2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Pages: 372 pages

Length: 1 month (April)

Participants: Rebecca, Lorraine, Beth

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I was feeling completely uninterested in all my current reads today, so I decided to start this one. I’m seven chapters in and have already been sucked into the story.

After seven chapters, (view spoiler)[ we’ve been given the backstory of Mariam, an illegitimate child, who has two deeply flawed parents. I was shocked that Mariam’s mother hung herself and upset by Nana’s verbal abuse throughout the early chapters. Jalil wasn’t a surprise to me though because I’ve known men like that. May he one day suffer the consequences and feel the guilt he deserves. I’m hoping this awful arranged marriage will be kind to her. However, I read The Kite Runner a few years ago and have my doubts about the impending marriage being anything positive for Mariam. (hide spoiler)]

This will be my third book from this author. I have read The Kite Runner and thought it was a masterpiece. I really look forward to this book. Not sure when I will be able to start reading it though, as I will be travelling all April and part of May. I hope to start next week or week after. So I'll make sure not to read the spoilers! :-)

I finished part one today, and my heart felt super heavy when I did. (view spoiler)[ It's tough to see the abuse that Mariam is suffering, especially since her marriage seemed happy enough before the miscarriages started. I also assume that the baby born in the last chapter of this part is other main character that hasn't shown up yet. (hide spoiler)] This is my second of Hosseini's books, as all I have read by him is The Kite Runner, and there are parts of that book that are really tough reading for this emotional reader.

I’m through chapter 22, and I’m going to admit that (view spoiler)[ as much as I’m enjoying Laila’s childhood, my concern about Mariam is enough to make me want more of her. I know that, as of four years ago, she is alive. I do love that Mariam has such a warm relationship with her father. (hide spoiler)].

I should be able to join you on Monday.

I didn’t read a ton today, but I did finish part two, and (view spoiler)[ I am devastated. I don’t know what makes me most sad—Laila and Tariq being torn apart or the bombing cliffhanger at the end of part two. My heart is heavy and I feel like crying now. 😔 (hide spoiler)]

I’ve read through chapter 35 today, and I will admit (view spoiler)[ that I still find the politics and fighting convoluted and a little incomprehensible. Still, I am loving the budding friendship between Mariam and Laila and the way the baby has softened everything. It’s just perfect. (hide spoiler)]

I've read through chapter 8. I remember starting this book and deciding it was not a story I wanted to read at that time, mostly because I thought I would be angry all the time while reading this. Well, looks like this is the time. And I’ll try not to be too angry as I am leaving for vacation! (view spoiler)[ I can understand the father not wanting to have his reputation ruined (I understand but doesn’t agree), but what I don’t understand is the women forcing her to marry someone she doesn’t know. I also find it very sad that some countries do not provide education to their little girls. I hope this man will be nice to her. (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "This will be my third book from this author. I have read The Kite Runner and thought it was a masterpiece. I really look forward to this book. Not sure when I will be able to start reading it thoug..."

Finished. Destroyed. Need to process.

Just finished this today. I feel very much as Rebecca... destroyed and very much needing to process.

-- What Laila and Mariam went through was so hard to read. I was terrified for them more than once.
-- I got a much clearer picture of the recent picture of Afghanistan.
-- It was devastating to see how people thought that the next regime would improve everything. Especially when the Taliban's arrival was immient.

Those are some quick surface thoughts. I can't parse through the rest yet.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars for me is that I'd want to read it again, and I don't think I could handle reading this a second time.)

I struggled with (view spoiler)[ the almost sunny note of the ending. I think it’s because we now know that eventually the Taliban will return and all the progress at the end of the book will be undone once again. (hide spoiler)]