A Thousand Splendid Suns

CONTAINS SPOILERS

I have started a new book for my book club: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. 

To be honest, I chose this book on a whim. I actually did judge a book by its cover (oh the horror!). However, this book is very well-written in that addicting way that you can only begrudgingly put it down.

Khaled Hosseini intrigued me as an author because I know he's written award-winning books before, like The Kite Runner. I recognized the name on the cover from an excerpt we read in class, and I knew it was going to be a good book. 

However, what intrigued me the most about this book wasn't the author or even the quality of writing, but the topic. I went into this book essentially blind, expecting something quick and forgettable. Now, at about one hundred pages in, I can tell I will not forget it. 

As an avid reader, there is always a moment where you just know what the tone and the caliber of the novel will be. For me, this happened when Mariam found her mother hanging from the tree. The image is quite vivid in my memory, though it was only in a book. It sets a haunting tone for the rest of the book, the threat of trauma overhanging Mariam at all times. The way Hosseini created such an image told me that he is a writer who knows what he is doing and manipulates language well.

Another thing that intrigued me was the human rights issues presented in the novel. Mariam was forced to marry a man many years her senior, with hardly a choice in the matter. Her freedom was taken away from her the moment she was forced to agree to marry the man. Women's rights are very important to me, as a privileged woman. I know that not everyone gets the chances and the freedom I do, but I also know that can change, and they are just as deserving of it as I am. I hope that as this book goes on Hosseini goes more in-depth into the issue of women's rights rather than some of the more base-level (but still terrible) offenses.

I have a lot of hope for this book. The lesson we've learned today? Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.