Summary and Reviews of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Media Reviews

Minneapolis Star Tribune - John Freeman The texture of these characters' journey around the craters of their country is no doubt well known to readers of international news. Rendered as fiction in A Thousand Splendid Suns, however, it devastates in a new way. It forces us to imagine what we would do had we been born to such grim fates.

San Francisco Chronicle - Julie Foster 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.

Entertainment Weekly - Jennifer Reese Hosseini's depiction of Mariam and Laila's plight would seem cartoonishly crude if it were not, by all accounts, a sadly accurate version of what many Afghan women have experienced. The romantic twists and fairy-tale turns are not so accurate. But, as in The Kite Runner, they are precisely what make the novel such a stirring read. B+

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani In the end it is these glimpses of daily life in Afghanistan — a country known to most Americans only through news accounts of war and terrorism — that make this novel, like The Kite Runner, so stirring, and that distract attention from its myriad flaws.

The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley A Thousand Splendid Suns is popular fiction of the first rank, which is plenty good enough, but it is not literature and should not be mistaken for such ... Many of us learned much from The Kite Runner. There is much more to be learned from A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is, for all its shortcomings, a brave, honorable, big-hearted book.

The London Times - Joan Smith In A Thousand Spended Suns, Hosseini is not just more assured, although this feels like the work of a much more accomplished writer. If he cut his teeth by writing about his countrymen, it is the plight of Afghanistan’s women that has brought him to realise his full powers as a novelist.

The Guardian - Natasha Walter Where Hosseini's novel begins to sing is in depicting the slowly growing friendship of the two wives in the face of the horrific abuse from their shared husband.

The London Times - Tom Deveson One problem is that historical and political concerns are too observably wheeled into place .... You can almost see pencil lines being drawn in the margin by earnest book-group readers.

Booklist - Kristine Huntley Starred Review. Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini's magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength.

Kirkus Reviews Starred Review. Another artistic triumph, and surefire bestseller, for this fearless writer.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status.

Reader Reviews

R. B
a Thousand Splendid Suns
Excellent!! Thumbs up!! Love the author's writing style. Can't wait for the next book!! Karlene
A thousand splendid suns
I couldn't put it down. A truly powerful and emotional story. It gave me a new appreciation of the plight of women in third world countries. Y.Abbasi
SPEECHLESS
It was un-put-downable. It's a realistic point of view of what life can be and what you make of it. Its the ultimate story of sacrifice, love and tyranny. Hosseini has outdone some of the best writers of the 21st century in a way that can't be ...   Read More somegirl
Wow... a must read!!!
A Thousand Splendid Suns was a gorgeous book. It's a must read. the beginning is really slow but once you get to chapter three its starts getting better.

Write your own review!

Books with similar themes

• Literary Fiction
  
• Asia
  
• Central Asia
  
• 1980s & '90s
  
• Generational Sagas
  
• Dealing with Loss
  
• Asian Authors
  
• Female Friendships
  
• Strong Women
  
• War Related