Book Review - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The title of the book comes from a beautiful poem on Kabul, written by the Persian poet Saib-e-Tabrizii. Below is a translation by Dr. Josephine Barry Davis which captures the essence of the poem.

Ah! How beautiful is Kabul encircled by her arid mountains
And Rose, of the trails of thorns she envies
Her gusts of powdered soil, slightly sting my eyes
But I love her, for knowing and loving are born of this same dust

My song exhalts her dazzling tulips
And at the beauty of her trees, I blush
How sparkling the water flows from Pul-I-Mastaan!
May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man!

Khizr chose the path to Kabul in order to reach Paradise
For her mountains brought him close to the delights of heaven
From the fort with sprawling walls, A Dragon of protection
Each stone is there more precious than the treasure of Shayagan

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye
Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass
One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers
Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair
Her melodious nightingales, with passion sing their songs
Ardent tunes, as leaves enflamed, cascading from their throats

And I, I sing in the gardens of Jahanara, of Sharbara
And even the trumpets of heaven envy their green pastures

To describe the beautiful Afghani women who hide behind the walls cloistered in their homes, and yet have the fortitude to overcome life’s agonies, and strive to spread warmth and cheer around them, Khaled Hosseini has used the metaphor of a thousand splendid suns from this poem. The brilliant image this conjures of women as “splendid suns” also ties well with Hosseini’s premise that women’s education, independence and strength are of pivotal importance to the Afghan society.

The book tells a moving story about the power of friendship and love, the bonds that tie or break a family, and people's struggle to survive in war-torn Afghanistan. Underlying this, is a tale of love for one’s country, despite the trails of thorns and the gusts of powdered soil that sting one’s eyes, as mentioned in the poem. The poet’s reference to these travails become allegoric expressions of what the country had to go through during the period that the book is set in. Hosseini describes how beneath the several layers of difficulties and complexities in the lives of Afghani people, lies true beauty of their hearts - like the light from a "thousand splendid suns”. Hosseini’s intimate and at times, graphic account of Afghanistan in turmoil, leaves readers with a deep sense of compassion, especially for the Afghani women, who had to endure oppression and domination in the hands of men around them.

The main story is about two women brought together by a twist of destiny; Mariam, born out of wedlock to a wealthy man who does not give her pride of place in his family, and Laila,  the cherished daughter of an intellectual, who encourages her to pursue education and become independent. The story shows how the two from such varied backgrounds were still "born of this same dust" as they both strive to understand their fates, realize their love for each other, and stand by their heritage and their people. The thorns in their lives did not silence them as they both struggled to help each other and their legacy.

Characters in this book, much like his previous book, the Kite Runner, can be starkly categorized as good and bad, almost as in fairy tales. This seems far removed from reality where most people are neither extremely bad nor extremely good, but fall somewhere in between.

I also felt that while Hosseini’s description of the political events in the country is informative, it is difficult to judge where he exercises a writer’s freedom to stray from real history. I wondered if  through use of melodrama, he has, at times, pushed his point of view, while making the readers believe that as an event in history.

I would still highly recommend this book for it is a story extremely well told and it stays with you for days even after you finish reading it.

For my synopsis of the book, click below:

Book Review - Left to tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza

I would like to give some background on the Rwandan holocaust before delving into the actual book review. Personally, reading about the holocaust again, helped me appreciate the book better.

The civil war in Rwanda was between two major tribes of the country; Hutu and Tutsi. From the mid-eighteenth century, Rwanda was dominated by Tutsi kings, who amassed major power in the country and enacted anti-Hutu policies. Later, when European nations colonized Rwanda, they ruled through Tutsi kings and perpetuated pro-Tutsi policies. The Hutu population revolted in 1959, massacred a large number of Tutsis and established an independent Hutu-dominated state in 1962. At this juncture, several Tutsis fled and took refuge in neighboring Uganda and later formed a rebel group called Rwandan Patriotic front (RPF). Pro-Hutu sentiments prevailed in Rwanda, but the 70s, saw greater economic prosperity within the count and violence against Tutsis had reduced.

In 1990, however, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a civil war in Rwanda. This rekindled the  ongoing conflict between the Hutu led government and the RPF. At this time, the Rwandan president Habyarimana, himself a Hutu, exploited the fear of people to advance an anti-Tutsi agenda, which was named Hutu power. Anti Tutsi propaganda was encouraged, Tutsis were called cockroaches by Hutus, and Hutus who married Tutsis were ostracized.  The anti Tutsi venom was spreading throughout the country. From 1990 to 1993, the French also openly supported the Habyarimana regime against RPF rebels. The French organized and trained Rwandan troops, who subsequently formed the Interahamwe militias, and future militiamen.

In December 1993, however, after seeing the carnage and bloodshed, the French joined the international community in pressuring president Habyarimana to sign a ceasefire treaty with the RPF. The Hutu president’s signing of the peace treaty with the RPF, went against the grain of  the Hutu army and Hutu hardliners, who started plotting against him. Soon after the signing, a plane carrying the Rwandan President Habyarimana and the Burundian president Cyprien Nitaryamira, both Hutus, was shot down, killing all passengers on board.

The assassination set in motion the bloodiest civil war of the 20th century, for Hutus believed that the Tutsis killed their Hutu president.¹ Hatred against Tutsis soared, Hutu extremists campaigned heavily against Tutsis and heartlessly butchered several Tutsis on sight. This prompted RPF to retaliate, which further increased support for Hutu extremists within the country. The youth militia began actively carrying out massacres across the country. The militia and the police started systematically executing all Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders. Checkpoints were set up to verify people’s tribe from their identity cards. Hutu civilians were recruited and armed with machetes and other weapons to rape, maim and kill all Tutsis and destroy or steal their property. This breach of the peace agreement reignited the RFP offensive, and RFP rapidly seized control of the northern part of the country and by July, captured Kigali, bringing an end to the meaningless genocide.

One wonders what the developed nations were doing when Rwanda was bleeding so profusely. France even seemed to aid and abet in the genocide until the peace treaty was written to end the hatred between Hutus and Tutsis.

After the genocide ended, Rwanda’s problems did not disappear. The country was on the brink of economic disaster. Since the mass killings had reduced the population drastically, the work force in the country was not sufficient to begin effective reconstruction. Hutu refugees fled to nearby Zaire, causing yet another set of problems. But, that is another story….

In any society with people from different religions, races or tribes, there are likely to be differences in ways of living and outlooks and also a sense of superiority over others, which can result in conflicts. Conflicts in a society need to be acknowledged and addressed in a fair and timely manner, to prevent it from escalating into violence. Conflicts, when managed well, have served as change agents towards equal treatment, growth and development. Effective leaders, who are interested in the larger good, are able to visualize the path that conflicts might take if left unacknowledged, and deal with it to yield positive results. When leaders and politicians (mis)use conflicts to gain political advantage, conflicts can take an ugly turn towards violence. President Habyarimana, after coming to power, inculcated fear of Tutsis in the Hutu people, in order to advance his personal anti-Tutsi agenda. When the situation turned grossly violent, he was forced into signing a peace treaty, which led the Hutu power itself to kill him. A parallel can be drawn in the Indian political scene when Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s used Binderenwale to help push her agenda and when he realized that motive, he went against her and the enemity culminated in her being assassinated. Unfortunately, such actions by political leaders have resulted in deplorable tragedies, causing thousands of innocent lives to be lost.

Left to tell  is young Immacule’e’s true, traumatic, yet inspirational account of this horrific genocide in Rwanda. It is a story of how her unfailing faith and her inner strength helped her survive the bloody killings that surrounded her. She was sent by her family to hide in their pastor’s house, to save her from rape and killing. The Hutu pastor, in order to protect her from Hutu extremists, hid her along with six other women in a 3 ft x 4 ft bathroom. They huddled together, taking turns even to change position. The killers who had seen them enter, but not leave, were intent upon finding them, and they would rampage into the house every day, with spears and machetes, some even calling her name. She was conspicuous, not only because of her height and beauty, but also was a bright young woman from a well known Tutsi family.  She lived without sleep and food for months together, for the pastor did not want to be seen visiting them often. That would put him as well as them in grave danger. When she peeped out of the little bathroom once in a while, she could see rage in the eyes of Hutu power, in people who were her friends and acquaintances before, slaying Tutsis heartlessly right in front of her eyes. She lived in abject fear, cut out from the rest of the world, except for the radio that the Pastor had left on in the adjacent room. Even if she was not killed by the Tutus, it seemed very likely that she might die of disease or starvation in those unhygienic surroundings.

Her quote “Faith moves mountains, if faith were easy there would be no mountains” speaks volumes about how she survived these horrific three months. It was indeed difficult for her to hold on to her faith, and believe in God or goodness, when her family and friends were getting killed brutally. Her faith was tested many times, but in the end, her faith prevailed like an armor, protecting her, giving her peace in the midst of meaningless massacre engulfing her. After 3 months of suffering in the tiny bathroom, when she heard on the radio about a camp that the French had set up nearby, she and all others hiding in the bathroom risked their lives, escaped the pastor’s bathroom and sought shelter in the camp. She realized that baseless rumors about how her family had instigated the violence were rampant. She found out that all her immediate family members, except one brother who was studying abroad, were killed quite mercilessly in these three months It seemed like the end of her life, at least life as she had known. The way her heart broke upon learning of the death of her charming brother who wanted to save the family come what may, packed an extra punch for me since it hit close to home. What was most inspirational was that she picked herself up above her deep grief and searched for a way to survive and lead a meaningful life. With her positive attitude and determination, she eventually became a writer and a philanthropist, and a messenger against hate crimes.

There was immense spiritual growth in her as she spent months huddled in a tiny bathroom, with the fear of death hanging over her every minute. She experienced betrayal from people who she thought were close to her as well as kindness from strangers, in these extreme situations. She was able to rationalize that hatred and revenge beget more hatred and revenge. She was experiencing the wrath of revenge, taking many innocents in its wake.

Her maturity and strength of character is evident from the following conversation that followed after her family’s murderer was brought in front of her, to take revenge.

"What was that all about, Immaculée? That was the man who murdered your family. I brought him to you to question...to spit on if you wanted to. But you forgave him! How could you do that? Why did you forgive him?"

I (Immacule’e) answered him with the truth: "Forgiveness is all I have to offer."

To get a feel for what Immacule'e went through, you can view an interview her on this video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Od6V6Z3ug

Book Review - The Giver - by Lois Lowry

Jonas lives in a "utopian" world that is bereft of war, diseases, suffering, as well as long term memories. A society where 'sameness' is celebrated, where folks are made unaware of color, music, hills, snow or sunshine – anything that goes against the concept of sameness. The society is also isolated from the rest of the world (referred to as"elsewhere") and all are prohibited from going there. Everything is well structured and well communicated. Life is simple without ambiguities. To protect people from the risks of making poor or wrong decisions in life, the elders of the community make all their decisions, including assignment of spouses, children, and careers. ​Everyone is assigned a spouse after long and deliberate consideration to compatibility. Each couple is assigned at most two children, again after much deliberation, and the "family unit" stays together until the children turn twelve.  Upon turning twelve, every child is assigned a role in the community based on skills and aptitude, by the elders committee.

To spare the​  people from pain, the rules of the society​​ inhibit people's ability to feel ​ any emotion including love. At the first sign of such emotions, people are required to take medication that will suppress those emotions.

It is after reading a few pages that you realize that while the elders of the community set up a structure to establish a secure pain free society, they are, in fact, stifling freedom in all aspects, including natural human instincts. The Community lives only in the present and the people have a narrow perspective of life because they only remember only the happenings of the current generation and only know their community and its way of life. They are naïve for they do not gain knowledge or wisdom from the memories and are made to abdicate all choices.

​​ T​he burden of holding the memories of the past​is designated to a single member of society: the "Giver”. He is given this role for the community requires at least one person to have memories, experience, and wisdom beyond what is available to the community. This is to equip him with the wherewithal to provide the right judgment and advice for really difficult problems. ​In this role, he holds the position of highest honor within the Community.

​​When Jonas turns twelve, ​​because of his intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and ​his capacity to see beyond, he is selected to be the Receiver of Memor​ies​, ​a precursor role for his subsequently becoming the Giver. ​​It is when Jonas receives "memories" of experiences beyond what is available to this society that he realizes ​​the shortcomings of his society, like lack of freedom, knowledge, cruelty of infanticide, euthanasia etc. He is convinced that the society is being wronged decides to do something to change the current conditions and enlighten his community. ​The giver tells Jonas that if he escapes the community and goes "elsewhere", all the memories that he has received thus far will be transmitted to the people. Jonas feels this is a good thing and is happy when the Giver tells him that he will help the people assimilate them. Jonas, with the help of the Giver plans his escape to "elsewhere". The final twist in the story is when unbeknownst to all, Jonas decides to take with him little Gabriel, a baby that his family is nurturing. He makes this flash decision when he finds out that the community had decided to release little Gabriel, because he had not adjusted well to the required sleep schedule.

Jonas and Gabriel set out on this arduous and hazardous journey, with determination and hope. They have little to eat on the way and the weather is quite rough as well. Finally, just about when they are close to dying of starvation and the wrath of the weather, they manage to reach “elsewhere", where they find a happy family celebrating Christmas.

 ​The book ends with an optimistic note with the enigmatic sentence "Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But, perhaps, it was only an echo." This perhaps implies that Jonas’s old community has, by now, learned to make music too, after they receive the memories that Jonas left behind him - an unmistakable signal that their plan worked and worked well.

In the Giver, Ms. Lowry ​has crafted an interesting picture of this Community by using unusual terms, to help delineate them from our own​society. ​Here, c​children are categorized by their ages and called "ones", "twos" etc. and children ​ of the same age are ​​​called "group mates”. Putting an end to one's life is referred to as "release". She has made some of their practices extreme, to give us clarity and a definite feeling of antipathy towards the practices. It, however, also drives us to introspect if our own societies suffer from some of the negative practices. Do we pretend that we all are same and should be treated similarly? Do we celebrate diversity enough or prefer to stay with the same kind of people for it is within our comfort zone? Do we go out of the way to protect our children from the feeling of pain? Even if it will make them wiser and prepare them to adjust to life better? Is the family unit temporary even in our society and is it functional only as long as children are young? Are the elderly left to their own devices and left to live by themselves when they become infirm? ​Do we attempt to erase unpleasant memories even if there are things to learn from them?

​ ​​The Giver, a Newberry​ Award Winner,​is quite popular with children and adults alike and has been listed as one of the hundred must-read books. However, it is also a controversial book that has been challenged and even banned from schools for its "mature themes" of euthanasia, infanticide, and suicide. That the book was banned is ironic, given the theme of the book.