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:

Synopsis of the book (spoiler alert!!)

The book is divided into four parts; the first part focuses on Mariam, who is born out of wedlock to a rich man and a lowly worker, the second part on Laila, a beautiful young girl who is born to Fariba, who is Mariam’s neighbor. The third part is beautiful, where the two women come together to share a beautiful - almost a mother-daughter type of relationship, and the fourth part describes life in Afghanistan post Taliban regime.

The story spans about four decades. It begins with Mariam as a young girl in 1960s, yearning for the love of her father, Jalil. She is brought up by a bitter and foul-mouthed mother Nana, who resents Jalil every living moment. Mariam eagerly awaits her father’s weekly visits, to hear stories from him about city life in Herat, the cars, the movies etc., which Mariam has never seen in her life. Jalil promises to take her to see a movie on her fifteenth birthday, an event that Mariam is eagerly looking forward to. When her father does not come to her place, as prmised, she decides to go to his town. She walks several miles to her father’s place, only to find out that he does not even acknowledge her visit and lets her sleep on the street outside. When Nana finds out that her daughter has left her and has gone to her father, she feels deserted, and commits suicide. Mariam is grief-stricken and guilt ridden, for she holds herself responsible for her mother’s death. She is taken to Jalil’s house after her mother’s funeral, where she discovers that she is an illegitimate child of Jalil and Nana and that Jalil has three wives and several legal children. Jalil’s wives, who want the fifteen year old Mariam out of the house at the earliest, force her to marry Rasheed, an elderly shoemaker in Kabul. Rasheed treats Mariam with some respect initially, but starts abusing her first emotionally, and the physically, after she has a miscarriage. The abuses get progressively worse and unbearable after she has one miscarriage after another. It becomes clear to Mariam that Rashid married her only as a vehicle for bearing a son for him. Life with him becomes hell for Mariam. She rationalizes that this was her punishment for causing her mother’s death and this helps her deal with Rasheed’s atrocities.

This part ends with political unrest caused by the death of a noted communist, Mir Akbar Khyber. President Khan is suspected of committing this murder. In the meantime, their neighbor Fariba gives birth to a beautiful daughter Laila. These events create the setting for the next part of the book.

The second part of the book describes Laila, a young, intelligent girl blossoming under the loving care of her family. Her father Hakim, is all set to educate his daughter well and make her an independent woman. However, fate has other plans. Her two older brothers go to join the war against the Soviets and a few years later, they find out that both were killed in the war, which devastates the family, especially her mother Fariba. Fariba becomes bitter and depressed and does not pay much attention to Laila. Laila seeks solace from her friend Tariq, a young man in the neighborhood. This friendship blossoms into love as Laila enter her teen years. At this time, Kabul is beleaguered in the midst of war, with bombs falling on the city quite regularly. When Tariq informs Laila of his family’s decision to flee the country, they both get emotional and make passionate love. Laila is listless and distressed after Tariq’s departure. A few days later, to her utter joy, she finds out  that her parents too were planning to flee Kabul, though it breaks their heart to leave their homeland. As they prepare to leave, Laila’s father, Hakim quotes the lines 

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

This evokes his strong connection to his homeland. He also feels deeply hurt as he poignantly contrasts the ethereal beauty described in these lines with the rubble and bloodshed that he is witnessing in the city. Laila, however, is overjoyed and dreams of getting together with Tariq again. But, just as Laila takes their stuff out of the house to be hauled away, destiny strikes once again, as a rocket hits their house killing both her parents and hurting Laila brutally.

Rasheed brings Laila to his home. He and Mariam nurse Laila back to health. Laila is struck with guilt for she blames herself for getting out of the house at the nick of time leaving her parents to die. Having lived through a similar guilt, Mariam empathizes with Laila, but is unable to comfort her, for she knows just too well how vacant words from others can be, when one is consumed with such guilt.

Soon, Mariam learns Rasheed’s motive for nursing Laila to health and she resents her husband Rasheed’s amorous attention to Laila. She is hurt and feels threatened by Laila's presence and refuses to have anything to do with her. A few days after Laila’s recovery, a stranger brings news of Tariq’s death in Pakistan. Though devastated by the news, Laila deems this as a just punishment for being “responsible” for her parents’ death, much as Mariam often viewed her miscarriages as her punishment for betraying her mother. Hosseini brings the two women, different in many respects, closer by drawing a parallel in their reaction to guilt and their handling of grief.

Laila, left exposed by circumstances, especially after knowing that she is pregnant with Tariq's child, is left with little choice, and succumbs to Rasheed’s advances, and agrees to marry him. Rashid once again marries a teenager, who is just a fraction of his age, by capitalizing on her vulnerabilities. Soon, Rasheed wields his authority over both the women by dominating over them and oppressing them. He forces Laila to lead a life very different from one that her father had planned for her. In the name of preserving a woman’s honor, Rasheed instructs her to wear a burqa, not step out of the house and stay away from interaction with other people. The two women live under the same roof, but Mariam hates Laila, the one who married her husband and put her own marriage and security at risk and Laila hates her back in equal measure, though Laila stands up for Mariam against Rasheed’s cruelties. To ensure that the two women never get along, Rasheed instructs Laila to use Mariam as a servant, for she is after all born a harami (bastard). He also threatens to punish both the women if he found that this was not happening.

After Laila gives birth to Tariq’s daughter Aziza, things change between the two women. Mariam is taken with the little one, who shows affection towards her, an emotion that she has not experienced in years. She offers to Aziza the clothes that she had made for her yet unborn child, years ago. The two women, softened by their maternal instincts, realize that their anger is misdirected. and that their true enemy is Rasheed, who has ill treated both of them in the cruelest manner. The two women become allies and turn against Rasheed's abusive, manipulative ways. Hosseini vividly paints the power of friendship between the two women and how the two take care of each other, as Mariam finds peace in growing into a mother figure for Laila. And in return, she gets ample love from Laila and Aziza. (An interesting quote from the book is "Boys, Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly.")

A few years later, Laila is pregnant with Rasheed’s child and goes into labor in Taliban controlled Kabul, where several hospitals would not attend to women patients. Under the most grueling circumstances, with Mariam rising to the occasion as a truly caring mother, Laila gives birth to a son, Zalmai. An ecstatic Rasheed spoils his new born son by buying gifts well beyond his means and Laila is shocked by his audacity to suggest that Laila’s daughter Aziza should take to begging on the streets, to get some money to support the family.

Situation gets worse because of the Taliban, years of drought, and a fire that destroys part of Rasheed’s store. In a desperate attempt to save the children from near death, Mariam tries to reach out to her wealthy father, only to be told that he was no more. Once again, she is consumed with guilt at the anger she harbored when she refused to see her father when he came to see her in Kabul and tearing up even the letter that he had left for her. Forced by circumstances, they decide to leave Aziza at an orphanage since they are unable to find food even to feed the children.

A few days later, Laila is shocked to find Tariq at her doorstep. She realizes that he has kept his promise of coming back to marry her one day while Rasheed has played a trick by telling her that Tariq was dead. When Rasheed finds out from his little son Zalmai about Tariq’s visit, he brutally beats Laila. At this point, Mariam, who has just had it with Rasheed, picks up a shovel, hits Rasheed on his head and kills him. She decides turns herself in to the Taliban, to free Laila and Tariq to escape to Pakistan and build a new life. When Laila protests against her decision, Mariam implores her to think like a mother and  give her children a better life by fleeing to Pakistan with Tariq. 

Just before her execution, Hosseini describes Mariam’s feelings thus. “Miriam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Miriam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings.”

In Pakistan, Tariq and Laila marry and finally begin the life they dreamed of so many years ago. With time, both of Laila's children warm to Tariq and they enjoy their new life. After September, 2001, following the US invasion of Afghanistan, conditions in Kabul improve, and Laila feels compelled to return to Kabul, to help rebuild their city. On their way back, Laila  visits Mariam's old home (kolba). Exploring Mariam’s kolba, Laila imagines her as a little care free girl there, and can almost feel Mariam's presence there. She is finally able to come to terms with her grief over Mariam's execution, and to say goodbye to Mariam. During her visit, she is overwhelmed to find out that Mariam’s father had left Mariam a loving letter, a share of her inheritance, and a few other articles precious to their relationship. In the end, he had tried to remove the stigma that Mariam had lived with, by regretting his actions towards her, and including her in his inheritance as well. To Laila, this brought a belated closure in Mariam's relationship to her father Jalil as well.

When they  came back to Kabul, it distressed Laila that she didn't know where the Taliban had buried Mariam. She wished she could visit Mariam's grave, to sit with her awhile, leave a flower or two. But Laila sees now that it doesn't matter. Mariam is never very far. She is here, in these walls they've repainted, in the trees they've planted, in the blankets that keep the children warm, in these pillows and books and pencils. She is in the children's laughter. She is in the verses Aziza recites and in the prayers she mutters when she bows westward. But, mostly, Mariam is in Laila's own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns.(The italicized text is a powerful para that I have quoted directly from the book.)

Laila and Tariq build a new life in Kabul. Laila, as she plants flowers in shells of old rockets feels that these “rocket flowers” are symbolic of hope for a new Afghanistan; something beautiful growing out of the chaos and destruction of war. Laila wishes her parents were alive to see the changes in Kabul. But, like Jalil's letter, she realizes that Kabul's penance has arrived too late.

Laila becomes a schoolteacher at the orphanage where Aziza once lived. The book ends with a an upbeat scene where the family is playing a game of naming the child that is soon to be born to Laila and Tariq. “But, the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her.”