Favorite Quote: "Mariam is never very far. She is here, in these walls they've repainted, in the walls they've repainted, in the trees they've planted, in the blankets that keep the children warm, in these pillows and books and pencils. She is in the children's laughter. She is in the verses Aziza recites and in the prayers she mutters when she bows westward. But, mostly, Mariam is in Laila's own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns" (366).
Many people can probably relate to this quote. We all feel loss at some point, and Laila's feelings here express a kind of peace that we all want to feel afterwords someone disappears from our life. Laila's learned the best way to cope, to calmly accept and "endure" just as Mariam's mother advised. However, Mariam's mother, Nana's enduring had a different feel, a sullen stubbornness to stick to self-righteousness. Laila, like Mariam, has learned how to "endure" with grace, to accept what happens and to gain peace at heart. They're both better people for it.
In fact, Laila and Mariam both had examples of the first type of enduring. Both their mothers, Fariba and Nana rejected happiness in favor of wallowing in the past tragedies. Perhaps, the experiences with such defunct mothers is what steered Laila and Mariam to eventually change their own lives to better forms. The message of hope and eventual peace pervades the book even in its darkest moments, but I think that Hosseini may have overdone it a bit.
Although A Thousand Splendid Suns is a wonderful story, it seems a little too unlikely. Events happen that don't seem to be very probable to happen in the way they did. Maybe all the tragedy is overplayed, a missile exploding in Laila's house and killing her parents right before they are all about to leave war-torn Afghanistan. It's very dramatic, but more of these kinds of events make them seem cheesy. On the other hand, the book seems to have some very good intentions, detailing on how relationships change between people over time, how people are brought together or torn apart. Like The Kite Runner, this novel really focuses on the characters, the human aspect of stories. The extensive and vivid cast of characters is what really makes the reader feel like he/she is in the story, right alongside Mariam and Laila.
Rating of the book: 8/10 (The difference between this and The Kite Runner is just how real the book feels, other than that, it's a wonderful read.)
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