Kelly's Take

In trying not to be too redundant, I skipped some of the questions. :o)

What did A Thousand Splendid Suns teach you about the history of Afghanistan? Did anything surprise you?

I had a hard time reminding myself that this story was relatively contemporary, not something from years and years ago. It stunned me to think that there are still people living this way today. I knew NOTHING about Afghanistan prior to reading this book, so everything I learned was new.

Mariam’s mother says: "Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have." In what ways is this true? How do Mariam and Laila endure? How is their endurance different from the ways their mothers faced their trials?

The women of this story only had two choices – endure or end their life. With little to no power in their society, they couldn’t make their lives better in any way but to learn to take what they had and make the best of it.
Mariam makes the best of her situation by being the best wife she can be, even though her husband gets progressively crueler when she doesn’t produce an heir. All she had was the security of knowing she had a place to live, food to eat and a man to guard over her. When everything falls apart in Laila’s life, she takes what chances are offered her and does the best she can with them – providing a home for herself and her baby. Both of their mothers chose to cling to bitterness.

Were you surprised when Tariq returned? Had you suspected the depth of Rasheed's deceit?

I had no idea the lengths that Rasheed would go to get what he wanted. I assumed that the story brought to Laila about Tariq was true and that he had died. Rasheed did a good job putting together something believable – he had to, because otherwise Laila would have never stopped trying to reunite with Tariq. She absolutely would never have agreed to marry Rasheed! And I’m surprised that Rasheed figured she was pregnant, too, and wonder why he would be willing to claim another man’s child as his own.

Why does Mariam refuse to call witnesses at her trial? Why didn't she try to escape with Laila and Tariq? Do you think Mariam made the right decision? Even though her life was hard, Mariam wishes for more of it in the end. Why do you think that is?

Mariam wanted to do everything in her power to make sure that Laila and Tariq had a chance at happiness. They would have had to live on the run for the rest of their lives had they attempted to take her with them. I’m not sure if it was the right decision, but I have a narrow, privileged American brain to wrap around it. I assume that they could have run away to someplace far enough that they could have lived all together okay. I guess I’m an optimist through and through and think it was a waste of Mariam’s life not to at least try to get away. Of course she wished for more of life in the end! She’d finally found a family to love and be loved by!

Do you think Laila and Tariq can be happy?

Yes, I believe they are both resourceful enough to make their way in the world. They love each other and their children, and that covers over a multitude of things that might be lacking. I didn’t know why Laila felt such a need to go back to her home town, though, when life could be so much easier if they’d stayed away.

Rate A Thousand Splendid Suns on a scale of 1 to 5.

I would give it a 3. Definitely not a re-read and it made me pretty depressed. I’m sure it’s an amazing literary work, but I’m not the best one to judge that. 