Last night I dreamt of the Taliban. The fear was not as petrifying as it was a piteous surrender. This is what life means to be a woman. And there is still beauty among the shards and rubble of life, and there is depth and resiliency in the secret longings within the folds of a woman's heart. And there is redemption.
I finished Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns today, with barely anything else accomplished this week. I read it in three days, because while I could not put it down, I also could not miss a single, beautiful word. I am having a hard time even speaking, because I'm afraid that anything I utter will tear my heart further from the experience and thrust me back into my own real life. This is a book that has changed me. Mariam and Laila feel like sisters to me. I love them. I understand them, even worlds away. We are the same. I will weep with them for days to come. Khaled Hosseini knows the heart of a woman, somehow, mystically. And he painted a painful, yet breathtaking portrait of a war-torn and brutal Afghanistan. It's not just land, it's people.
I am not a book critic, but trust me, if you haven't, you must read A Thousand Splendid Suns.
I can't think of anything you could possibly have written that would have caught my attention more. I want to buy the book, not just borrow it. It sounds beautiful.
ReplyDeletewhen i saw the book cover and started reading your post, i was thinking i'd ask you how you liked it. but you made it obviously clear. thank you. and yes, now i want to read it :] don't you love it when you connect with a book like you did with this one?
ReplyDeleteThose are powerful words, I am certain that I can not come close to having posts so impactful! Thanks for visiting mine! Of course, I listed your blog. Your blog is what got me first interested in looking around. Then friends and family started blogging and... now I am hooked! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteyour words reminded me of my two tours in saudi arabia while i was in the Air Force. opened my eyes.
ReplyDeleteif it got to you, it must be good.
I finally bought Kite Runner but haven't read it yet--but after hearing this I MUST get to it!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, maybe I'll have to check it out after all. With my knowledge of the Muslim culture and religion, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the like I didn't want to read a book about a Muslim woman trapped in that scenario. Were you uplifted when you were done reading? Or so devastated you could hardly speak?
ReplyDeleteYou're so fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYou've convinced me. I'm going to Amazon right now . . .
ReplyDeleteI've had that "not being able to talk" experience you mentioned, and you're right, sometimes a work of art is so beautiful there is nothing left for us to do but "feel." Thanks for this. I'll keep my eyes open for it.
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ReplyDeletei've been wanting to read that book and the one before it. I think I keep getting this long book list in front of me and never get down it.
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