14/05/2020AThousandSplendidSuns-Book-Review-TheNewYorkTimes
Gradually,however,Mr.Hosseini’sinstinctivestorytellingskillstakeover,mowingdownthe
reader’sobjectionsthroughsheermomentumandwill.Hesucceedsinmakingtheemotional
realityofMariamandLaila’slivestangibletous,andbyconjuringtheirday-to-dayroutines,heis
abletogiveusasenseofwhatdailylifewaslikeinKabul—bothbeforeandduringtheharshreign
oftheTaliban.
HeshowsustheTaliban’s“beardpatrols,”roamingthestreetsinToyotatrucks“onthelookoutfor
clean-shavenfacestobloody.”Heshowsushospitalsturningawaywomeninlaborbecausemen
andwomenaresupposedtobeseenatdifferenthospitals.Andheshowsusthe“?Titanic’fever”
thatgrippedKabulinthesummerof2000,whenpiratedcopiesofthat?lmturnedupinthecity:
entertainment-starvedpeoplesurreptitiouslydugouttheirTVs(whichhadbeenhiddenaway,even
buriedinbackyards)andillicitlywatchedthemovielateatnight,andriversidevendorsbegan
sellingTitaniccarpets,Titanicdeodorant,Titanictoothpaste,evenTitanicburqas.
IntheenditistheseglimpsesofdailylifeinAfghanistan—acountryknowntomostAmericans
onlythroughnewsaccountsofwarandterrorism—thatmakethisnovel,like“TheKiteRunner,”
sostirring,andthatdistractattentionfromitsmyriad?aws.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/29kaku.html3/3 |
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