A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS - your thoughts please

[MaryAnnSingleton]

ok, so my book group is doing this at the momen t and I'm slowly getting through it ( not much time to read atm)
my friends have finished it and rate it highly - it's ok so far,in my opinion - what do you think ?

[yehudiwho]

just finished it for book club . i read it incredibly quickly- cried but found it strangly unsatisfying- i wanted more about the relationship between Laila and Mariam

[MaryAnnSingleton]

haven't got to Laila and Mariam being together yet...did ypou find it predictable (I'm thinking of the early bit where Mariam gets married,then is preg then loses baby) /

[MaryAnnSingleton]

have done The Kite Runner btw - didn't rate it as highly as everyone else seemed to - am obviously missing something somewhere !

[MorocconOil]

I read it from cover to cover in 5 hours, as I couldn't put it down. It was so sad and disturbing. I couldn't get the bit where she has to leave her daughter at the children's home out of my head. Also found the treatment of women in Afghanistani society truly disturbing.

I thought it was better than the Kite Runner.

[MaryAnnSingleton]

I probably haven't read deeply enough into it - in terms of pages as well as content etc - but I don't feel particularly moved or affected by it, which is what's bothering me ( and I weep at The Choir on tv with ease) -

[becks5109]

I loved this book so much - I loved the way that Kite Runner was from the male perspective and this one was from the female perspective. Really emotive and thought provoking. I'm now reading the bookseller of Kabul by a Norweigan writer which is along the same vein but also really fascinating.

[MorocconOil]

Mary- The bed was creaking with my sobbing, but that was about half-way through. I think I was pre-menstrual as well, so that could account for all the emotion.

[nervousal]

Loved it. I agree there was something "missing" in the relationship between the two women - but I still cried my eyes out a couple of times.

[MaryAnnSingleton]

oh God help me - I'm soulless !!

[marina]

[MaryAnnSingleton]

hello ! I am worried that I'm missing something !

[VirginiaWoolf]

I really 'got into' it and had to read it quickly to find out what would happen, and I did cry, and was horrified by the treatment of women in that society etc etc, but..... it didn't quite gel for me, somehow. The portrayal of the relationship between Mariam and Laila didn't quite work, and I really disliked the ending - found it too cliched. Friends of mine commented on how shocked they were at what happens to Laila's parents (trying not to give too much away for anyone not that far through yet) but I found it very predictable - albeit in a 'hmm, almost don't want to turn the page because I know what's going to happen' type way.
But each to their own! Wouldn't life be boring if we all loved the same books?

[VirginiaWoolf]

Also, I felt it 'lurched' a bit, rather than a more gradual change in situations.

[MorocconOil]

Sorry to say this but other people also said they found it traumatic to read. You are obviously just heartless

[doggiesayswoof]

Mixed feelings really. V interesting from a historical perspective - actually made me think about what it must be like for ordinary women going through all the changes in power etc.

I did find it moving but at the same time it somehow lacked emotional depth - I think because the relationship between the two women was not developed enough. Felt he over-egged the pudding a bit with the suffering too. At times it felt like a 'misery memoir' - like he had a checklist of horrible things for them to go through and was ticking them off.

I didn't buy Tariq reappearing either. In fact the whole end section was disappointing.

[doggiesayswoof]

Oh gawd sorry that was a spoiler - oops

[VirginiaWoolf]

MaryAnn - don't worry, I was a good way through it before it tugged at my heart strings, and you did say that you hadn't got to the relationship between Mariam and Laila yet!

[MaryAnnSingleton]

I did find the Kite Runner made me think a lot about Afghanistan,whereas previously I hadn't given it much thought and this book does the same.
Did anyone else feel bothered by the words in italics ( terms for things in Farsi I think ) which are chucked in and you have to guess what they are - this irritates me a bit.

[MorocconOil]

Can't remember them so must have just ignored them, which probably explains how I read it so quickly.

[evie99]

I read it quickly and thought it gave a good introductory insight into the history of Afghanistan including awful things that I had seen at the time but forgotton such as when the Taliban blew up the 2000 year old Buddha statues.
Personally I think he could have gone further regarding the treatment of women- I guess there is only so much you can put into one book but it really has been/is truly awful for so many women out there.
What I found really interesting was how relatively advanced the situation was for women under the Communists and how quickly it all changed.
The bit about Mariam made me cry. Apart from that I thought the storyline was a bit superficial and cliched, but nonetheless a very enjoyable read.

[pigsinmud]

My first visit to fiction so hello. My book group have just read this although we haven't had our meeting yet. I normally struggle to read books, but I started this on Friday evening and finished Sunday morning ... fastest time I've read a book in years!

I thought it was brilliant. I have a desire to go and find out more about history of Afghanistan. I was in tears twice. Ok the ending was a bit cliched, but I didn't care. I nearly stopped reading it when Laila & Aziza were locked in the room as I was convinced Aziza was going to die and didn't want to read it! I've just bought "The Kite Runner" and am about to embark on that.

Yes, Mas, I did get slightly irritated at the italics. Felt that he was repeating lines. But I haven't been so moved by a book in years. I wondered whether it was becasue I was reading it whilst watching my two little girls play (bad mummy too busy reading), it just made it all the more poignant (if that's the right word)

[brimfull]

I am currently reading this.

I enjoyed the kite runner but this isn't grabbing me yet.

I do find he ends his chapters in annoyingly flowery over sentimental phrases that lets the book down.

[Poledra]

It does end in quote a cliched manner, but it certainly made me think anout Afghanistan, as someone who was aware of the political upheavals over the years, but did not pay that much attention to them. Did remind me of having a 'strong' discussion with a Muslim colleague about the destruction of the Buddhas, as she thought it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do and I thought it was a crime.
Definitely one I would want to reread again in a few months after it's stewed in the back of my mind for a while

[MaryAnnSingleton]

thanks all, these are helpful notes !