Where do you look for a good book? Reviews online? Oprah's book club? The New York Times bestseller list? The bookstore? I mean seriously, there are so many titles out there and I never know what to pick next. Of course there is a long list of older books I want to read, but somehow never get to.
So all this about what to read next reminded me of one of the recent books I finished reading, Khaled Hosseini's, A Thousand Splendid Suns . It would be an understatement to say that I just read it. Where in fact I literally lived in it, for four days. I fell in love with the his first book, The Kite Runner. Not only did I fall in love with the book, but with the visions, smells and sounds of pre-war Afghanistan.
So, when I read the second book, I looked forward to the same excellence in writing, and have not been disappointed in the least. The story revolves around two Afghan cities, Herat and Kabul, and two women. The two women belonging to different generations, steal you heart and you will fall in love with them instantly. Both very different, but extremely strong women who go through a lot. My heart broke when I read of the toils women faced in those parts of the world. The beauty and simplicity of their lives before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was beautifully described. And to see how lives in Afghanistan changed drastically after the Soviet invasion and then again under the Taliban rule, was heart wrenching.
The way I looked at Afghanistan changed dramatically after reading this book. When ever I hear of the Afghan war, all I ever understood was the political turmoil in those regions and never once did my thoughts go beyond that to the people and their tragedies. I found the book a little too melodramatic at times, one tragedy succeeding another , but soon realized this was not far from the truth. The way the book ends filled me with hope. Hope for a better Afghanistan and hope for a better world. This story has truly enriched my knowledge and understanding of the Afghan people and I finished the book knowing them, understanding them and loving them. I highly recommend this book, an excellent read, guaranteed to capture you from the first chapter.
So all this about what to read next reminded me of one of the recent books I finished reading, Khaled Hosseini's, A Thousand Splendid Suns . It would be an understatement to say that I just read it. Where in fact I literally lived in it, for four days. I fell in love with the his first book, The Kite Runner. Not only did I fall in love with the book, but with the visions, smells and sounds of pre-war Afghanistan.
So, when I read the second book, I looked forward to the same excellence in writing, and have not been disappointed in the least. The story revolves around two Afghan cities, Herat and Kabul, and two women. The two women belonging to different generations, steal you heart and you will fall in love with them instantly. Both very different, but extremely strong women who go through a lot. My heart broke when I read of the toils women faced in those parts of the world. The beauty and simplicity of their lives before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was beautifully described. And to see how lives in Afghanistan changed drastically after the Soviet invasion and then again under the Taliban rule, was heart wrenching.
The way I looked at Afghanistan changed dramatically after reading this book. When ever I hear of the Afghan war, all I ever understood was the political turmoil in those regions and never once did my thoughts go beyond that to the people and their tragedies. I found the book a little too melodramatic at times, one tragedy succeeding another , but soon realized this was not far from the truth. The way the book ends filled me with hope. Hope for a better Afghanistan and hope for a better world. This story has truly enriched my knowledge and understanding of the Afghan people and I finished the book knowing them, understanding them and loving them. I highly recommend this book, an excellent read, guaranteed to capture you from the first chapter.
