A Thousand Splendid Suns

For me, the first ten pages of a book are usually the most difficult to get past. I make too many evaluations, I try to grasp too much at that stage. I am not very tolerant of an author who is too indulgent, who does not try to capture all the reader's attention at the outset. In many ways, I am a very difficult reader to convince at this stage. But then again, once I warm up to the characters and the plot, I am hooked. I have caught myself visualizing scenes on numerous occasions, and I end up reading a book over and over again. I am sure I will read A thousand splendid suns again.
It becomes clear early that this is a book of strong characters. Its a story of two women - Mariam and Laila, so different by birth, rearing and ambitions, whose lives get intertwined by a twist of fate. There is another quintessential character in the story that makes it as gripping and heart-wrenching - Afghanistan. The wars that has ravaged the country for over two decades, makes for a tragic yet intriguing stage for the plot.
The story works, because I could relate to the characters, empathize with them. In Hosseini's words Afghanistan ceases to be an exotic foreign land. This is a story that makes Afghanistan real.
Its like the movie Titanic. It was a great movie, with great attention to detail, terrific plot and an impeccable cast. But, I loved the movie for the simple reason that it made me relate to the tragedy. It needed a Jack and Rose to make Titanic personal. They made the pain real; They made Titanic real. Mariam and Laila are the Jack and Rose of Afghanistan. Through them, a bomb is not just a news story - it is the death of someone’s parents, someone’s friend. A coup is not just a political event, its a death knell to a woman's dreams, ambitions.
PS: I have consciously tried to keep the spoilers that would give the plot away to a minimum. Do visit the author Khaled Hosseini's very well put together web page here