A Thousand Splendid Suns

For some reason, I have this theory - if a thing is too popular, it can't really be good. I make my judgment and then avoid whatever it is I have deemed 'too trendy.' And, as often as not, I end up looking into it anyways and changing my mind a year or five later.

Some notable examples:
1. Harry Potter - mom made us listen to her read it, and fell I fell in love with it. Opinion changed.
2. Facebook - opinion obviously changed. Not that that means it is good.
3. LOST - after 2 seasons, Ashley got me to watch one episode, and I was hooked. But not hooked enough to make it past season 4 on Hulu.
4. Christian school - everyone at church was going to PC, and I went to Apollo. Lasted one year, then I was begging to be at Northwest. Fast forward to college, a huge chunk of my friends are doing Southwestern, Grand Canyon, Point Loma, Cal Baptist, etc etc etc. I choose ASU...and where did I end up?
5. Twilight - okay, just kidding. Never did jump on that bandwagon.

But that brings me to one other example: Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. I used to work at Borders, and it was one of our top sellers. It was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. And I had absolutely no desire to read it. Something about a boy, something about Afghanistan, and something about pre- and post-Soviet invasion something or other. No interest. Don't care if it's popular, can't really be all that good.

Why do I do this? Why do I not get that there is usually a reason that things get to be so popular - that they're good? (Twilight being the obvious exception to this rule.) I think it's vanity, something in me trying to be 'above the masses' or somesuch nonsense. Anyways.

Five years later, I finally picked up The Kite Runner, as well as Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns.


















And they now come most highly recommended.

Now, in due warning, they are not books for the faint of heart. The Kite Runner, in particular, has sections that are rather explicit and offensive. But, with the exception of one line in the very beginning, which could easily have been left out and not changed the story, none of it is gratuitous. Both books deal with very heavy subject matter, war and abuse and love and life. But they are stories so richly told, so deep and textured that they are almost impossible to put down.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was definitely my favorite of the two. While the setting is more or less the same, the story centers on two women, Mariam and Laila, instead of Kite Runner's male protagonist, Amir. I loved Kite Runner, looked forward to reading it, hated to put it down, and got deeply absorbed in the story. But A Thousand Splendid Suns was almost impossible to put down, except that I kept laying it aside hoping to keep it from ending. I held my breath in moments of suspense, relaxed and smiled in the moments of joy, and cried bitterly at one of the many tragedies contained in the book.

These are not light-hearted, feel-good books. But neither are they so awfully grim that you feel sick after reading them (not once you finish, anyways). They are intense and thought provoking, and intensely emotional. And, though the stories do not coincide precisely, I believe they should be read together, for a fuller picture.

So, go to your favorite bookstore and pick them up, find yourself a comfy niche, and grab a box of tissues. And when you're done, if you're like me and start craving Middle Eastern food, call me up and we'll go have 'book club' at some delicious corner restaurant.