I will be totally honest and admit that A Thousand Splendid Suns is not the sort of book I'd ordinarily chose to read. But, a friend, who has good taste in books, told me that she loved it, and she let me borrow her book, so I read it. She was right, it was a very good book and worth reading.
Friends, this is not a beach bag book. It is heavy. Super heavy. It deals with life in Afghanistan from "from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding." There was history mentioned in this book that I never learned in school and was too involved in college life to have ever payed attention to then (sad, but true facts). My husband had to fill in then gaps for me. As I read the story of Mariam and Laila, I felt tremendous guilt (for being in college and living a comfortable life in the US while they were subjected to such terrible pain and emotional/physical abuse) and sadness for them. And, I think it was then that I realized that there really are two sides to every war. (Let me stop here and say that I had decided NOT to express any personal thoughts about this book. It seems like a really touchy subject for a lot of people, and it seemed best for me to keep my thoughts to myself. But, I can't do that.) What I mean by that is that innocent people everywhere were effected by the wars in Afghanistan. Men, women, and children who did not want to be involved, who wanted to just live their lives, in all corners of the globe, have been impacted by this fighting and were forced to be involved. Being in the States, and being a US citizen, it's been hard for me to think of anything other than what I see and hear on the news, and it's really easy to put it totally out of my mind. It's not happening in front of me, I don't see the war happening outside of my front door, and if it really bothers me, I can turn off the TV. But, not everyone was as lucky. And, in my selfish, American ways, I can admit to only thinking about the impact of this war on Americans, and it does still make me angry beyond words that innocent Americans died. I am nothing, if but loyal to my country. But so many more people, aside from Americans, were hurt during this time. I can no longer ignore the other innocents. Thank you, Mr. Hosseini for opening my mind.
As I read, I also felt an overwhelming sense of relief that I was a girl born and raised in the US, because my life elsewhere could've been a much different experience. It's hard to think that women are not treated fairly and equally elsewhere in the world, because it's something that I take very much for granted here as a US citizen. I can vote, my opinion matters, I can own my own house if I want to, I can go to school, and I can work. In fact, I can NOT work, too, and can choose to raise my family. Because I have CHOICES. Wow. That has become a very powerful word for me lately. I can choose how I want to live my life. Laila and Mariam were not as lucky. It saddens me. And while I am fully aware that these ladies are fictional, there are hundreds and hundreds, if not more, of real women out there who don't have the same choices I have. I am pretty darn lucky.
For a while while I was reading this book, I was able to distance myself from a lot of these personal emotions because I was able to remind myself that this is fiction. But, as I was reading the last 50 pages or so, just became so overwhelmed with emotion that I found myself silently crying for these women and their pain and thinking that never again would I complain about anything. Because I have no right to complain about anything at all living the life I lead. I have a friend who is a great listener and very wise beyond her years who calls the sort of problems that we have here in the West End of Richmond "First World Problems." Her words help to put things in perspective, and to put a halt to most complaining that I do. I love that my girls, 14 and 12, have picked up on this phrase. Perhaps they too will realize that they are lucky to have been born into a country, and at a time, where women have choices. I pray they never know anything else.
So, read this book. It will open your mind and your heart. It did for me.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
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