One of my favorite hobbies is reading. I usually try to average a book or two a month. Unfortunately, my life during law school became far too busy for me to read anything except for the assigned 100 pages of dense legal text for class everyday. One thing I was really looking forward to this summer, besides my wedding, was to be able to read a novel or two.
One book that I'd really been looking forward to was "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I had read his first novel, "The Kite Runner" on a whim last year and found it to be a disturbingly beautiful novel of betrayal and atonement; sin and repentance. I also enjoyed the Islamic theme to the novel and the main character finding his faith through the course of the book.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" was just as thrilling and disturbing as the first book. The story in a nutshell is about the experiences of two women living through the various wars and turmoil of Afghanistan. It shows the fall of Afghanistan into chaos and the hardships imposed on the people by the Taliban.
What made this book so powerful for me was the feminine elements woven throughout the novel. The excitement when a woman realizes she has a life growing within her; the difficult choice to not abort an unwanted child; the joy in being reunited with long lost loves. Being male, I am constantly amazed at how feminine elements can bring balance to my life.
It is also a powerful depiction of strong perseverance under extremely difficult circumstances. It is a story of faith when there is little hope. While a book with difficult themes, it can serve as a good example for us when we struggle with trials in our lives.
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