Here Comes the Sun

There are books. Then there are Armenian books. These are the kinds of books that capture you and captivate you and then crush your soul because the endings are just incredibly depressing. Khaled Hosseini’s works call to mind Armenian novels because they both end in a similar saddening demise with a concomitant happiness or inkling of hope remaining despite all that has occurred. The war torn, turbulent setting is similar to the settings of most Armenian novels. It is for this reason that I find solace in Khaled Hosseini’s works; he evokes scenes common in the Armenian narrative, allowing me to identify strongly with the plight of the novel’s protagonists. Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, a part of our summer reading, is my favorite piece of literature that we read in this year’s Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class. Having read the author’s other, possibly more acclaimed, novel, The Kite Runner, during the previous year, provided a smoother transition into this book. The setting was already familiar to us, but the perspective was completely changed. We were offered further contrasting perspectives within this novel alone. This was accomplished through the incredibly well-written, meticulous narratives of the two main protagonists, Mariam and Laila. This novel does an excellent job of raising awareness about the history and culture of Afghanistan without coming off as a monotonous historical novel. Its frequent usage of Afghan words even familiarized me with the languages used within the country. Without giving off too many details of the novel, I would like to end on a simple note: Tashakor*, Mr. Hosseini.

*Tashakor means ‘thanks’ in Afghan Farsi.