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A Thousand Splendid Suns Paperback – 25 November 2008
by Khaled Hosseini (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 46,262 ratings
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
"Just as good, if not better, than Khaled Hosseini's best-selling first book, The Kite Runner."--Newsweek
Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.
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Print length
432 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date
25 November 2008
Reading age
18 years and up
Frequently bought together
This item: A Thousand Splendid Suns
$27.43$27.43
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The Kite Runner
$17.70$17.70
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And the Mountains Echoed
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Total Price:$68.12
Popular Highlights in this book
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“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
Highlighted by 4,544 Kindle readers
Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance.
Highlighted by 4,046 Kindle readers
But, mostly, Mariam is in Laila’s own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns.
Highlighted by 3,216 Kindle readers
Product description
Review
"A Thousand Splendid Suns is an ambitious work. Once again the setting is Afghanistan, but this time [Hosseini] has taken the last 33 years of that country's tumultuous history of war and oppression and told it on an intimate scale, through the lives of two women."--The New York Times
"Spectacular. . . . Hosseini's writing makes our hearts ache, our stomachs clench and our emotions reel. . . . Hosseini mixes the experiences of these women with imagined scenarios to create a fascinating microcosm of Afghan family life. He shows us the interior lives of the anonymous women living beneath identity-diminishing burqas... Hosseini writes in gorgeous and stirring language of the natural beauty and colorful cultural heritage of his native Afghanistan. . . . Hosseini tells this saddest of stories in achingly beautiful prose through stunningly heroic characters whose spirits somehow grasp the dimmest rays of hope."--USA Today
"Just as good, if not better, than Hosseini's best-selling first book, The Kite Runner"--Newsweek
"Compelling"--New York Magazine
"Hosseini revisits Afghanistan for a compelling story that gives voice to the agonies and hopes of another group of innocents caught up in a war. . . . Mesmerizing . . . A Thousand Splendid Suns is the painful, and at times violent, yet ultimately hopeful story of two women's inner lives. Hosseini's bewitching narrative captures the intimate details of life in a world where it's a struggle to survive, skillfully inserting this human story into the larger backdrop of recent history."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Hosseini . . . has followed his debut novel with another work of strong storytelling and engaging characters. . . . The story pulses with life. . . . Khaled Hosseini is simply a marvelously moving storyteller."--San Jose Mercury News
"Hosseini's story . . . rings true as a universal story about victims of cruelty and those who lack the most fundamental of human rights. . . . Hosseini's work is uplifting, enlightening, universal. The author's love for his characters and for his country is palpable. In the end, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a love letter to a country and to a people. It is a celebration of endurance and survival in the face of unspeakable tragedy. This is a love song to anyone who has ever had a broken heart and to anyone who has ever felt powerless and yet still dares to dream. And yes, Hosseini has done it again."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"The novel is beautifully written with descriptive details that will haunt you long after you finish reading it."--Dallas Morning News
"This [novel] tells the startling story of domestic adversaries who discover that survival in a horrific world is nearly impossible without compassion, love and solidarity. . . Hosseini's prose . . . can stun a reader with its powerful, haunting images."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Absolutely compelling on every level. It's nearly impossible for a novel--a work of fantasy and fabrication--to deliver a formidable blow, a pounding of the senses, a reeling so staggering that we are convinced the characters and their dilemmas are genuine. Such a persuasion is particularly difficult when the setting is Afghanistan, a country and culture many see as too strange for recognition, for empathy. But that's what Khaled Hosseini does again and again with A Thousand Splendid Suns."--Chicago Sun-Times
"Hosseini has the storytelling gift . . . [A Thousand Splendid Suns] offers us the sweep of historic upheavals narrated with the intimacy of family and village life. . . . What keeps this novel vivid and compelling are Hosseini's eye for the textures of daily life and his ability to portray a full range of human emotions, from the smoldering rage of an abused wife to the early flutters of maternal love when a woman discovers she is carrying a baby. . . . Hosseini's illuminating book [is] a worthy sequel to The Kite Runner."--Los Angeles Times
"Many of us learned much from The Kite Runner. There is much more to be learned from A Thousand Splendid Suns . . . a brave, honorable, big-hearted book"--The Washington Post Book World
"The author's fans won't be disappointed with A Thousand Splendid Suns--if anything, this book shows at even better advantage Hosseini's storytelling gifts."--New York Daily News
"Hosseini has created two enormously winning female characters in Mariam and Laila, Afghan women born into very different circumstances but who have the same problems."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"[Hosseini] is a writer of unique sensitivities. . . . Hosseini embraces an old-fashioned storytelling unconcerned with literary hipness, unafraid of sentimentality, unworried about the sort of Dickensian coincidences that most contemporary American writers consider off-limits. . . . We are lucky . . . to have a writer of Hosseini's storytelling ambitions interpreting his culture and history for us with another large-hearted novel. . . . Despite the unjust cruelties of our world, the heroines of A Thousand Splendid Suns do endure, both on the page and in our imagination."--Miami Herald
About the Author
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed. He is A U.S. Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
Product details
Publisher : Penguin Publishing Group; Reprint edition (25 November 2008)
Language : English
Paperback : 432 pages
ISBN-10 : 159448385X
ISBN-13 : 978-1594483851
Reading age : 18 years and up
Dimensions : 13.21 x 2.49 x 20.17 cmCustomer Reviews:
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 46,262 ratings
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Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with over thirty eight million copies of his books sold in more than seventy countries. The Kite Runner was a major film and was a Book of the Decade, chosen by The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. A Thousand Splendid Suns was the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008. Hosseini is also a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Refugee Agency and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lives in northern California.
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Kylie Di Mauro
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommendedReviewed in Australia on 28 July 2019
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A well written novel taking us into the world of Afghanistan and the depravity of women. The first half of the book paints a beautiful picture of the very different lives of the two main female characters who eventually find their lives intertwined together in a culture that treats women horrendously. It is a great reminder of what is still going on today, as I sit here in a free country with as many rights as any man. Well worth the read.
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J C Australia
5.0 out of 5 stars It's a book alright!Reviewed in Australia on 18 April 2024
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Yep, it sure is the book! Arrived in great condition.
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Mary v harvey-benger
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful ahead again bookReviewed in Australia on 23 February 2015
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Fantastic book wonderfully written I learnt so much about the struggles and the cruelty to women,and the horror of war.
One person found this helpful
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Pamela
5.0 out of 5 stars Both moving and horrifyingReviewed in Australia on 25 April 2023
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It is rare that a male author can write so authentically about a woman’s experience and show an understanding of her inner life, but Hosseini Khaled has done that.
The novel is set in Kabul and tells the story of two women, Mariam, an illegitimate and illiterate woman born in Herat, and Laila born into relative privilege and education in Kabul. While a generation separates them, they find their lives intertwined by the circumstances of war and their marriage to a brutal old man who is both their tormenter and their saviour, because without a husband, a woman could not survive. The bond that develops between them, honed by their mutual support and suffering, reminds me of the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi, so strong that even death cannot separate them.
While the novel opened my eyes to how women in Afghanistan have suffered through war, brutality and the repressive and misogynistic regime of the Taliban, it is written so well and so poetically that what will remain in my memory is the beauty and strength of the relationship between the women..
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Catherine Thomasson
5.0 out of 5 stars Good readReviewed in Australia on 4 March 2023
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Great book so far 👌
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Julia
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a surprisingly good read.Reviewed in Australia on 5 June 2019
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I read this as a part of a book club and was little anxious. I imagined it being full of cruelty towards women and bloody scenes. I was so wrong. Yes women are second class citizens, and the story does depict cruelty but doesn’t dwell on it. The story is raw and vivid but so interesting and intriguing. I really enjoyed it.
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LMJ
4.0 out of 5 stars A heartful read!!!!!Reviewed in Australia on 30 May 2015
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Heartfull!!! What a heartful read this book is. Do yourself a favor and read this well written book, that gives justice to women burdened by war, refugee status, poverty and the injustices suffered by some Muslim women. Warning it is powerful and heartbreaking to read at times, but I am so glad it was recommended to. Just read it........
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guitarlover
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative concerning the status of women in Afghanistan.Reviewed in Australia on 11 June 2023
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This is a superb story. It highlights the sad and tragic story of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
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balbina martinez aguilar
5.0 out of 5 stars LoveReviewed in Mexico on 17 August 2023
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It was for an English assignment gurl when I tell you this was the first school book I read in less than a week. It was that good like so entertaining since something was always occurring. So beautifully written and made. The storyline the characters all amazing
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Janice Bryant
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling!Reviewed in Canada on 16 June 2023
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Couldn’t put it down. Very interesting, yet a hard read at times given what these poor women had to endure. Recommend!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars What a beautiful read!Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2024
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Beautifully written, wonderful characters it felt like watching real life in front of you! Khaled Hosseini what a beautiful story teller you are sharing so much heart in every page. Telling the story of so many women that needs to be heard. Maybe the best novel I’ve ever read to date thank you!
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Anant Kumar
5.0 out of 5 stars It is not too complex. Perfect for a beginner.Reviewed in India on 14 March 2024
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The story is not too complex as of what I have read till chapter 5. And about the packaging it was nicely done, the cover is amazingly made and the pages are nice and thick too. All together this book is in my must read list for someone who is getting to me for a recommendation.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and heart wrenchingReviewed in the Netherlands on 3 March 2024
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Kept me binge reading late into the night. Highly recommended of you are ok with getting your heart broken to a million pieces
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