Review

Stuck In The House, While Time Passes By

When you think of Afghanistan, what do you think of?  War, violence, terrorism, abuse to women?  Khaled Hosseini’s book, a Thousand Splendid Suns tells how the country’s image changed from a peaceful one, to the image that we have in our heads now, and in doing so Hosseini helps us see the complexity behind the evil image.  The book isn’t one about history, it's a novel told from the point of view of two women, who go from having good lives, to being abused by the changing society.  

One of those women is Mariam, an illegitimate child of Jalil Khan,  a rich man who lives in Herat, and one of his maids, Nana. She is treated harshly, often being called “Harami,” which is bastard in Farsi.  She is not allowed to go to school, by the authority of her mother, and is not allowed to live with her father, for fear of damaging his reputation.  At the tender age of fifteen, her life goes from bad to worse, when she takes a trip into Herat when Nana isn’t around.  Nana hangs herself from the tree in front of their house when he finds that the only thing that she ever cared about has forsaken her.  

Jalil arranges for her to marry a man from Kabul, named Rasheed.  Rasheed is fifty and abusive.  This plot development skillfully brings up the Afghan custom for young girls for marrying at a young age.  The relationship between the abusive Rasheed, and the meek and obedient Mariam will be half of the focus of the entire book.  

The other half will be the life of Laila, the daughter of one of Mariam’s neighbors, named Fariba.  She was born in the seventies, when there was a communist regime in Afghanistan.  However, in the eighties, when the Soviet Union collapses, there is a power vacuum which is almost immediately filled with Islamists.  She experiences  many changes that come with the new regime.  The changes are commented on by her father, Babi, who is a forward thinking Marxist.  

We see how far forward thinking in Afghanistan gets you when Babi, along with all his family except Laila are killed by an RPG aimed at the bus they were fleeing the country from.  

The book then goes into the time period where the Taliban are in control of the country.  Gruesome scenes of Islamic justice are seen in every chapter, as well as acts that would shape how the world sees Afghanistan, like the statues of Buddha being blown up by the Taliban.  These acts would eventually bring  the US troops to Afghanistan, but that doesn't happen until the end of the book.  Laila is forced to marry Rasheed, who found her in the rubble, for her own survival.  

The relationship between Mariam, Rasheed and Laila is the focal point of the book.  Mariam initially is hostile towards Laila saying, “I didn’t nurse you back to health so that you could steal my husband!” However, as Rasheed’s abusive nature becomes clear to Laila, Mariam  befriends her, partly out of pity.  Infrequently, Laila’s dead love, Tariq, comes up causing tension in the house where most of the book takes place.

The setting of the house, where most of the book takes place, is a mark of how little control Mariam and Laila have over their married lives.  They are not allowed to leave the house without a husband or a son with them, so much of the deepest dialogue in the book is done while doing laundry, or dishes.  

Meanwhile, we are also conscious of the events happening outside in the world, like President George Bush sending troops to Afghanistan, or the USSR collapsing.  This is usually done by the words of Rasheed, who enjoys keeping up with the current events in his country.  The smooth transitions from current events to character’s dialogue create a smooth lens to view the story with.  It zooms out to the world, and then zooms in to the house of Rasheed where Mariam and Laila live their meek obedient lives.  

All of these elements combined make A Thousand Splendid Suns a great read.  I recommend it very highly.