KITE RUNNER & A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS KHALED HOSSEINI

The Kite Runner, quote from Goodreads, 

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime."

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir's choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, quote from Goodreads, 

"A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love—a stunning accomplishment."

Both the novel are written by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. There is also a movies with the same name which I didn’t watch yet. I like to think a thousand splendid of suns are the sequel to the kite runner. Though it is not.

The protagonist of the kite runners were two male characters namely Amir and Hassan whereas in a thousand splendid of suns the protagonist were two female characters namely Mariam and Laila. Through these two novels we can know that the society of Afghanistan is very feudal. The society deemed women existence is not worthy and are not capable of doing anything.

In thousand splendid of suns, the status of women is exploited and well reflected in Rasheed’s behaviour towards Laila and Mariam. Rasheed’s perception of women is later reflected in Taliban ‘Voice of Shari’a” which is a very twisted belief of Islam. Women usually are married at young age and bear children, this is a point of view that stands out in in the book, A thousand splendid of suns. Even Laila’s friends when they were only in primary school they already know that they would marry young and they are aware of that.

Mariam was born into a poor family where she is being deemed as “harami” meaning illegitimate child. Her mother were just a servant having affair with her father. Mariam and her mother lived in a kolba that was far away from the city of Kabul.

Laila was born in the city of Kabul in the time war have started and when Mariam was married to Rasheed.Laila’s family are considered as middle class where the family could afford Laila’s education and still able to live a life without worrying about their daily expenses. Rasheed even make a metaphor for Mariam and Laila. Mariam as Rasheed said if she is a car, she would be a Volga whereas Laila would be a Benz.

When the war broke out, somehow Mariam and Laila’s life are intertwined and live under one roof which no spoiler shh…. In this set of story we got to see the lives of those stay behind struggle to stay alive. Here we also saw how women being treated poorly where violent is permitted.

In the kite runner, the protagonist is Amir who were born into a wealthy and reputable family and Hassan though is a servant but were in better condition than the characters in the other novel. In this novel, another theme we can see is the discrimination where Hazaras are deemed to be an outsider in Afghanistan as if their existence in the country is not welcome. Hazaras is always being refer to as dirty and cheap.

Kite runner is written from the perspective of whom have fled during the war whereas the thousands splendid of suns are from the perspective of those stay behind and live through the war. Both side has it ups and downs. In kite runner, there are some story twist and turn which make Amir have to return to Afghanistan and through his eyes we can see how the aftermath of the war.

One sentence that I like very much in this book is “for you a thousand over”. If I am not wrong, this sentence is used in both of the novel. It was first said by Hassan to Amir and in the end from Amir to Sohrab. I think the kite runner was first refer to Hassan and eventually in the end it also refer to Amir. The storyline is reserved to avoid spoiler teehee…

By bringing these two novels and made a comparison, we can see that one life might see well than the other but in fact the struggles is still there. That’s our daily life too. The one thing that make the link between these two set of characters is the orphanage that both sets of characters have visit and lead by Zaman the owner of the orphanage hence the assumption.

Anyway, this was my second attempt into this genre and I was surprise that I could keep on reading without given up halfway. I usually wasn’t quite interested in this historical and political kind of thing. My first attempt was the dark road by Ma Jian. Maybe is me that growing older and getting more able to think things through. Having read this book I am grateful that our country is not constantly under war and not have to worry about getting shot by just walking on the road.

As those booktuber had say, these books are recommend to everyone to get to know about Afghanistan and how their own people thinks about their country.