A Thousand Splendid Suns...

‘aku nampak dia baca catch-22, by joseph heller. Dah lama aku cari. So dia citer la, catch-22 mmg best tp ada uniqueness..mcm, ade twisted sense of humor sket..’

“ohh..aku rasa style of writing dia mcm the kite runner la nih,”

‘the kite runner? Er..tak pernah baca lagi. Sape author?’

“khaled hosseini. bacalah weyh, bes gak. ”

Any book recommendation from this guy is worth looking into, even if the above conversation took place for about over a year ago. However, by some incomprehensible twist of fate, I never got round to reading it yet. Never mind why. Turns out that’s his only novel and he hasn’t written any new ones.
Until…
a (solitary? self-consoling? unintended?) trip to a bookstore led me to find a thousand splendid suns, his second novel which the paperback edition has just been published this year. And it was worth it.
I cannot stop marveling at the way the author puts everything into perspective, leaving readers with a sense of wonder, and never once could I predict what the characters would do. How amazingly simple his descriptions were and yet the world he painted through the words will come vividly alive in your mind.
If the kite runner is a story that revolves around Amir and Hassan, about boys and men…a thousand splendid suns revolves around Mariam and Laila, and about the predicaments of Afghan women since the last three decades. It will leave you with a renewed sense of respect and be in awe of how women struggle to maintain their dignity.
My suggestion? Read it. And you might find your own share of a thousand splendid suns.