hedjo's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, just wow, this book is just amazing I can't even gather my thoughts right now to make a coherent review but what I can say right now is that this book just blew my mind! I'll update this review when I have my thoughts in order.
Edit*
I just reread this and my thoughts are the same, I loved it, it moves me so much and I find myself thinking of it again and again. I feel for the characters and the struggles they went through and I think its a good depiction of the struggles women went through in that time but also the country itself. How no one is left unaffected after the war.
Edit*
I just reread this and my thoughts are the same, I loved it, it moves me so much and I find myself thinking of it again and again. I feel for the characters and the struggles they went through and I think its a good depiction of the struggles women went through in that time but also the country itself. How no one is left unaffected after the war.
em_cee99's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
max_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jeanettesonya's review against another edition
5.0
This one was hard to read. There is a lot of pain and suffering involved in watching Afghanistan fall into chaos, especially for the women who called it home. It leaves you feeling hopeful though, assured that Afghanistan and it’s women will find their power again.
It’s hard to read a book like this, though, and truly acknowledge that we in North America are not immune.
It’s hard to read a book like this, though, and truly acknowledge that we in North America are not immune.
goldenpath69's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ikuo1000's review against another edition
5.0
I weeped at the end of this book. Simply weeped.
Before I get into its praises, let's get a few shortcomings out of the way. There are a few aspects to Hosseini's writing style that I'm not fond of, and the same minor complaints I had in The Kite Runner also apply here, except to a lesser degree. He still did some explicit foreshadowing, but only a couple times, and in at least one case, I do think it added a bit of suspense rather than detracted from the current narrative. Later on, when foreshadowed events occured, characters undoubtedly conjured up old memories that reminded the reader that said event was foreshadowed - as if Hosseini didn't trust the reader to be smart enough to remember on his own. But, in most cases, it seemed natural that if these events were really occurring, the characters would remember these old conversations with fondness, regret, or poignancy, so it wasn't really out of line to write about such memories. Overall, I think Hosseini's writing is more developed in this book, and ultimately, my rating of a book depends a great deal on how much of an impression it left on me, which is why I gave this book 5 stars despite these minor annoyances.
If The Kite Runner was, in part, a gentle and lovely portrayal of a peaceful, bygone time in Afghanistan history, then A Thousand Splendid Suns is its natural successor, telling intimate stories of women who endured the recent decades of multiple wars that tore the country apart and made it unrecognizable to its own citizens. On one level, this book serves a purpose by informing readers of Afghanistan's political turmoil and the nightmare of living in a war zone. But, it is also a book about motherhood, self-sacrifice, endurance, grace, and unadulterated love for one's homeland.
The book is filled with interesting characters. A woman who, to a stranger, may look like the embodiment of weakness and servility, but proves to be a fountain of admirable grace, wisdom, and strength not in spite of, but because of her sufferings. A man who mistreated women with shocking cruelty out of a misguided sense of tradition and conservatism, but also not unintelligent and still capable of affection and tenderness. Another woman who has enormous potential as a child, who is raised to value education above all else, but who must succumb to the draconian laws of the Taliban.
I was so invested in the characters that two-thirds of the way through the book, I started to fear that an undesirable conclusion would ruin the book for me. Without giving anything away, I'll say that I loved the ending.
Before I get into its praises, let's get a few shortcomings out of the way. There are a few aspects to Hosseini's writing style that I'm not fond of, and the same minor complaints I had in The Kite Runner also apply here, except to a lesser degree. He still did some explicit foreshadowing, but only a couple times, and in at least one case, I do think it added a bit of suspense rather than detracted from the current narrative. Later on, when foreshadowed events occured, characters undoubtedly conjured up old memories that reminded the reader that said event was foreshadowed - as if Hosseini didn't trust the reader to be smart enough to remember on his own. But, in most cases, it seemed natural that if these events were really occurring, the characters would remember these old conversations with fondness, regret, or poignancy, so it wasn't really out of line to write about such memories. Overall, I think Hosseini's writing is more developed in this book, and ultimately, my rating of a book depends a great deal on how much of an impression it left on me, which is why I gave this book 5 stars despite these minor annoyances.
If The Kite Runner was, in part, a gentle and lovely portrayal of a peaceful, bygone time in Afghanistan history, then A Thousand Splendid Suns is its natural successor, telling intimate stories of women who endured the recent decades of multiple wars that tore the country apart and made it unrecognizable to its own citizens. On one level, this book serves a purpose by informing readers of Afghanistan's political turmoil and the nightmare of living in a war zone. But, it is also a book about motherhood, self-sacrifice, endurance, grace, and unadulterated love for one's homeland.
The book is filled with interesting characters. A woman who, to a stranger, may look like the embodiment of weakness and servility, but proves to be a fountain of admirable grace, wisdom, and strength not in spite of, but because of her sufferings. A man who mistreated women with shocking cruelty out of a misguided sense of tradition and conservatism, but also not unintelligent and still capable of affection and tenderness. Another woman who has enormous potential as a child, who is raised to value education above all else, but who must succumb to the draconian laws of the Taliban.
I was so invested in the characters that two-thirds of the way through the book, I started to fear that an undesirable conclusion would ruin the book for me. Without giving anything away, I'll say that I loved the ending.
chloeek's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bishoyzaki's review against another edition
5.0
A moving, immersive page turner spanning decades in the lives of Afghan women in trying times. As a reader I could catch a glimpse of the misogyny and the abuse that Afghan women had to endure on top of the loss and grief brought along by war. This is a very tragic story of two women desiring nothing more than love, safety, a family and a future and their only mistake is being born in a time and place that grants them none of those things.
I felt for those characters, their pains, their desires, their miseries were so real that I wanted to jump into the story and pull them out of their suffering, I wanted to grab their abusers by the collar and ask them how is it possible that they're capable of such cruelty. That's how real Hosseini's writing is; it's heart-wrenching, and the plot twists are so well written that I rarely saw them coming.
The saddest and scariest part about this story though—and its predecessor: Kite Runner—is that they're both inspired by real events and many people have probably suffered similar conditions and fates and maybe even worse.
I felt for those characters, their pains, their desires, their miseries were so real that I wanted to jump into the story and pull them out of their suffering, I wanted to grab their abusers by the collar and ask them how is it possible that they're capable of such cruelty. That's how real Hosseini's writing is; it's heart-wrenching, and the plot twists are so well written that I rarely saw them coming.
The saddest and scariest part about this story though—and its predecessor: Kite Runner—is that they're both inspired by real events and many people have probably suffered similar conditions and fates and maybe even worse.