events from this book, major and minor.
And yet I don't think I can explain exactly what made this book so profound for me. All I know is that Nana, Mariam ( Mariam:( ), Laila, Tariq, Rasheed, Mahfuzallah, Jalil, Aziza, everyone, I feel I have travelled through and seen into their souls and lived through a million lifetimes with them.
Looking back on some of the scenes in my head from this book is honestly so painful. I wanted to reach in an help every single one of these people. (Except Rasheed.)
Nothing short of a masterpiece. Truly (I hope!) unforgettable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail