Although, as an initial impression at first glance, this story's structure feels disjointed, I found it to be spectacular where its plot, characters, and the author’s skill in storytelling are concerned, and I am afraid no review, starting with this one, can do justice to such a great novel.

The core story has to do with the selling of a child to a childless, disturbed woman and thus forcibly separating her, Pari Wahdati, from her older brother Abdullah who cared for her ever since their mother died. I am not going to give away the story's ending by answering the question of if the two children ever find each other again or cross paths in some ways.

The novel opens with Saboor, who is Pari and Abdullah’s father, telling a tale to his children about a young boy who is taken by a div (a giant ogre) and how that fate might not be too bad. This opening introduces the main plot and points to Saboor as the father who is made to sell his child (Pari) because of poverty, after his children's uncle Nabi's urging.

Still, the book is not only about this core plot. There are several subplots relating the characters to one another in some way. Each character is realistically and masterfully portrayed and each character is human and complex, even those that have a bit of wickedness in them.

Like the multifaceted plot, the themes also abound in this remarkable story. Some of them touch the dynamic between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, siblings and friends, and husband and wife relationships, making the events and actions sparkle through the lives of several pairs of characters. Pain, love, trauma, guilt, gratitude, loyalty, loss, friendship, adoption, and family themes run throughout the story that has several settings worldwide, such as Afghanistan especially Shadbagh, Greece, Paris, London, Jalozai Refugee Camp in Pakistan, and the US. Especially, the subplots and the main storyline that touch the political and social upheavals in Afghanistan are stunning, but even then, this book is mainly about people as human beings.

The story is told through shifting viewpoints, mostly in the third person from the perspective of the character whose story is being presented, but a reader can relate to each viewpoint or voice and character very well. If any gaps are left while presenting another character’s subplot, in another side story another character informs the readers of the outcome of the first subplot. Thus, the story’s timeline stretches between 1952 to our time in the twenty-first century.

Despite being a story so vast in time and focus and so rich with subplots and characters, its smooth flow or fluidity is a testament to the skill of this author.

To say the least, I would consider myself shortchanged from the literary point of view if I had missed reading this novel. I am very glad I had enough curiosity to purchase this book.

finding out what a story in epic proportions can be told in the best way possible.

most of the characters for their resilience and humanity.

glad I found this book.

is "Khaled Hosseini who was born in Afghanistan but left the country in 1976 at the age of 11, eventually moving to the United States where he worked as a doctor. He wrote his first novel, The Kite Runner, in 2003 and became a full-time writer a year and a half later. He published his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, in 2007. Both novels were successful, and by the time of his third publication they had together sold over 38 million copies across 70 countries."

it's epic in meaning and in the richness of its subplots, and I had a great time while reading it.

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Created Sep 21, 2019 at 9:01pm • Submit your own review...