Thoughts and A Thousand Splendid Suns
Sadia Rahman
“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”
The Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini left a grave impact on me.
His first internationally accomplished novel The Kite Runner appeared to be “cliché” to me. I was not sure of how it will go with his another piece. But “A Thousand Splendid Suns” kept me glued to the pages till the last line.
No, I was not head over the heels with the unusual “mother-daughter” duo illustration or the equation of their relationship. I was not awestruck by the love and bond they shared.
Yes, I was deeply moved by one of the protagonists, Mariam’ story. I got emotionally attached with her experiences as an illegitimate child in a conservative society, but that either was not the punching plot for me.
It was the portrayal of Afganistan becoming an “Afganistan” starting from the very first foreign invasion to civil war followed by the rise of the Talibans that captured all my attention.
Always picturing the country as a warzone it was beyond my contemplation that they could have their own culture, poetry, music, literature, universities and last but not the least “SCULPTURES”.
I could finally fathom what people mean by “our country is turning into Afganistan” and it did freeze me.
I cannot help but noticing the uncanny resemblances and it upsets me.