April books -- Afghanistan

I started April by reading and blogging about this book . . .

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of Amir, an Afghani who came to America with his dad and later returned to his home country on a mission of redemption. I greatly enjoyed the cultural aspects of this book especially since I knew little about this region of the world. My heart grieved for people like Shorab who had seen his family torn apart and suffered cruelty at the hands of monsters.

"I want my old life back." Words like these should never be spoken by a ten-year old child. They make me want to weep for all those in the world hurting simply because this world is such a cruel place

I want to be loyal and forgiving like Hassan, the Hazara servant who won my heart. I wish to have Baba's courage to stand up for the weak and defend the honor of others.

Things of note ... back in Afghanistan, the Taliban was initially welcomed because the people thought the fighting and bloodshed was now over. Instead they got cruel leaders who implemented a form of Shari'a where public stonings were held at the halftime of soccer games. It was sad to hear of people selling their artificial legs on the black market in order to feed their children for a couple of weeks. In one chapter the Taliban guy talks of their massacre of Hazaras. He bragged that they would stop only for food and prayers. It was interesting when the Talib referred to America as the whore and asked Amir why he wasn't in Afghanistan with the Muslims.


. . . and ended the month with this one by the same author.

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, who grew up in very different households, but ended up together sharing the struggles of living in war-torn Kabul. One woman made a great sacrifice so the other could live "happily ever after." On a personal level, this book made me better understand what some people have endured the last decades. While I was living my life - being born, going to school, graduating from high school and so forth, Afghanistan has endured fighting and rule from the Soviets, the Mujahideen (Afghani rebels), the Taliban and warlords. Sadly, many women are also oppressed and mistreated by their own husbands. Great book to learn about a part of the world in the news these days.